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Immigrant Visa Processing
Permanent residency can be granted in one of two ways.
If the person is outside the United States, the
individual can obtain an immigrant visa at a U.S.
embassy or consulate abroad. This is called Consular
Visa Processing. If the foreign national is in the
United States (on a non-immigrant visa status, which has
not expired and has complied with the terms and
conditions of that status) s/he may file a request to
process his/her application for permanent residency
while in the U.S. This process is called
"adjustment of status." The employment based
I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status Applications
may be filed with the appropriate INS Service Center
will be filed when an immigrant visa becomes available
as reflected by the alien's priority date.
A waiting list also known as the Visa Bulletin or
"priority date list," comes out monthly. That
list indicates when an individuals turn to apply for
permanent residency has been reached. To view the
current month visa bulletin, please click here.
If you have an approved Labor Certification, Thomas
Bassett and Associates will contact you to let you know
when it is time to file for adjustment of status. If you
will be applying outside the United States, the U.S.
Consulate or embassy will send you a check list of
documents you must gather to obtain your immigrant visa.
This list includes recent police clearances, birth,
marriage, and divorce documents, a medical examination
with a physician approved for this purpose by the
American government, and other similar evidence.
Some, but not all individuals may be randomly
selected for an interview at the INS. The interview is
generally held 18 to 24 months after the application for
adjustment of status have been filed. If all goes well,
permanent residency is granted at the interview, or by
the INS service center in cases where no interview is
requested.
In this section see
also:
Family
Based Immigration
Employment
Based Immigration
Diversity
Lottery
Asylum/Refugee
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