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Life Act
and
amendments |
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On December
21, 2000 the President signed into law
significant new immigration legislation,
effective April 1, 2001. The Legal
Immigration and Family Equity (LIFE) Act
and amendments have effectively created
new categories of nonimmigrant visas,
including three V Visas, the K-3 Visa
and the K-4 Visa. Extremely helpful for
second preference beneficiaries and
spouses of U.S. citizens, these visas
will help ease the immigration process
for thousands of individuals, and
reunite families separated for long
periods of time during the process of
immigration.
The new categories will allow the
issuance of nonimmigrant visas to
spouses, children and, in some cases,
grandchildren of both lawful permanent
resident aliens and spouses of U.S.
citizens. Beneficiaries may apply for
admission to the U.S. as nonimmigrants
and then remain in the U.S. until the
visa petition is approved or denied. If
the petition is approved, beneficiaries
may continue to remain in the U.S. until
the application for adjustment of status
is approved or denied, or may seek an
immigrant visa at a consular office
abroad.
These new categories specifically relate
to spouses and children for whom an
immigrant visa or adjustment of status
is not available even though the
petition has been filed. This
unavailability may be due to lengthy
processing delays or the absence of
available visa numbers due to annual
visa limitations.
V Visas
The new V category is open to spouses
and unmarried children under the age of
21 of legal permanent residents (LPRs)
who have filed petitions for second
preference (F2A) status with the INS on
their behalf. These petitions must have
been filed on or before December 21,
2000.
Unmarried children under the age of 21
of those beneficiaries may also be
eligible for this classification.
Spouses who qualify for this status will
be classified as V1; children will be
classified as V2; and derivative
children of either spouses or children
will be classified as V3. In order to be
classified as V3, applicants must show
that they are the children of V1 or V2
status individuals. All applicants must
be eligible for visa issuance under all
other applicable immigration laws.
Because V Visas are only available for
petitions filed on or before December
21, 2000, the category will eventually
fade either in three years or when there
are no more eligible candidates.
Steps
Applicants must show that they have been
waiting at least three years for action
by the INS on their petition. If the INS
has approved the petition, applicants
must demonstrate they have not received
a visa number due to worldwide numerical
limitations, or that their adjustment of
status or immigrant visa is still
pending.
The National Visa Center will send a
special notice to all applicants who
filed petitions on or before December
21, 2000 when the priority date is at
least three years old (as long as the
INS has a petition record in its files
at the National Visa Center). The
informative letter will outline the
required documents and will instruct
applicants to contact a visa issuing
post. The letter will also contain
relevant contact information.
V Visas will only be processed at
current IV-issuing posts. Applicants
must apply at the consular post
designated in their I-130 petition.
Posts will only process applicants who
are residents of their consular
districts or who are residents of their
IV centralized region.
Documents
Because the V Visa functions as a
substitute for an immigrant visa, much
of the process is similar to that of
obtaining an immigrant visa. Applicants
may be asked to provide local documents
establishing family relations and, in
some cases, testimonials to establish
the truth of these relationships.
Applicants may also be asked to present
evidence to establish that their health
and criminal backgrounds meet standards
sufficient to protect the American
public.
K-3 and K-4 Visas
The new K visas are open to spouses of
U.S. citizens who are the beneficiaries
of an immigrant visa petition (I-130).
The spouses' unmarried children under
the age of 21 are also eligible. Unlike
the V category, there are no laws
enabling visa issuance for grandchildren
of the spouse or the petitioner.
Steps
Spouses who qualify for this status will
be classified as K3. In order to obtain
K3 classification, the nonimmigrant visa
petition must have been filed in the
U.S. by the U.S. citizen spouse.
Applicants must demonstrate that their
marriage to a U.S. citizen is valid,
that they are the beneficiaries of an
I-130 immigrant visa petition filed with
the INS, and that they wish to enter the
U.S. to await approval of the I-130
petition or the availability of an
immigrant visa.
If the petition has been approved,
beneficiaries may wish to process their
immigrant visas rather than the K3 visa.
When the beneficiary applies for the
nonimmigrant K3 visa the consular
officer will ask whether they wish to
find out if the approved petition has
been received from INS. If so, the
applicant may then have the petition
forwarded to the processing consular so
that the applicant may file an immigrant
visa application. The application should
be filed at the consular post designated
by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for Visa Services to process
immigrant visa applications for
nationals of the country in which the K3
processing post is located.
Children of spouses who qualify for this
status will be classified as K4. In
order to obtain K4 classification, the
candidate must establish that he/she is
the child of an alien entitled to K3
classification.
If the marriage of the beneficiary to
the U.S. citizen took place abroad, the
visa must be issued in the country where
the marriage took place. If the country
does not have a consular post, the
beneficiary must apply at the consular
post designated by the Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for Visa Services to
accept immigrant visa applications from
nationals of that country. If the
marriage took place in the U.S. the
applications must be filed in the
country of residence of the alien
spouse.
Documents
Because the K3 and K4 Visas function as
substitutes for immigrant visas, much of
the process is similar to that of
obtaining an immigrant visa. Applicants
may be asked to provide local documents
establishing family relations and, in
some cases, testimonials to establish
the truth of these relationships.
Applicants may also be asked to present
evidence to establish that their health
and criminal backgrounds meet standards
sufficient to protect the American
public.
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Temporary Visas
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Student Visas
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Work Visas
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Visitor Visas
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Other Visas
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