Can Anyone Apply For Visas?

American immigration law has always allowed foreign visitors into this country, although the requirements have changed often over the years and have now become more complex, often requiring the legal advice of immigration lawyers.  However, immigration law does limit who can enter this country, and why.  Immigration law often requires that visitors obtain visas for the specific purpose they want to visit.  Approval of the length of their visit is also required under immigration law.  It can be a detailed and complicated process, so it is often valuable to consult with an immigration lawyer to help complete the forms and fees immigration law requires. 

Who Can Obtain Visas   

Immigration law allows two types of people to obtain visas.  Under immigration law, those who want to schedule a short visit can enter under non-immigrant status.  Those who want to establish permanent residence must apply for immigrant status, often with the help of an immigration lawyer. 

Non-immigrant Visas
   
Immigration law allows several categories of temporary visitors who have a specific purpose.  In some cases, the process is not complex and can be handled through the visitor’s home country and the American consulate without an immigration lawyer.  Those visitors can obtain tourist visas and business visitor visas, which have time limits of one year, but can be renewed for additional six-month periods. 

There are nineteen other categories of non-immigrant visas that are more complex and restricted and often do require the assistance of an immigration lawyer to fulfill immigration law.  These visas are issued for diplomats, students, representatives of international organizations, temporary workers, foreign media, foreign workers with exceptional abilities or degrees, entertainers, cultural exchange participants, and religious workers, among others.

For many of these temporary visitors immigration law has established quotas for each category, making this complex and time-consuming process nearly impossible without the assistance of immigration lawyers.  One of the common categories includes temporary workers with “specialty occupations” who require a specific employer, generally with the advice of immigration lawyers, to sponsor them, obtain a labor certificate, and obtain approval for visas for the specific employee they are bringing into their business. 

Immigration law then requires a visa number, which may not become available for quite some time, depending on the quotas for those types of visas and those countries.  In cases of long delays, immigration lawyers may be able to find the glitch and solve the difficulty quickly.  Immigration law then allows them to enter the country for three years, with the possibility of a three-year extension.  The processes for other categories differ by the need, quotas, and security risk of the visitor, and they may require immigration lawyers to help fulfill the requirements of immigration law. 

Visitors who have once had their request for temporary visas rejected face an even more difficult process that can be expedited by an immigration lawyer.

Immigrant Visas

Immigration law allows those who wish to establish permanent residence in the United States to apply for immigrant visas, as well, although these are generally so complex, time consuming, and detailed, that the expertise of an immigration lawyer can be required to decipher immigration law. 

Under immigration law, both aliens living abroad and those already in the U.S. with temporary work visas, student visas, and temporary refugee status can apply for these visas with their immigration lawyers.  In the latter cases, immigration law requires that legal U.S. temporary residents and their immigration lawyers apply for an adjustment in status with the bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). 

There are some categories of visas under immigration law for which there are no quotas, or legal limits.  These include the immediate family members of U.S. citizens, resident aliens returning home after traveling abroad, and former citizens.  Immigrants in these categories generally do not need the help of an immigration lawyer to obtain visas unless those family relationships are complex and require corroborating evidence provided by that immigration lawyer.  All others are subject to a quota, which often means additional paperwork supplied by immigration lawyers, as well as often-significant delays.  There are two primary categories of visas with such time limits, including:

• Family members who are not considered immediate family but nevertheless are eligible for immigrant visas through a multi-step sponsorship/application process which can be facilitated by an immigration lawyer
• Foreign workers with “specialty” skills or occupations, who must not only apply for their own visas, but be sponsored by a specific employer for a specific position.  Again, there are additional steps to applications for these visas and an immigration lawyer can speed the process

Diversity Lottery Visas

Finally, there are countries that generally have fewer applicants for visas than most others, and immigration law places them in a “diversity immigration program.”  To be sure that applicants are eligible for these visas it may be helpful to consult an immigration lawyer.