Added: 08/01/2005 |
America Visa - sweet dream for emigrantMen and women from all over the world come to the United States hoping to find something that would change their life. America seems to be the most beautiful country in the world, because of her developed industry and social security.
The process of Immigration to the US is ruled by The Immigration and Nationality Act INA.
This official document was created in 1952. Before the INA, a variety of statutes governed immigration law, but were not organized in one location. The Act has been amended many times over the years, but is still the basic body of immigration law. The INA is divided into titles, chapters, and sections. Although it stands alone as a body of law, the Immigration and Nationality Act is also contained in the United States Code USC.
For person, who desires to get the US citizenship, there are several kinds of immigrant visas. According to the reason of immigration visas may be generally divided into Family-Based Immigration Visas and Employment-Based Immigration Visas.
Getting visa is not one-minute deal. It will take certain amount of time and affords. Below we will observe The US Immigration Process in more detailed way.
At first, let us determine who qualified by the US Law as an immigrant. An immigrant (also called a "lawful permanent resident") is a foreign national who has been granted the privilege of living and working permanently in the United States.
If you want to become an immigrant you must go through a multi-step process:
1. You must be eligible for US immigration under one of the paths to lawful permanent residency.
2. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must approve an immigrant visa petition for you, which is usually filed for you by an employer or a relative (your "sponsor"). Certain applicants can petition on their own behalf, such as priority workers, investors, certain special immigrants, and diversity immigrants.
3. If you are seeking to become a lawful permanent resident based on employment, your US employer may need to submit a labor certification request with the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.
4. An immigrant visa number, through the State Department must be immediately available to you, even if you are already in the United States.
5. If you are already in the United States, you may apply to adjust to permanent resident status after a visa number becomes available for you. (If you are outside the United States when an immigrant visa number becomes available for you, you must then go to your local US consulate to complete your processing.)
Let's observe who is eligible for US Immigration. It is the first question, which comes into one's mind after reading the steps of getting an American visa.
Well, it is known that the US immigration system is based primarily on family reunification, needed work skills, employment creation, and recognition of refugees. Also, there is a lottery for people who come from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. You must determine if you are eligible under one of the paths to US immigration, which include:
· Family Immigration
· Employment Immigration
· Investment Immigration
· Lottery
· Adoption
· Refugees & Asylum
Eligibility requirements vary not only for each path, but also within each path. The majority of immigrants are admitted based on family or employment, and these paths are further divided into categories based on a preference system. All people who want to become immigrants based on employment must wait for an immigrant visa number to become available according to the preference system. The immediate relatives of US citizens, which includes parents, spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21, do not have to wait for an immigrant visa number to become available once the immigrant visa petition filed for them is approved. An immigrant visa number will be immediately available for immediate relatives of US citizens. Other relatives must wait for a visa to become available according to the preference system.
According U.S. law there are limits in the number of immigrant visas. Every year it is certain number of visas, and it is one of the reasons for the preference system mentioned above. As a result, you may not get an immigrant visa number immediately after your immigrant visa petition is approved. In some cases, several years could pass between the time USCIS approves your immigrant visa petition and the State Department gives you an immigrant visa number. Because U.S. law also limits the number of immigrant visas available by country, you may have to wait longer if you come from a country with a high demand for U.S. immigrant visas.
Person who want to get an immigrant visa number do not directly apply for it. USCIS will tell those people who filed the immigrant visa petition (the petitioner) if it is approved. USCIS will then send the approved visa petition to the Department of State's National Visa Center, where it will remain until an immigrant visa number is available. The Center will notify you (the beneficiary of the application) when the visa petition is received and again when an immigrant visa number is available.
So, you've had the opportunity to see that it is not the simpliest thing to receive an American immigrant visa and become a full citizen. However, if you really want something, you will get it. Everything is in your hands.
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