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The U.S. Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica has announced that as of March 24, 2010 all non-immigrant visa applicants must submit their applications online. The Department of State has changed the forms for all non-immigrant visa applications. The new DS-160 form replaces the current DS-156 non-immigrant visa application. The new form is completed online and the information is submitted to the U.S. Embassy electronically. This move to go paperless was made in an effort to improve efficiency, accuracy and security for all visa applicants.

The new form will be available online beginning March 4, 2010 and the paperless system will go into effect on Marcy 24, 2010. After that date, non-immigrant visa applicants must bring a printed DS-160 confirmation sheet, passport, and a visa application fee paid receipt from any National Commercial Bank Jamaica Branch. Please keep in mind that only the visa application process at the U.S. Embassy has changed. All non-immigrant visa applicants will still be required to attend an interview where their qualifications for a visa will be determined.

At the Visa Lawyer Group, our visa lawyers stay current on all the developing changes to U.S. immigration policies. Ensuring a smooth immigration process is our priority. To learn more about our services or to speak to one of our attorneys, please schedule a free consultation with us today.

The Department of States has issued new procedures for adjudication of I-129F at the U.S. Consulates/Embassies around the world. These new procedures apply to K-3 Visa Petitions filed by a U.S. citizen spouse. A K-3 Visa Petition allows the spouse of a U.S. citizen to come to the United States while the I-130 is being processed. In order to qualify for a K-3 Visa, a marriage based immigrant visa petition must first be filed by the U.S. citizen spouse. Once the marriage based visa petition is filed and a receipt notice received the petitioner can file for a K-3 non immigrant visa petition.

Effective February 1, 2010, if the National Visa Center (NVC) receives approvals for both the K-3 non immigrant visa petition and the marriage based immigrant petition at the same time the National Visa Center will administratively close the K-3 visa petition and process the marriage based immigrant visa instead.

If the National Visa Center does not receive both at the same time it will process the K-3 non immigrant visa petition. National Visa Center will send the petition to the Embassy/Consulate in the country where the marriage took place. If the marriage took place in the United States, National Visa Center will send the petition to the embassy/consulate in the country of your nationality.

At the Visa Lawyer Group, our attorneys stay current on all the developing changes to U.S. immigration policies. Ensuring a smooth immigration process is our priority. To learn more about our services or to speak to one of our attorneys, please contact Visa Lawyer Group today.

Congratulations. Now, welcome to the wonderful world of U.S. immigration law. Immigration laws for family members are not very friendly. There is plenty of information out there about marriage based visas for spouses of U.S. citizens. But what about marriage based visas for spouse of legal permanent residents or green card holders? What are their options? The process for filing a marriage based immigrant visa is essentially the same for U.S. citizens and green card holders. The difference is the amount of time it takes to get an I-130 approved. For U.S. citizens, an I-130 marriage visa can be approved within five to six months after submission. This is because certain relationships qualify for immediate relative status. These relationships include husband/wife, parent/minor child, adult child/parent. Immediate relative status is the golden status for immigration purposes. Qualifying for this status does not mean that you move ahead of the line, it means that you move past the line completely. Beneficiaries of such relationship statuses do not have to wait for a visa number to become available and thus can travel into the U.S. as green card holders as soon as the processing by USCIS and Department of State is complete.

Green card holders on the other hand do not benefit from any such qualification. Spouses of green card holders have to wait in line for a visa number to become available. Currently, the waiting time for a spouse of a U.S. citizen is approximately four years for most countries. That is a very long wait for a marriage and unfortunately nothing can be done without congressional intervention. But what many green card holders sometimes forget is that they may qualify for naturalization. A process the completion of which upgrade and move the marriage based visa petition along. Green card holders wait too long to file for citizenship. There is always a possibility of simultaneously filing for both a N400 Application for Naturalization and I-130 Marriage Based Immigrant Visa Petition. This way both applications are processed at approximately the same time and the naturalization can be approved while the I-130 is pending. You have to wait for a visa number to become available anyway so why not be productive during that time and get your U.S. citizenship as well.

Visa Lawyer Group is an immigration law firm that provides legal assistance to clients around the world. Our immigration lawyers can be contacted to work on a variety of immigration related issues. For more information please schedule a free consultation, email us at info@visalawyergroup.com or call us at (845) 353-3500. Our immigration and visa lawyers are based in New York with offices in Nyack and Manhattan. Learn more about Visa Lawyer Group.

U.S. immigration is always a popular topic of discussion. The focus of the discussion is mostly centered on changing the archaic and sometimes contradicting immigration laws embodied in the Immigration and Nationality Act passed by Congress in the late 1990s. The new administration, along with members of Congress make promises to the immigrant communities about reform and a pathway to legalization for the millions of undocumented immigrants in this country. Unfortunately, nothing is said about the system itself, until about two days ago.

The Immigration Commission established by the American Bar Association published a report calling on Congress to overhaul the current court system and create a new, independent immigration court system, similar to tax court in the United States. The American Bar Association is a voluntary, national membership organization for the legal organization. The ABA’s Commission on Immigration focuses on the Association’s efforts to ensure due process and fair treatment to all immigrants and refugees in the United States. The published report describes the current court system and lays out its rationale for a brand new system.

The current immigration court system is not a part of the judiciary; instead it is an administrative style proceeding controlled by the Department of Homeland Security. The immigration judges, sitting on the bench, are essentially employees of the Attorney General. Immigration judges are constantly inundated by a caseload they can barely handle. The American Bar Association proposes that the immigration courts should be independent from the Department of Homeland Security and established under the terms of Article I of the U.S. Constitution. The report also states that the highest judges should be appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. The American Immigration Lawyer’s Association has promised to review the report and the proposed system and provide its feedback.

For more read: http://www.abanet.org/media/nosearch/immigration_reform_executive_summar...

Visa Lawyer Group is an immigration law firm that provides legal assistance to clients around the world. Our immigration lawyers can be contacted to work on a variety of immigration related issues and our US visa lawyers have successfully prepared and filed over 1,000 visa applications with USCIS and U.S. Consulates around the world including but not limited to, India, Jordan, Bosnia, Russia, China, Brazil, Germany and Italy. Please contact them for a free consultation here or at info@visalawyergroup.com and at (845)353-3500. Our immigration and visa lawyers are based in New York with offices in Nyack and Manhattan, New York City.

It has been over a year since the Department of Homeland Security announced the creation of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). This system was designed for visitors who come into the United States from a Visa-Waiver qualifying countries. The system went active on August 1, 2008 but not many travelers are aware of it. The new policy requires foreign nationals from visa waiver countries to register with the system prior to their arrival in the United States. Once registered, the Department of Homeland Security will review the applications and approve them within 72 hours. Once approved, the authorization is good for a period of two years and allows for multiple entries. It is important to note that ESTA approval only authorizes a traveler to board a carrier for travel to the U.S. under the VWP (Visa Waiver Program). An ESTA approval does not guarantee admissibility at the port of entry. All visitors from the visa waiver countries must register with the ESTA prior to boarding a carrier bound to the United States.