Immigration Overview~ New Jersey Law in Review

Immigration Overview

By Anita Shia, Esq.

In my years of practice as an immigration attorney I have found that inquiries directed to my law firm often fall under the following 2 categories: (1) those from overseas seeking advice on how to enter the U.S.; (2) those in the States on a nonimmigrant visa seeking advice on how to remain in the U.S. In this article I will give an overview of options available to these 2 categories of people. Keep in mind that these options are by no means exhaustive. Each individual case is unique and therefore a consultation with an immigration attorney is the only sure way of receiving comprehensive legal advice.

For those seeking entry into the U.S.: you must obtain a visa. A visa is a stamp placed in your passport by a U.S. consulate outside the U.S. All visas serve as U.S. entry documents. Visas can be designated as either immigrant or nonimmigrant. Immigrant visas are issued to those who will live in the U.S. permanently and get green cards. Everyone else gets nonimmigrant visas.

A. Immigrant Visa: If you are approved for a green card at a U.S. consulate or U.S. embassy, you will not receive your green card until after you enter the U.S. In order to enter the U.S., you must have a visa. Therefore, when you are granted the right to a green card, you are issued an immigrant visa. An immigrant visa enables you to enter the U.S., take up permanent residence and receive a permanent green card. INS has created nine categories of green card applicants:

1. Immediate Relatives: no quota limit on the number of green cards that can be issued. Immediate relatives are defined as:

Spouses of U.S. citizens, including recent widows and widowers
Unmarried people under the age of 21 who have at least one U.S. citizen parent
Parents of U.S. citizens, if the U.S. citizen child is over the age of 21
Stepchildren and stepparents, if the marriage creating the stepparent/stepchild relationship took place before the child's 18th birthday, or
Parents and children related through adoption, if the adoption took place before the child reaches the age of 16.

2. Preferences: those receive green cards under the quota:

Group I: Family Preference Green Cards
Family first preference. Unmarried people, any age, who have at least one U.S. citizen parent.
Family second preference. 2A: Spouses of green card holders and unmarried children under 21 and 2B: unmarried sons and daughters (who are over 21) of green card holders.
Family third preference. Married people, any age, who have at least one U.S. citizen parent.
Family fourth preference. Sisters and brothers of U.S. citizens who are over 21 years old.
Group II: Employment Preference Based Green Cards
Employment first preference. Priority workers.
Employment second preference. Professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
Employment third preference. Professionals and skilled or unskilled workers.
Employment fourth preference. Religious workers and various miscellaneous categories of workers and other individuals.
Employment fifth preference. Individual investors willing to invest $1,000,000 in a U.S. business (or $500,000 in economically depressed areas).

3. Ethnic Diversity: Green Card Lotteries
4. Investors
5. Special Immigrants
6. Refugees and Political Asylees
7. Temporary Protected Status
8. Amnesty
9. Special Agricultural Workers (SAWs)

B. Nonimmigrant Visa: there are many kinds of nonimmigrant visas. Each is issued for a different purpose and each is known by a letter-number combination as well as a name. Nonimmigrant visas differ from each other in the kinds of privileges they offer, as well as how long they last. The difference between a nonimmigrant visa and an immigrant visa is that all immigrant visas are permanent while all nonimmigrant visas are temporary. Here is a complete list of nonimmigrant visas available:

A-1. Ambassadors, public ministers or career diplomats and their immediate family members.
A-2. Other accredited officials or employees of foreign governments and their immediate family members.
A-3. Personal attendants, servants or employees and their immediate family members of A-1 and A-2 visa holders.
B-1. Business visitors.
B-2. Tourist visitors. Tourist visitors.
C-1. Foreign travelers in immediate and continuous transit through the U.S.
D-1. Crewmen who need to land temporarily in the U.S. and who will depart aboard the same ship or plane on which they arrived.
E-1. Treaty traders.
E-2. Treaty investors.
F-1. Academic or language students.
F-2. Immediate family members of F-1 visa holders.
G-1. Designated principal resident representatives of foreign governments coming to the U.S. to work for an international organization, their staff members and immediate family members.
G-2. Other accredited representatives of foreign governments coming to the U.S. to work for an international organization and their immediate family members.
G-3. Representatives of foreign governments, and their immediate family members of an international organization.
G-4. Officers or employees of international organizations and their immediate family members.
G-5. Attendants, servants and personal employees of G-1 through G-4 visa holders and their immediate family members.
H-1B. Persons working in specialty occupations requiring at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in on-the-job experience, and distinguished fashion models.
H-2A. Temporary agricultural workers coming to the U.S. to fill positions for which a temporary shortage of American workers has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
H-2B. Temporary workers of various kinds coming to the U.S. to perform temporary jobs for which there is a shortage of available qualified American workers.
H-3. Temporary trainees.
H-4. Immediate family members of H-1, H-2 or H-3 visa holders.
I. Bona fide representatives of the foreign press coming to the U.S. to work solely in that capacity and their immediate family members.
J-1. Exchange visitors coming to the U.S. to study, work or train as part of an exchange program officially recognized by the United States Information Agency.
J-2. Immediate family members of J-1 visa holder.
K-1. Fiancés of U.S. citizens coming to the U.S. for the purpose of getting married.
K-2. Minor, unmarried children of K-1 visa holders.
L-1. Intracompany transferees who work in positions as managers, executives or persons with specialized knowledge.
L-2. Immediate family members of L-1 visa holders.
M-1. Vocational or other nonacademic students, other than language students.
M-2. Immediate families of M-1 visa holders.
N. Children of certain special immigrants.
NATO-1, NATO-2, NATO-3, NATO-4 and NATO-5. Associates coming to the U.S. under applicable provisions of the NATO Treaty and their immediate family members.
NATO-6. Members of civilian components accompanying military forces on missions authorized under the NATO Treaty and their immediate family members.
NATO-7. Attendants, servants or personal employees of NATO-1 through NATO-6 visas holders and their immediate family members.
O-1. Persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.
O-2. Essential support staff of O-1 visa holders.
O-3. Immediate family members of O-1 and O-2 visa holders.
P-1. Internationally recognized athletes and entertainers and their essential support staff.
P-2. Entertainers coming to perform in the U.S. through a government-recognized exchange program
P-3. Artists and entertainers coming to the U.S. in a group for the purpose of presenting culturally unique performances.
P-4. Immediate family members of P-1, P-2 and P-3 visa holders.
Q-1. Exchange visitors coming to the U.S. to participate in international cultural-exchange programs.
Q-2. Immediate family members of Q-1 visa holders.
R-1. Ministers and other workers of recognized religions.
R-2. Immediate family members of R-1 visa holders.
S-1. People coming to the U.S. to supply critical information to federal or state authorities where it has been determined that their presence in the U.S. is essential to the success of a criminal investigation or prosecution.
S-2. People coming to the U.S. to provide critical information to federal authorities or a court, who will be in danger as a result of providing such information, and are eligible to receive a reward for the information.
S-3. Immediate family members of S-1 or S-2 visa holders.

For those already in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa: depending on your particular situation, you may be able to (A) extend your stay, (B) change to another nonimmigrant status or (C) change to an immigrant status. To ascertain if any of these three options are available to you, you should contact an immigration attorney to discuss the details of your particular case. Alert: make certain that you contact an attorney before your current nonimmigrant status expires.

TOP

© 2000 by Anita Shia, Esq.

This article may not be republished without the express permission of the author.

Opinions expressed in this article are not intended to be a substitute for specific individual legal advice.