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What kind of visa do i need to apply for to stay in the usa for 6 months(visiting friends and relatives)? – Yahoo! Answers http://ping.fm/TOJ0b
Visas: everything you need to know
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I am travelling to USA and need a visa MORE than 90 days for a tourist, what visa do i need? – Immigration – Avvo.com http://ping.fm/ul4kF
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This type of visa will allow you to obtain the Green Card for you, your spouse and your unmarried children under 21 years old.
If you are an extremely talented alien, you may qualify for this visa. People who qualify for this visa are usually at the top of their field. There are no restrictions on the type of fields eligible for this type of visa.
People who qualify for this type of visa are given special preference. Therefore, unlike many other types of visas that take years to obtain, this one is given special priority.
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Question: I have a friend that has been in a most unfortunate circumstance. She was actually kidnapped from her home and sold into the underground world of sex slaves. Somehow, she escaped and fled to the U.S. She has no higher education or any job skills and no other family in the U.S. Is there anything she can do to stay here in the U.S.?
Answer: Yes, there is a new visa named the T Visa. To qualify, the person must be a victim of severe trafficking in persons. This can be a sex slave as you have mentioned, or it can be other forms of trafficking in persons such as slaves or involuntary servitude of any kind. The services provided must have been done under coercion or force.
Question: What must my friend do to avail herself of this T Visa?
Answer: First, she must be a victim of severe trafficking of persons. Next, she must be physically in the U.S. on account of such trafficking. If she is older than 15 years old, she must have tried to get the law enforcement officials in her home country to try to stop the acts. She must also show that if removed, she will suffer extreme hardship and harm. The application must be filed at the INS Service Center where she is present.
Question: My friend is too young to make it by herself, even if she gets the T Visa. Can her parents come and help and live with her?
Answer: Yes, the family members of a T Visa holder can get what is known as derivative status. This means that the parents and children (if they exist) can apply for the derivative T Visa. This is unique in visas. Normally, the parents do not derive any benefits from a visa obtained by their child. However, in this case, because of the nature of the visa, Congress has sought to allow parents to avail of this relief. The derivative applications must be sent along with the original application by the primary applicant.
Question: How long will my friend be able to stay on T status?
Answer: It can be issued for up to three years. There is no renewing this visa. However, after the three years, your friend can apply for Lawful Permanent Residency. Additionally, as long as the principal applicant (your friend) remains eligible, the family members also on T Visa can apply for Lawful Permanent Residency themselves.
Question: Assuming my friend gets the visa, is she guaranteed to get the Green Card?
Answer: Unfortunately, there is never a guarantee when it comes to immigration. However, in this case, there are specific provisions that allow INS to revoke or take away the visa status. The regulations do not specifically state how or why INS would revoke it, but assumably if the threat no longer exists, or they found out that it was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation, they could decide to revoke the visa. If this happens, they could be removed from the U.S. However, on the whole, this T Visa appears to benefit people who suffer extreme and outrageous conduct by other people. This is the United States stating to the world that anyone who is subjected to this cruelty will be welcome and allowed inside the U.S.
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Question: I have tried to come to the United States on different types of visas, but have been denied at each turn. I cannot get a Visitor Visa and do not qualify for an H-1B work visa. I have also been denied the Student Visa. Do you have any suggestions?
Answer: The J Visa is very versatile. One can come in on the J Visa for many types of purposes. For example, the J Visa is available for students, professors and research scholars, short-term scholars, trainees, specialists, foreign medical graduates, international and government visitors, teachers, camp counselors and au pairs.
Question: Can you explain in some more detail what is involved with these categories?
Answer: For the students, a J is available for persons going to colleges that have been approved with a J Program. Students under certain conditions are allowed to work.
A trainee is one of the more popular uses of the J Visa. A trainee as an individual participating in a structured training program conducted by the selecting sponsor. The primary purpose of the trainee category is to enhance the exchange visitor’s skills in his or her specialty or non-specialty occupation through participation in a structured training program and to improve the participant’s knowledge of American techniques, methodologies, or expertise. The following areas are available for issuance of the J-1 Visa. Arts and culture; information media and communications; education, social sciences; library science, counseling and social services; management, business, commerce and finance; health-related occupations; aviation; the sciences, engineering, architecture, mathematics, and industrial occupations; construction and building trades; agriculture, forestry and fishing; public administration and law; and various other occupations as specified by the sponsor.
A J-1 specialist is defined as an individual who is an expert in a field of specialized knowledge or skill coming to the United States for observing, consulting, or demonstrating special skills. This category does not include professors, research scholars, short-term scholars, or foreign physicians in training programs. This type of J-1 can by used in lieu of the H-1B.
The au pair program permits foreign nationals to enter the United States for up to one year to live with a U.S. host family and participate directly in the home life of the family while providing limited child care services and attending a U.S. post-secondary educational institution.
Professors and research scholars may be sponsored as J-1 exchange visitors to engage in research, teaching, lecturing, observing, or consulting at research facilities, museums, libraries, post-secondary accredited educational institutions, or similar institutions.
Foreign medical graduates sponsored by accredited academic institutions with designated exchange visitor programs may come to the United States as exchange visitors for the purposes of observation, consultation, teaching, or research.
Teachers may be sponsored as exchange visitors to teach full-time at accredited primary or secondary educational institutions.
Secondary school students may come to the United States as J exchange visitors for up to one year to study at a U.S. public or private secondary school, while living with a U.S. host family or at an accredited U.S. boarding school.150 Participants must pursue a full course of study at an accredited educational institution for at least one and not more than two academic semesters.
A camp counselor is an individual selected to be a counselor in a summer camp in the United States who imparts skills to American campers and information about his or her country or culture. Participation in camp counselor exchange programs is limited to foreign nationals who are at least 18 years old and are bona fide youth workers, students, teachers, or individuals with special skills.
The summer/student travel work program is a program that authorizes foreign university students to travel and work in the United States during their summer vacations to involve the students directly in daily life in this country through temporary employment opportunities.
As you can see, the J Visa offers many options. While there may be a two-year foreign residency requirement, many times this type of visa offers the only hope for getting into the U.S.
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Title: Can I win the Lottery?
Question: I have heard a lot about the Diversity Lottery. Can you explain what that is?
Answer: Yes. The diversity lottery is very much what its name implies. It is a lottery that people enter in order to get picked by the United States and to become Lawful Permanent Residents of the United States. It makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 111,000 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first 50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2004 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2004 (October 1, 2003 until September 30, 2004).
Question: How exactly does it work?
Answer: Applicants registered for the DV-2004 program were selected at random from the approximately 7.3 million qualified entries received during the one-month application period that ran from Noon on October 7, 2002 through Noon on November 6, 2002. An additional 2.9 million applications were either received outside of the mail-in period or were disqualified for failing to properly follow directions. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions, with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.
Question: If someone is selected for the lottery, are there any qualifications that need to be presented?
Answer: During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.
Question: Does someone from the Philippines qualify to enter the Diversity Lottery?
Answer: Unfortunately not. The Philippines has a high rate of immigration to the United States, and therefore, they will not qualify. However, spouses from qualifying countries can apply. Also, friends from other countries should take advantage of this program.
Question: When does the next Diversity Lottery begin?
Answer: They may try for the upcoming DV-2005 lottery if they wish. The exact dates for the mail-in period for the DV-2005 lottery program will be widely publicized during August 2003. Normally, the mail-in period is for one month beginning sometime in October.
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Question: I entered the United States on a Visitor Visa. I have been here for about 4 months and my status will expire in another two months. Can I simply extend my status without going back to my home country?
Answer: Prior to September 11, 2001, it would not have been a problem. These types of extensions were quite easy and were usually approved without any problems. However, after September 11, 2001, new regulations have come out regarding the B1/B2 Visitor Visa. These regulations first were issued to make it clear that persons entering the United States do not automatically get a Visitor Visa for six months. Rather, they could get the Visitor Visa for only a month, or the time required for the stay in the United States. Thus, you might have been able to get a Visitor Visa at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate for six months, but when you entered the United States, the Immigration and Naturalization Service might have only given you a lawful stay of 30 days.
This has had the effect of decreasing the number of people who visit the United States. Realistically, when you are traveling from around the world or some distant country, it was not worth the risk for people to stay only a month (especially if this was a once or twice in lifetime type of vacation.) Also, the uncertainty of being issued a Visitor Visa at the Consulate for a certain period of time, only to have it reduced significantly at the border did not bode well with travelers.
Now, the Immigration and the Naturalization Service has denied many extensions for Visitor Visas. Additionally, many of the ones that have been granted have been granted for only 15 to 45 days. While some extensions are being granted, a large number of extensions are getting what is known as a Request for Evidence. This is a document whereby the Immigration and Naturalization Service does not yet deny the extension, but rather, asks for more information before making a decision. Some Requests for Evidence are intensive consisting of many pages. In some cases, by time you get the response to the Request for Evidence, either the extension is denied, or it was approved for a very small time which has already passed.
Question: What happens if the denial comes, or if your status is extended, but by time you get the approval notice, the approval date has already passed?
Answer: You will most likely be out of status. If this occurs, then you will not be able to change your status or adjust your status in the United States. You will have to leave the United States and go back to your home country in order to reapply for the Visitor Visa. Once they see that you have been out of status, it will be very difficult to get the Visitor Visa. Additionally, the Consulate or Embassy officers will see that you have just come back from the United States and may not believe you are intending on returning to your home country. Finally, depending on how long it has been since you were out of status, you might be barred from coming back into the United States for the next 10 years.
Question: Is there any other way to remain in the United States without having to go back to my home country?
Answer: Yes. Rather than an extension of your status, you would apply for a change of status to some other type of status. You can obtain a Student change of status. This will allow you after it is approved to go to a designated school. Alternatively, there are a myriad of different types of work visas to allow you to work legally and remain in the country. At this point, I would not recommend doing the extension of the Visitor Visa. Rather, I would recommend that you change your status to some other type of status such as student, exchange or work status.
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Question: I am a member of the crew on a luxury ship. I know many of my friends have basically ‘jumped ship’ once they got to the U.S. They would just be on the crew list and then once came to the U.S. they would jump ship, not return and are now illegally living in the U.S. Some have been deported and others cannot find work. Why does the U.S. make it so easy to do this?
Answer: Previously, the law permitted a crew member to enter the United States on the basis of a crew manifest that has been given visas by a consular officer. However, this does not require a consular officer to visa a crew manifest and it authorizes the officer to deny admission to any individual alien whose name appears on a given visas crew manifest. However, in most instances, each and every crew member was not interviewed for the visa. It was the ‘crew manifest’ that was used. Now, the Crew List Visa has been eliminated.
Question: Why Has the Department Eliminated the Crew List Visa?
Answer: The Department has eliminated the crew list visa for security reasons. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Department has reviewed its regulations to ensure that every effort is being made to screen out persons whom they deem to be undesirable. By eliminating the crew list visa, the Department will ensure that each crewmember entering the United States is be required to complete the nonimmigrant visa application forms, submit a valid passport and undergo an interview and background checks. Additionally, visas issued after October 26, 2004 have a biometric indicator. This means crew list visas would necessarily be eliminated by that date.
Question: Won’t this now make it more difficult for crewman to get visas in the first-place?
Answer: Regarding difficulties for crewmen obtaining individual visas caused by last-minute scheduling, the Department recognizes the problem, but continues to believe that the security of the U.S. demands individual crew visas despite the dislocations that the requirement may cause initially. Nevertheless, the Department hopes that shipping companies and unions will encourage their employees and members to obtain visas where there is a reasonable possibility that a crewman may be required to enter the U. S. at any time.
Thus, as with most immigration related visa issues, it is getting more difficult to enter the U.S. Hopefully, this increased scrutiny and way of issuing visas will not hamper or impair the shipping industry into the U.S. Many ships change schedules during the last minute, or have to get crew persons to work the ships at a moments notice. If they cannot get the proper people to man and work the ships, it is possible that this new regulation and way of individually issuing visas to crewmembers will have an effect on the U.S. economy. Additionally, for those people who ‘jumped ship’, it is likely that they can and will still continue to do so as they will still be in the U.S. upon arrival. Clearly, persons should not do this and should find alternatives around coming to the U.S. and staying illegally. However, the new policy of issuing visas individually to crew members may not have the desired effect that the U.S. intends.
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