This article will discuss how you can get work, study or residence visa in the US through a family relation or employer that is a citizen of the country. It also contains the application requirements and the amount needed to carry out the process. So, let’s get down to Get Form For American Visa Sponsorship.

Get Form For American Visa Sponsorship

What’s an American Immigration Visa

An American Immigrant visa is a type of visa issued to holders to enable them to live in the country permanently. It allows the holder to live, work and study in the U.S or carry out any permitted activities. There is no need for renewal or extensions. It is valid for as long as you live. The visa is a sponsored-type visa in which a U. S resident or an employer in the US can file for the application of the visa on behalf of the beneficiary.

Also, when you live in the United States for a period of 10 years, doing all that the state wants and shunning what it frowns at, you will be able to apply for a U.S permanent resident (green card) that will make you become a citizen.

Types of American Immigrants Visa

There are basically two types of immigrants’ visa which are further splinted into categories. These are:

1. Immediate Relative and Family Sponsored Visas: This visa is meant for foreigners who are seeking to join their close family permanently in the U.S. The close family here include; parents, fiancé, spouse or child. It does not include uncle, grandparents, niece and the likes. The visa is also got an individual who is engaged or married to a U.S citizen.

This visa type is further sub-divided into entities based on specification. Some of which are;

• IR1 Visa for spouse of a US citizen (legally married)
• IR2 Visa for unmarried child (usually under the age of 21) of US citizen
• IR3 Visa for orphan (adopted abroad) by a U.S. citizen
• IR4 Visa for orphan ( adopted in the United States) by a U.S. citizen
• IR5 Visa for parents of US citizens (must be at least 21 years old)

Documents Required for Relative and Family Sponsored Visa

The documents required for processing immediate relative and family sponsored visas include:

• International Passport
• Passport Photographs
• Appointment Letter and Courier Confirmation Page
• Birth Certificate.
• Adoption Certificate (if applicable).
• Marriage Certificate (if applicable).
• Police Certificates.
• Statutory Declaration/Change of Name Deed Poll (if applicable).
• Evidence of Support (Affidavit of Support).
• Translations.
• Visa Fees

2. Employment Sponsored Visa: This is the visa petitioned by an employer to allow employee work and live permanently in the U.S. The employee must have a proven excellence qualifications before the petition can be approved. The visa allows holders to own a property, get driving license, and study in the U.S. A total of 140, 000 of this visa is used annually. Employment Sponsored Visa is further subdivided into categories based on job type, some of which are:

• EB-1 Visa for professors, researchers, athletes, and Executive Managers with few years of experience working in a U.S firm in oversea.
• EB-2 Visas are for professionals with advanced degrees, and those who have extraordinary abilities in art, science, or business.
• EB-3 Visas are for skilled workers, professional with higher education degree and unskilled workers with less than two years’ experience.
• EB-4 Visas are for those who work in religious organizations; public or governmental sector, or international organizations.
• EB-5 Visas for those who want to invest in the U.S.

Note: The EB-5 visa is further sub-divided into categories. To be qualified for the visa, the person must have at least $500,000 to $1,000,000 the investment must be feasible in the sense that it should have a viability of boosting the US economy.

Also Read: Apply For Canada Visa Sponsorship Program – See Visa Form & Guideline

What are the Required Documents of Employment Visas?

The required documents for employment visas varies depending on the types of the employment visa, however, the basic requirements are:

• International Passport (with at least six month validity)
• Photographs ( two identical color photograph).
• Academic qualification certificate.
• Professional qualification certificate.
• Prove of employment.
• Signed medical and vaccine documents
• Application fee

Steps to Apply for American Immigrant Sponsorship Visas

There are some slight dissimilar steps in applying for different types of immigrants’ visa in the US, however, the general steps are discussed below:

Step 1: File a Petition

The first step towards obtaining an immigrant visa is for a U.S citizen or a permanent U. S resident to file a petition by obtaining form I-130. The process can be done electronically or manually in paper and to be sent through mail.  Form I-140 is to fill in case of employment visa. The petitioner must ensure that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approves the petition before proceeding to the next step.

Step 2: Begin National Visa Center (NVC) Processing

If the USCIS approved the petition, it will be transferred to the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) for pre-processing.  The NVC will now create the case in their system and once this is done, the petitioner will receive a Welcome Letter by email or physical mail. This information is then used to log in to the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) to check the petition status, receive messages as well as managing the case.

Step 3: Pay Immigrant Application Processing Fee

The next step is to pay the visa processing fee immediately after receiving the Welcome Letter. To make a payment you will need a bank routing number and a checking or savings account number from a U.S. based bank. Then you are to log into the case through CEAC; https://ceac.state.gov/IV/ and pay. You can only pay one fee at a time and after the payment, you are expected to wait for 11 days before proceeding to the next step.

Step 4: Sign Affidavit of Support

The Affidavit of Support which is also called the Form I-864, is a document that a petitioner must sign to accept financial responsibility for the applicant who is coming to live in the United States. This is done to be sure that the petitioner can cater for the applicant responsibility. In the case where the petitioner isn’t financially buoyant, a joint-sponsor document known Form I-864 must be signed on the applicant’s behalf.

Step 5: Collect Financial Evidence and other Supporting Document

After completing the signing of affidavit of supporting, the petitioner and joint-support (if any) is required to gather all financial evidences that will show he/she can take the responsibility of the applicant.

Step 6: Fill the Form DS-260

After waiting for the prescribed date and you noticed that the state on CEAC has changed to “Paid”, you can now fill the Form DS-260 (Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Form) and click “submit” when you are done. You are expected to print the confirmation page.

Step 7: Gather All Required Documents and Scan

The required documents, support documents and form DS-260 are to be gathered in a file and are to be scanned. The scanned documents must be in colour and pdf format.

Step 8: Submit Scanned Documents

After scanning, log into CEAC to submit documents. On CEAC, navigate and click on “Start Now” buttons located under Affidavit of Support Documents and Civil Documents. When you have uploaded all the required documents for each section, press “Submit Documents”. The “Submit Documents” button only works after a document have been uploaded. On no account should applicant send mail of documents to National Visa Center (NVC), unless there is call for it.

Step 9: Get Ready for the Interview

The applicant, the support and agent (if applicable) will get notification from NVC for interview. Before the slated interview date, applicant is expected to have get set all the required documents including medical report and also register for courier service that will later deliver the visa.

Step 10: Attend Interview

Go to the embassy or consulate on the you are scheduled to come for interview with all the documents required. You are expected to follow the interview guidelines and also go with the visa current beneficiary. An officer will engage with you to determine whether or not you are eligible for the visa applying for.

Step 11: Wait for the Visa

After the interview, you are expected to wait for the visa to be processed which might takes some months, but when it is finally ready, the embassy will duly inform you and if the application isn’t accepted, they will equally tell you the reason as to why you are not granted the visa.

Some Common US Immigrant Application Processing Forms

There are quite some numbers of forms you will encounter during the visa processing, but some of them are:

Form I-129F (Petition for Alien Fiancé)

This form is for a U.S citizen engaged to a foreign and have filed the documents for the fiance to come to the U.S to shorten the time that they will be apart and too fast track their wedding.

Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative)

This form is used by any family member who is a U.S permanent resident or citizen to petition the government to approve an immediate family member to come to the U.S. It can only be used for immediate family members.

Form I-140, (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker)

This is the form in which an employer in the U.S will use in filing a petition for the employee that is a foreigner so as to be able to legally work in the country permanently. To make things easier, the employee must have provided all information needed to convince the NVC that he/she is skilled and extremely qualified for the job.

Form I-526 (immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur)

This form is used by those who want to invest in the U.S economy and get a visa that way. These are called investor visas and the person must invest from $500,000 to $1 million in a U.S company and create a certain number of jobs to get this visa.

Form I-800A (Determination on Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country)

This form is used when a U.S couple wants to adopt a child from a foreign national. They are allowed to do so but they needed to file a petition in that regard to allow the government to inspect as to whether they can adopt the child or not.

Form DS-260 (Immigrant Visa Electronic Application)

This is an online form in which every applicant must fill in regard to the U.S immigrant visa process. It contains all the basic information that is needed to be known to grant you the visa or not. It will be among the documents you will need to submit at the embassy during an interview.

How long is the Immigrant Visa Processing Time?

The processing duration for an immigrant visa in the US ranges between 90 days to 36 months. Some visa like the parent category can even be beyond that.

Conclusion: An immigrant visa is a visa that allows foreign nationals to live, work or study in the United States of America permanently. Applicants cannot directly apply for the visa unless they have a close relative in the US or have got a job offer. It is one of the hot cake visas in the US, as such, they are a limited number of visas issued annually. To avoid been rejected, applicants are advised to go through the documents required well for the specific visa they wish to apply for. The visa can be used to get a permanent residence or green card if the holder is able to live in the country constantly for 10 years without going against the norms and order.