Immigration Lawyers in Houston, Texas – U.S. Immigrant Visa Attorney
USA Immigration Frequently Asked Questions:
- Can I sponsor a member of my family for a visa to come to America?
- I live in another country. How can I want to move to the United States?
- If a foreign national is ineligible for legal permanent resident status, are there other ways to enter the US legally?
- What is the diversity lottery?
- What are nonimmigrant visas?
- How do I extend my stay in the US?
- If I have been granted a temporary work visa, may my wife and child accompany me to the US?
- What are deportable offenses?
- Is there a limit on the number of refugees and asylum seekers that are allowed to enter the US each year?
Q: Can I sponsor a member of my family for a visa to come
to America?
A: If you are a citizen of the United States,
you are allowed to sponsor your spouse, your parents, your brothers
and sisters, your minor children or even your adult children regardless
of their marital status. In other words, you would be able to seek
to obtain an immigrant visa for them.
If you are not a citizen of the United States, but you are the
holder of a green card (which means that you are a lawful permanent
resident (LPR)), you are allowed to sponsor your spouse and your
unmarried children.
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Q: I live in another country. How can I want to move to
the United States?
A: The two main ways a foreign national can gain
LPR status is to be sponsored by 1) family member who is a citizen
or lawful permanent resident; or 2) an employer for a permanent,
full-time employment position in the US. Foreign nationals also
may be eligible to register for the diversity lottery and refugees
may be able to resettle in the US or apply for asylum.
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Q: If a foreign national is ineligible for legal permanent
resident status, are there other ways to enter the US legally?
A: Foreign nationals may be able to enter the
US for a temporary amount of time with a nonimmigrant visa. However,
to receive a nonimmigrant visa, the foreign national must meet the
requirements for one of the nonimmigrant categories. Those wishing
to visit family members in the US, travel, conduct business, enroll
in a technical school or university or seek temporary employment
may be eligible for a nonimmigrant visa.
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Q: What is the diversity lottery?
A: The diversity lottery is a Department of State
program which issues 50,000 visas each year to foreign nationals
from countries with low immigration rates to the US. Foreign nationals
who meet the criteria for the lottery are placed into a pool and
randomly selected by a computer program for the available visas.
Only foreign nationals from countries that sent less than 50,000
immigrants to the US over the past five years are eligible for the
lottery.
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Q: What are nonimmigrant visas?
A: Nonimmigrant visas are visas that allow foreign
nationals to travel to the US for a temporary amount of time for
a specific purpose, such as education or business. Applicants for
these types of visas must return home before their visas expire,
or they may face deportation. The amount of time an applicant can
remain in the US on a nonimmigrant visa varies by the purpose of
the visa. For example, a temporary agricultural worker may only
be authorized to remain in the US for six months, while a student
enrolled in a graduate program may be authorized to stay for as
long as they remain enrolled on a full time basis.
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Q: How do I extend my stay in the US?
A: To extend the amount of time a foreign national
may remain in the US on a nonimmigrant visa, he or she must apply
for an extension with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The request should be applied for well in advance of the foreign
national's last authorized day in the US. To be eligible for an
extension, the foreign national may not have violated any of the
terms of his or her nonimmigrant status, and may not have committed
any deportable offenses while in the US.
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Q: If I have been granted a temporary work visa, may my
wife and child accompany me to the US?
A: The spouse and minor children of an applicant
who has received a temporary work visa may be eligible to join the
temporary worker in the US. However, the spouse and child will need
to apply and be approved for the appropriate type of nonimmigrant
visa in order to travel to the US. Additionally, the worker applicant
will need to be able to prove his or her ability to provide food,
shelter and care for the dependent spouse and child while they are
in the US. Under most circumstances, the spouse and child will not
be allowed to work in the US.
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Q: What are deportable offenses?
A: Deportable offenses are those actions for which
an alien may be forced to leave the US and return to his or her
home country. Some of the deportable offenses include using fraudulent
documents to enter the US, providing material misrepresentations
to receive a visa, committing certain types of crimes (like drug
crimes or other felonies), posing a threat to national security,
helping others enter the country illegally, overstaying a visa and
voting illegally.
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Q: Is there a limit on the number of refugees and asylum
seekers that are allowed to enter the US each year?
A: Currently, there is a limit on the number
of refugees, but not on the number of asylum seekers. The annual
limit for refugees is calculated each year based on the current
global population of refugees. Using information from the State
Department, the President works with Congress to determine the number
of refugees that should be admitted to the US for resettlement.
The total number is then allocated by region (Africa, East Asia,
Europe and Central Asia, Latin America/Caribbean and Near East/South
Asia) with a number set aside for reserve in cases of humanitarian
emergency.
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Our Immigration Law Services: Get help with your Visas
To learn more about immigration law, please review the general
information we have provided. To speak with an experienced immigration
attorney, please contact the
Houston immigration law attorneys at The Solomon Firm, P.C. today.
Call for a Free Consultation • Credit Cards Accepted • Payment
Plans • Competitive Fees
We Speak English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, German, and Italian,
in addition to English.
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* Not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in any
practice area.
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