Theodore Huang, Immigration & SSD Lawyer

Do you have a visa issued by the US embassy in Manila that’s in a passport that has expired or will expire soon? Don’t fret. Your visa is valid through the expiration date printed on the visa, even if your passport has expired.

You don’t need a new visa, but you will need a new passport to travel to the United States.

When you arrive in the United States, you will apply for admission with a Customs & Border Patrol officer. At that time, you need to present a passport that is valid for 6 months longer after you plan to leave the United States. If your visa is in an expired passport, present both passports when entering the United States.

How to apply for a fiancé visa? People can easily get confused, frustrated and lost in the process when trying to do it themselves. Many people find it easier to hire an an experienced immigration lawyer to prepare and guide the couple through the process. I’ve been practicing fiancée visa law since 1997, I can help.

Call me for a free consultation.

Theodore Huang, Esq. has been practicing business immigration, EB-5 investor, and family immigration law since 1997. Highly recommended on LinkedIn, Attorney Huang has written numerous articles on visa matters affecting foreign new hires, start-ups, and intracompany transfers. His articles have appeared on www.EB5Planet.com, www.VisaSoup.com, www.MyVisa.com, and www.GoFianceeVisa.com  For more information and a free consultation, please contact him immediately.

Upon the receipt of a K visa petition approved by DHS, the consular officer should promptly send to the applicant:

(1) Form DS-230, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration or instructions for accessing Form DS-260, Online Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration;

(2) Two copies of the Form DS-156; Nonimmigrant Visa Application, or instructions for accessing Form DS-160, Electronic Nonimmigrant Visa Application

(3) One copy of the Form DS-156-K, Nonimmigrant Fiancé (e) Visa Application, unless the applicant was instructed to complete Form DS-160;

(4) One copy of the petitioner’s approved Form I-129-F, together with any criminal background information (including information on protection orders) that DHS has gathered on the petitioner and any information that DHS has provided regarding prior Form I-129-F filings by the petitioner

The DHS is in the process of preparing a pamphlet called “Legal Rights and Resources for Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence: Facts about immigrating to the United States as a Fiance(e) or as a Spouse of an U.S. Citizen. When this pamphlet is ready, it will also be included in the package.

Part of our K1 interview services is to gather relevant information and prepare the above forms along with the supporting documentation. If you need assistance with this part of the K-1 process, please call me at 626-771-1078 for a consultation.

A K visa applicant and any accompanying children must meet the public charge requirement of INA 212(a)(4) (8 U.S.C. 1182) like any other visa applicant.  Evidence of support is usually requested by the consular officer.

There is, however, no absolute requirement that an affidavit of support or other public charge documentation be presented!

It is only necessary that the consular officer be able to conclude that the alien is not likely to become a public charge.  It would not be unusual, therefore, for a healthy alien of working age, applying alone, to be able to establish eligibility during the visa interview without the need for substantiating documentation.

If you’re interested in applying for a fiance visa for your foreign fiancee, call me at 626-771-1078 for a free consultation.

A K-2 child accompanying his parent to the K-1 fiance(e) visa interview should bring the following:

1. A valid passport,

2. A birth certificate, and

3. A medical examination.

Note that if the child is 16 years of age or over, police certificates are required.

No chest X-ray or serologic tests are required if the child is under 15 years of age.

K-2 children seeking to accompany the K-1 parent or following to join the K-1 parent should be included in the K-1’s original fiancé visa petition. If the child was not included, contact our law office at 626-771-1078 to see how we can help the child accompany the fiancé(e) to the USA.

The following documents are required for presentation at the time of visa application:

(1) A Form DS-156, Nonimmigrant Visa Application;

(2) An original Form DS-156-K, Nonimmigrant Fiancé Visa Application,

(3) Valid passport

(4) Birth certificate;

(5) Evidence of termination of any prior marriage of beneficiary;

(6) Police certificates and

(7) Form DS-2053, Medical Examination for Immigrant and Refugee Applicant.

The interview stage of the K-1 fiance is usually the most stressful stage of the entire K1 fiance visa process. In addition to making sure that the applicant has all the right documents, in the right format, the applicant and petitioner must be concerned with adequately proving that the relationship is bona fide.

For assistance with this type of application and to utilize my 15 years of experience, call me at 626-771-1078.

The Vermont Service Center receives thousands of pieces of paper correspondence each day. A large number of these pieces of correspondence are responses to Requests for Evidence (RFE) or Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID). As contract staff sift through all of this incoming mail, the blue coversheet helps them quickly and easily identify which documents should be routed immediately to the file as a response to the request.

When the response is matched up with the file the case is immediately pulled and routed to the officer. However, any correspondence which does not contain a copy of the RFE or NOID is not recognized as a response and is sent to the Customer Service Division for sorting and dissemination.

Once the customer service division identifies the correspondence as supporting evidence it is routed to the file to be included in the record. However, the evidence that you submitted without the proper coversheet will sit on the shelf for the entire tolling period because there is no way to be sure that what was submitted is the actual response to the request for additional evidence. Once the waiting period for a response has expired, it is then sent to an officer for review. Because there is not a way to determine if what was submitted was the actual response to the RFE there is a significant delay in the processing of a final decision on an application or petition.

It is very important that USCIS staff is able to promptly recognize incoming correspondence as a response to an RFE. In addition, 8 CFR Section 103.2(b)(11) addresses how an applicant or petitioner should respond to an RFE, “All requested materials must be submitted together at one time, along with the original USCIS request for evidence or notice of intent to deny.”

In some cases it is not possible to identify the case that relates to the submitted information. In the future the VSC may start returning documentation that is submitted without a copy of the receipt notice or RFE when we cannot determine which case it relates to.

Receiving an RFE is serious and indicates that the USCIS has additional questions about you or your loved one’s eligibility for an immigration benefit. Not addressing the issues the USCIS raises can have serious complications and a denial of the application. A denial is certain to increase the length of time a couple is separated. A denial may even strain the relationship to the point of breaking up.

An immigration attorney can help you present the best possible response to show that your loved one qualifies and that your petition meets all procedures requirements. For success in responding to a request for evidence for a K1 fiance or immigrant visa application, please contact our law office.

Department of State’s Efforts Decrease the Wait in Brazil for a Visa

Kudos to the DOS for their improvements. The results are that loved ones are reunited faster,  US businesses get the workers they need faster, and our communities benefit as investors arrive to add much needed foreign capital to our local economies.

From the DOS website:

“Recognizing the importance of tourism to the U.S. economy, the Department of State continues to refine the visa process
in major markets to help attract more visitors to premier U.S. travel destinations – without compromising border security.

Streamlining visa processing supports the Department’s “Jobs Diplomacy” initiative to promote America’s economic
renewal. Brazil, a key market for tourism to the United States, is a major focus of the Department’s efforts. Visa interview wait times now average just two weeks or less in Brasilia, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro, and less than 30 days in Sao Paulo, the Department’s busiest nonimmigrant visa processing post.

By adding staff, extending interview hours, and expanding facilities, the Department has dramatically reduced longer wait times experienced at the height of the busy season last summer. Now more than ever, qualified Brazilian tourists have the ability to travel to the United States, and year-over-year demand for visas remains high. In January 2012, the U.S. Mission in Brazil processed more than 86,000 visa applications, an increase of 60 percent over January 2011. “

Recent experiences processing K1 fiance visas in Brazil

I truly appreciate the consular staff at the U.S. Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Their processes are streamlined, efficient, and organized. They’ve also made good use of their website and use email effectively to communicate to the K-1 fiance interviewee what the next step is.  Given that this consular office has seen a huge increase in visa demand, their operations are impressive. The DOS is going to be staffing this office with even more personnel so it’s great to see them being so proactive and making sure they can continue delivering the great service they have been so far. Kudos.

USCIS sheds light on what happens after I-129f approval

1. All approved I-129f petitions are sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) for processing.
2. The NVC enters the information into the Consolidated Consular Database (CCD).
3. NVC assigns a DOS case number.
4. NVC sends the petition to the appropriate consulate or embassy for visa processing.
5. Once at the U.S. embassy or Consulate, where the K-1 foreign fiancee will apply for her/his K-1 visa, receives the petition from the NVC, the office will provide the beneficiary with specific instructions.
6. The consular officer may ask for additional information. The information must be returned to the originator of the request (NVC or Consulate), not the USCIS Service Center that originally approved the petition.

For assistance with your K-1 fiancee visa or immigrant visa petition, call us at 626-771-1078.

Department of State to increase number of consular officers at offices in China

The number of nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applications to be processed at the U.S. embassy and consulates in China continues to increase dramatically. In Shanghai alone, there are currently about 11 – 13 officers who process 1500 applications daily! This is an 100% increase of the number of visa applications processed back in 2007! (more…)