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Permanent
immigrant visas for preference categories
USA immigration
laws establish two categories of aliens who may immigrate
permanently to the United States, preference and non-preference
types of visas. Those who benefit from either one of
these types of visas qualify to live and/or work in
the USA.
Preference
System for permanent visas: Applications for these visas
are subject to an annual numerical quota of 675,000.
There are four preferences of family sponsored immigrants
and five categories of employment based immigrants.
The annual numerical limit for family sponsored immigration
is 535,000 for which a minimum of 226,000 must be issued
in any given year. 140,000 visas annually are issued
for the employment based category. These figures are
subject to change.
Non-
preference categories are as follows:
Unmarried
sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
These
USA visas are subject to 23,000 issuances annually and
include adult, divorced sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
A daughter or a son is adjudicated to be different from the child of a U.S. citizen. A child, for US migration purposes, is the unmarried son or daughter of a US citizen under the age of 21. A child is allowed to enter the United States without any regard for the numerical quota. Thus, the son or daughter can be of any age to qualify for a visa under this category
Spouse
and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent
resident aliens
This
preference is pertinent to the spouses and unmarried
sons and daughters of legal permanent resident aliens
in the United States. Age is irrelevant for this category
of visas. A minimum of 114,000 visas is allotted annually
plus any unused visas for the first preference visas.
Seventy
seven percent of the visas are allocated to spouses
and children of permanent residents whilst twenty three
percent are issued to unmarried sons and daughters.
A divorced son or daughter is allowed to live and work
in the USA as an immigrant beneficiary sponsored by
a permanent resident alien.
If the
sponsored alien resident then marries a foreign person,
the spouse does not automatically become entitled to
permanent residence. The permanent resident spouse is
required to file a petition for the benefit of the other
party. Whilst the petition is pending, the foreign spouse
must remain outside of the USA until his/her visa application
is approved
Married
sons and daughters of United States citizens
This
preference is allocated 23,400 visas per year plus any
other visas that have not been used by the first two
family sponsored preference groups. Applications apply
to adult sons and daughters of US citizens who wish
to live and/or work in the United States on a permanent
basis.
Brothers
and sisters of United States citizens
This
fourth preference of visas applies to those who have
U.S. citizen brother and sisters. The annual issuance
for this visa is 65,000 plus any other visas which have
not been utilized in the other family based preference
categories.
The United
States citizen who must be at least twenty one years
of age files a petition for the benefit of the foreign
alien and the alien applies for a visa upon the approval
of the petition.
Half
brothers and sisters of US citizens also qualify to
apply for a visa in this category as long as the relationship
was established before both siblings reached the age
of 21. This visa is heavily over subscribed and the
backlog for processing will take at least thirteen years
to clear
Green cards are issued following the acquisition of US permanent residence. The two are regarded as synonymous.
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