Procuring immigration visas vary from country to country, as the legal formalities of immigration services are never the same in each of these countries. There are varies norms and protocols that one must follow if they want to live in a different country and want to obtain an immigrant visa. This is the first necessary step as well as a legal obligation to become a permanent resident by the permission of the law of that country.
Let’s take an instance of immigration services in the United States. There are different types of immigration formalities that one must follow if you’re planning to migrate to the U.S. and looking for immigration visas. You have to fill all required forms and completed immigrant visa processes. As most of the immigrant visas commonly come under two categories, namely, visas in the family and visas based on employment status.
It is best if you have a relative based on the U.S. who can sponsor your visas, you will be eligible to apply for the visa. However, if you have an onsite opportunity to U.S. your prospective employer can sign in for your visa approval. Subsequently, there is no second doubt that eventually, you can settle as a permanent resident of the U.S. The sponsor files a petition on the foreign citizen’s behalf with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to begin the immigration process.
The U.S. based citizen can file an immigrant visa petition for:
- Spouse
- Brother or sister
- Son or daughter
- Parent
If you are legally approved permanent resident of the U.S, you can file an immigrant visa petition for:
- Spouse
- Unmarried son or daughter
The immigration process starts when your sponsoring family member must file an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
If your prospective employer is sponsoring your immigrant visa, a U.S. employer may choose the eligible people from the lot. They would hire the skilled employees for the permanent job and sponsor them. In certain rare cases U.S. law allows prospective immigrants to sponsor themselves. In accordance to this U.S. law provides special immigrant categories and immigrant investor program. If your sponsoring employer wants to begin the immigration process, they must file an I-140 Petition for Alien Worker with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In certain special categories, you will be able to file the I-140 petition yourself.
To maintain the law and uniformity, the law of the United States maintains a strict limitation of granting of the number of visas each year. In various immigrant visa categories, they allow visas to a certain limit. If the application limit exceeds, they put it back on waiting lists. The immigration department then follows a chronological order to provide the available immigrant visas in the same pattern the petitions were filed. The date when the petition was filed would then be called a priority date.
There are more categories likewise. If a U.S. citizen wants to apply for a visa for his or her fiancée can also sign for a petition for immigration for his or her fiancée to be married in the United States. If a U.S. permanent resident is adopting an orphan from abroad, they would need to sign a petition for the immigration process. There are more immigrant visa categories covering special types of workers. The immigrant visas can be granted by the U.S. law under special circumstances and to the special cases.
There is an annual program for diversity visas conducted by the United States law.
The four main categories of immigration status in the U.S are:
- U.S. Citizens – They are the people who were born in the U.S. or are settled in the U.S. for over three or five years as permanent residents.
- Permanent or Conditional Residents – Legal permanent residents are those who have a “green card”. The conditional residents are those who have been married less than two years before receiving the “green card”. However, you need to remove the condition within two years of receiving the card; otherwise, the card will be terminated followed by deportation to your original country.
- Non-Immigrants – The people who are temporarily yet legally residing in the country are non-immigrants. The examples under this category are, students (F-1 visa), business visitors or tourists (B1/B2 visas), fiancées (K-1 visa) and individuals granted temporary protected status.
- Undocumented – The people who are residing in the country without permission, or illegally, are called undocumented. They do not have permission to live in the country but residing without proper or legal documents.
Under any circumstance, to reside in a country without legal procedures and documents can expose a country as well as an individual to various risks. It is suggested to go through the right legal procedures to obtain the immigrant visas.