Archive for category Green Card application
Information on U.S. agencies for new immigrants
Posted by Josun in Green Card application on May 12, 2010
Functions of federal and state agencies in getting your Green Card
Many new immigrants get confused which agency is responsible in their application to get their Green Cards (labor certification and permanent resident status). Documents in your application file may change hands before you get your Green Card. So, you need to know which agency is responsible in different fields. Here’s the summary of functions of these federal and state agencies:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
This new federal agency was established after September 11 attack to help protect the United States against future attacks. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) operates under this Department with its new name of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
USCIS is another federal agency to which you submit your petition to get your Green Card if you are in the United States. You submit your petition for permanent resident visa to consular sections of the U.S. embassy in your native country if you are applying outside the United States.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
ICE targets illegal immigrants and criminal activities that may threaten citizens of the United States. Activities of ICE are regulated USCIS (formerly INS) and U.S. Customs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
This is also another new federal agency established after 9/11 to make trade and travel secure and enforces laws related to immigration and drug trafficking.
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
Your Green Card allows you to stay and work in the United States. You get labor certification if you wish to work legally before you get your Green Card. Your permit to work in the United States is issued by DOL (Office of Foreign Labor Certification). However, you make your application to the USCIS, not DOL.
U.S. Department of State (DOS)
This federal agency is responsible for visa. You get your non-immigrant visa for your temporary stay in the United States. This is the first step. You, then travel to the United States and are physically allowed to enter by Customs Border Protection office at the airport, seaport or at other port-of-entry.
DOS also organizes distribution of limited number of Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery each year for citizens of eligible countries. If you are from a country that sends less than 20,000 immigrants to the U.S., then your chances of getting a Green Card is higher as DOS separates more diversity visas to your country.
We hope that you do not face any problem in your application as a new immigrant, however, if you do, then federal district courts handle your immigration status. So, you may apply to the federal district court if you encounter any problem with the USCIS.
Make your immigration paperwork complete and accurate
In order to make your petition for your Green Card, you have two options:
(1) Read immigration forms carefully and review some books on U.S. immigration at your local library or buy some books at a bookstore.
(2) Get the services of an immigration attorney. Many attorneys specialize in U.S. immigration law and can help you get your Green Card as soon as possible, especially if your case is not straightforward and you expect some problems.
You need to get certified translation of your documents into English
If your original documents are not in English language, then you need to submit “certified” translation of your documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decree, etc., if applicable. You may contact us for certified translation of your documents for the USCIS.
Non availability of birth certificate when applying for Green Card
Posted by Josun in Green Card application on April 19, 2010
What happens when you have no birth certificate?
Many immigrants face a problem of not having a birth certificate when applying to U.S. Immigration for their Green Card. People especially from several regions of India have never got birth certificate. We translated and certified non-availability of birth certificates from Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, and many other languages. Certificates issued by local governments for food supply contain information about the individuals and are used to prove the place and date of birth of the individual.
Many refugees do not have birth certificates
Modern-day tragedy still continues. Many people are being forced to leave their home country due to civil wars, riots, and political regime changes. These people leave their hometowns by leaving their belongings, including their valuable papers.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) accepts alternative documents for Green Card applications
In cases where our clients have no birth certificate, they try to find any official document that shows their place and date of birth, names of their father and mother, and any other relevant document. In many countries, civil registration offices, and in others, churches issue certificates containing birth certificate information. Certificates of baptism are common in many European countries.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security accepts certificates or some other official documents (driver’s license, passport, etc.) under different titles if the application does not have a birth certificate.
Embassy of your country can help you in getting your documents for immigration
If you lost your birth certificate, marriage license, divorce decree, or any other document, then you can contact the consular section of the embassy of your country. All embassies are located in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital. Some embassies have consulate offices in major cities such as New York, Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, Houston, and other cities and they ask you to contact the nearest consular office for your application. Many embassies have online system connected to their headquarters in native counties to facilitate issuance of birth certificates, marriage certificates, and other documents in a short period of time.
How can you get certified translation of your new certificate?
Any document that is not in English must be translated and certified for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS). Certified translation is on professional translation agency’s corporate letterhead with authorized signature, raised/embossed corporate seal with a statement as required by the USCIS. This “Certification by Translator” document certifies that (a) the translation is accurate and true, and (b) the translator is competent in translating such document.
Certified translation of your documents must be submitted to the USCIS in hard copy as copies (electronic or photocopied) are not acceptable.
How long does it take to get fiancé visa (K-1)?
Posted by Josun in Green Card application on February 6, 2010
Purpose: You need K1 visa to bring your foreign fiance to get married and living in United States.
USCIS Form: As a U.S. citizen, you make your petition by filing I-129F form with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS) office near you. USCIS office sends your petition to National Visa Center (NVC) upon approval. NVC sends it to consular section of U.S. Embassy in the country where your fiancé lives. Consulate officer contacts your fiancé and asks you fiance to apply for K-1 visa.
How long does it take? It takes two months if you lucky (workload of the consulate office is not heavy). In normal circumstances, it takes from two to six months.
U.S. embassy in your fiance’s country tries to help your fiancé as much as possible as a service to you, an American citizen.
How does fiancé visa process work?
Documents that your fiancé submits: birth certificate, valid passport, police clearance report, divorce decree or death certificate if your fiancé married before, medical examination report from doctors/health clinics listed by the embassy, two passport photographs, evidences that show that you are in a fiancé relationship in the past.
These documents must be accompanied with b (Non-Immigrant Fiancé Visa Application Form), DS-156K (Non-Immigrant Fiancé Visa Application), and Form I-134 (Affidavit of Support) that you will prepare and send.
Your fiancé goes through an interview at consular section of U.S. embassy and submits these documents and forms. Consular officer returns the originals after reviewing them and retaining the photocopies.
Please note that this information is obtained from our clients who asked us to have their documents translated into English and certified for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS). This is not a legal advice or a part of legal services. You need to check with an immigration attorney to get legal advice on this and other immigration matters.
H-1B Visa Petitions – New USCIS Rules on Petitioner-Beneficiary Relationship
Posted by Josun in Green Card application on January 31, 2010
In January 2010, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS) introduced new rules for handling the H-1B applications in a memorandum. According to this new memo, employer-employee relationship must exist between the petitioner and the person who will benefit from this petition (beneficiary). And, this relationship must continue during the whole period of H-1B employment.
The petitioner must be in control of or supervise the beneficiary. A self-employed consultant does not qualify. The petitioner (employer) must be able to hire and fire the beneficiary. There are some restrictions if supervision is off-site rather than on-site.
The product produced by the beneficiary must be in the same line of business with the petitioner. Payment of the beneficiary by the petitioner and evaluation of beneficiary’s work by the petitioner are important areas of interest for the USCIS to determine if the employer-employee relationship is real and the beneficiary is eligible to get H-1B visa.
Do I need to get apostille translated for USCIS?
Posted by Josun in Green Card application on September 8, 2009
When do you need apostille?
Apostille is an internationally accepted document certifying or legalizing your document (birth certificate, marriage certificate, police record, etc) that it has been issued properly by the right official agency. Apostille is generally required when you submit your documents to foreign government agencies, that is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS, formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS) when you apply for your Green Card (permanent resident visa).
What is apostille exactly?
Apostille refers to “certification” in French language and “legalization” in English language.
Rules relating to apostilles are stated in 1961 Hague (La Haye) Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. See if related county is Hague Convention countries listing (HCCH).
Almost all apostilles contain the same information: type of document, agency that issued the document with the name, title and signature of the issuing official.
How can you get your apostille translated for the USCIS?
Many translation agencies provide apostille translation together with your other immigration documents. You may get discount by having more documents translated at once rather than translation of each individually.
Getting Your Green Card
You may apply for Green Card under the following categories: (a) marrying an American citizen; (b) engaging to marry your U.S. citizen fiancé; (c) asking your family relatives (your father, mother, husband, wife, brother, sister, children over 21) who are “citizens” of United States; (d) asking your close family members (your father, mother, husband, wife) of Albanian origin, who have Green Card; (e) receiving employment offer from an American employer; (f) winning Diversity Visa Lottery in your native country; (g) investing your money in United States; (h) qualifying as special immigrant (recognized religious workers, foreign medical graduates, etc.); (i) requesting humanitarian protection (asylum, refugee) from persecution or fearing based on your race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group in your native country.
ACR Language Translation Services, subsidiary of ACR Systems Inc., founded in 1982, provides certified translation for Green Card when you apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS) for its clients applying for Green Card (permanent resident visa) and U.S. citizenship.
Tourist visa created big problem for Maria!
Posted by Josun in Green Card application on September 5, 2009
Maria, from Mexico City, has been chatting with Paul, from Denver, Colorado, over the Internet. Their relationship reached a level where they decided to get engaged. In March 2009, Paul invited Maria to meet his parents. Maria landed in Houston, Texas and entered Customs as her first stop in the United States. Immigration officer noticed Paul’s letter to Maria indicating his intention to get married. And, to Maria’s surprise, he told her that she could not enter the United States and had to go back to Mexico.
What went wrong? Maria obtained tourist visa from the U.S. Embassy’s consular section in Mexico City. Tourist visa was not the appropriate visa for people who intend to get married as reflected in Paul’s letter. What a big frustration for Maria and Paul!
Now, Paul is working with an immigration attorney to find a solution. Getting fiance visa followed up by a marriage within 90 days seems to be the right direction. Paul will prepare an invitation letter. National Visa Center will send the papers to U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Maria will submit certified translation of her birth certificate, single status statement, and few other papers to be able to come to the U.S.
Getting Your Green Card
You may apply for Green Card under the following categories: (a) marrying an American citizen; (b) engaging to marry your U.S. citizen fiancé; (c) asking your family relatives (your father, mother, husband, wife, brother, sister, children over 21) who are “citizens” of United States; (d) asking your close family members (your father, mother, husband, wife) of Albanian origin, who have Green Card; (e) receiving employment offer from an American employer; (f) winning Diversity Visa Lottery in your native country; (g) investing your money in United States; (h) qualifying as special immigrant (recognized religious workers, foreign medical graduates, etc.); (i) requesting humanitarian protection (asylum, refugee) from persecution or fearing based on your race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group in your native country.
ACR Language Translation Services, subsidiary of ACR Systems Inc., founded in 1982, provides certified translation for Green Card when you apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS) for its clients applying for Green Card (permanent resident visa) and U.S. citizenship.
Welcome!
Posted by Josun in Green Card application on September 2, 2009
Welcome to Green Card and U.S. citizenship news blog. Read information and most recent news to get your Green Card or American citizenship easily and successfully. Learn from success stories of others and find links to expand your knowledge to live and work in the United States