A
foreign national must get an immigrant visa to immigrate to the
United States and to live there permanently. There are different
types of immigrant visas that are available for the people who wish
to immigrate to the United states. It is not a very easy task to
immigrate to America and it involves filing various forms and various
steps are involved in the immigrant visa process.
Generally,
to immigrate to the United States and to apply for an immigrant visa,
a foreign national must be sponsored by a US citizen relative, US
Green Card holder or by a potential employer. Once you decide to
immigrate to the United States, the first step that you must take is
to file an immigrant visa application with the USCIS. An appropriate
form depending on your category must be filed.
If
the foreign national is sponsored by a US citizen or a lawful
permanent resident sponsor who is residing in the United States, the
person who is sponsoring must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien
Relative, with the USCIS Chicago or the Phoenix Lockbox facility. If
a US employer is offering a job to a
foreign national, the potential employer must file Form I-140,
Petition for Alien Worker.
The
immigrant visa petition filed by the US citizen family member or the
employer must be approved by USCIS. After the immigrant visa petition
is approved by USCIS, the preliminary processing of the visa with the
Department of State,
National Visa Center, will begin.
It is the duty of the National Visa
Center(NVC) to provide instructions to the sponsors and visa
applicants. The NVC will review the required Affidavit of Support
forms submitted by the sponsors. It will receive the required fees,
application forms and other supporting documents that are required.
Certain immigrant visa categories are assigned a numerical limit. For
such categories, the NVC will contact the applicant after the
priority date becomes current.
After
verification of the required documents, the NVC will schedule an
interview with US Embassies or Consulates. The immigrant visa
case files of the applicants will be sent by the NVC, to the US
Embassy or the Consulate, where the interview is scheduled. After you
get an interview appointment from the NVC, you must get prepared for
the immigrant visa interview. You must prepare for the medical exam
and make sure that you possess all the required original documents to
be submitted at the time of the interview.
Diversity Visa Program is another way
through which a foreign national may obtain an immigrant visa to
immigrate to the United States. This program provides visas to
applicants drawn from countries with low immigration rates to
America. The other immigrant types require a US sponsor, but the
Diversity Visa (DV) program does not require a US sponsor. It also
does not require a visa petition.
