Immigration. Travel. Living.

USA: immigration and how stay

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Aliens legally in the United States have one of two types of status – nonimmigrant or immigration. Nonimmigrant status is held by foreigners who entered the United States on one of the nonimmigrant visas to the United States, such as B1 / B2 (visitor, tourist, or business visa in the United States), F1 (study visa), J1 (exchange visa), H2B (temporary work visa) and other US nonimmigrant visas such as transit visas or ship crew visas.

The following situation is associated with a change in non-immigration status in the United States:

First, when a person obtains a nonimmigrant visa at the US Embassy, โ€‹โ€‹they must prove to the consular officer that they have no immigration intent (dual intent, planned intent). This is the main criterion for a consular officer when deciding whether to issue or refuse a visa to the United States.

If you apply for a change of status immediately upon arrival in the United States, then the immigration service will consider that you had planned intentions to change the status, and may refuse you. Therefore, it is recommended to apply for a change of status no earlier than two to three months after arrival.

 

Change from J-1 status to F-1 status in the United States

J-1 visa holders are not eligible to change their status in the United States without special permission from the United States Information Agency and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The option of changing J-1 to F-1 is the most optimal, because firstly, you change one student status to another, which greatly simplifies the procedure, and secondly, F-1 is not limited in time, i.e. it can be extended indefinitely. Any other visa is limited in time, be it work or visitor.

Changing guest status (B1 / B2) to L-1 status in the USA

Businessmen often come to the United States on a visitor visa to meet with business partners and find out how to expand their business in America. If you decide to purchase or open a new business while in America, you can apply to the Immigration Service to change your status to L-1 status. This will allow you to get started without leaving the United States.

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In such a case, your sponsor must submit the change of status application before the 1-94 visa expiry date, and you remain legal in the United States while the application is processed by the Immigration Service. However, you cannot start working until you receive your status. You must first receive a Notice of Status and then apply for an appropriate visa at the US Consulate before returning to America. Family members accompanying you can also change to L-2 status without leaving the United States.

If the application for a change of status is approved, you do not need to leave the United States to obtain the appropriate visa; You can start working as soon as you receive notice that you have been granted L-1 status. This automatically extends your stay in the US to one year for a new office and up to three years for a firm that has been in existence for more than a year. You can stay in the United States for the period specified in the notice. You also have the legal right to apply for status renewal.

If you are leaving the United States at any time, you must use Notice when applying for an L-1 visa at the United States Consulate. The immigration service at the border will not let you through only if you have a notification of the granting of status. You also cannot enter the country on a B-1 visitor visa, and then again change your status to L-1.

 

Change of status for K-1 bride visa holders

The K1 fiance visa is also formally considered nonimmigrant, although it is allowed to have immigration intent. Within 90 days from the date of arrival in the United States, you are required to marry/marry the person who issued the above visa to the United States for you or leave the United States. If you decide to marry/marry someone other than the one who issued the visa for you, then you must apply to the US Immigration Center (DHS).

After that, you must return to your homeland and wait for a response from the aforementioned instance. If you are married/married, then within 90 days from the date of your arrival in the United States, your husband/wife must complete the necessary documents and send them to INS. These documents will be evidence of your new status.

From being a citizen of the United States of America bride/groom, you become a Conditional Permanent Resident. After a few months, you will receive a notice from DHS of the date of your interview, the purpose of which is to give DHS a chance to verify your marriage is real. Between 21 and 24 months, after you become a Conditional Permanent Resident, you must complete and return Form 1-751 to DHS. If by that time you are married/married, then your husband/wife must sign this document.

If you are divorced because you or your child was the object of abuse from the outside, then you can request permission to send this document unsigned. The purpose of this document is to change your status from Conditional Permanent Resident to Permanent Resident of the United States.

Your new status can be renewed every 10 years if you have not done anything contrary to US law. The fine for persons in a sham marriage is 0 and/or imprisonment for up to 5 years. If your marriage is proven to be fictitious, you will be permanently banned from entering the United States.

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