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Migrating to Australia

2011-03-28T01:47:00.001-07:00

Migrating to Australia

The Visa Office at the Australian High Commission, New Delhi processes the following migration applications.

Please click on the links below for more information about the requirements for each visa.

Partner Migration

Child Migration

Other Family Migration

Please follow this link for important information on changes to processing arrangements for Other Family visas.

General information

Charges and Fees

Health requirements

Character requirements

Processing time

Where to lodge your application

Other categories
There are a number of other migration visas. Information about migrating to Australia can be obtained at: http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/index.htm

Migration booklets
Australia has a series of booklets designed to help you understand who qualifies to migrate to Australia, and how to make an application.

The booklets can be downloaded free from the department’s website or purchased from the Visa Office in New Delhi.

To purchase a Migration booklet from the Visa Office in New Delhi, contact 4122 1000.

Important Information
Some migration applications cannot be lodged or processed at the Australian High Commission New Delhi, including:

General Skilled Migration Program

General information about skilled migration:http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/index.htm

Information regarding eligibility and lodgement process for skilled migration is available at: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/index.htm

Applications must be lodged at the Skilled Processing Centre

Business Migration

Further information is at: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/business/visa-options.htm

Parent migration

Information about eligibility and processing requirements for parent visas can be obtained at: http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/family/parent-outside.htm

Applications must be lodged at the Perth Offshore Processing Centre.

H1-B Overview

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Overview

The H-1B category is an expedient and lawful method to bring foreign-born professionals temporarily to the United States, and therefore one of the most widely sought after visa classifications for employment in the United States.

An individual may work in H-1B status for a maximum of six years. However, a petition will not be granted for more than three years. An extension of stay is requested if an individual is in H-1B status already and he or she is eligible for a longer period of employment. Certain aliens working on Defense Department projects may remain in H1B status for 10 years.

USCIS will generally not grant a petition for self-employed people. A petition may be filed by a job contractor, namely a person or entity that pays its employees for services performed at the work sites of other employers.

Please note that it is possible to get your H-1B visa approved for more than 6 years in some cases depending upon your employment based green card processing status. Please refer to the appropriate section here[1] to find out more about how you can extend your H-1B visa for more than 6 years, either 1 year[2] at a time or 3 years[3] at a time.

The advantage of an H1 visa is that you can work legally in the U.S. in non-immigrant status, and get the visa quickly after the petition is approved. You may travel in and out of the U.S. or remain in the U.S. until the visa expires, and an H4 visa is available for accompanying family member (spouse and minor children under 21).

In general, most nonimmigrant visa classifications require that a person maintain a foreign residence abroad and show that he or she is coming to the U.S. temporarily. However, the law allows a person on a H-visa to have "dual intent," which is arguably the most beneficial aspect of obtaining this visa. Under the dual intent doctrine, a person may come to the U.S. temporarily and lawfully seek permanent residence (for himself/herself and immediate family members, spouse and children under 21) in the United States at the same time, without affecting H1/H4 status. Therefore, the filing of a labor certification or an employment based preference petition will not cause denial of an H-1B petition filed with the USCIS or an application for an H-1B visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad. While a green card application is pending, H1/H4 visa holders can travel in and out of the U.S. using a non-expired H1/H4 visa without need for Advance Parole[4] or EAD[5]. H-1B foreign specialty workers are not required to maintain foreign residence and may seek permanent residence in the U.S.

If you plan to work for multiple employers (either full time or part time), each employer must file separate H1B petition.

The employer is responsible for return transportation costs for an employee terminated prior to the end of the approved period of employment.

You can not file H1 for yourself.

H1 visa holders can buy a house or any other real estate property in the USA. H1 visa holders can also invest money in stocks, mutual funds, bonds etc. H1 visa holders can not work as self-employed or freelancers and do contract type of work in free time.

If the beneficiary of an H-1B visa is in the U.S. in valid status (e.g., F-1 visa), he or she may change status. If the beneficiary is not in the U.S., he or she must go to the U.S. Consulate to apply for an H-1B visa upon USCIS's approval of the employer's petition.

H1-B Overview

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Overview

Your Immigration Questions Answered by Visa Proffesional

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Your Immigration Questions Answered by Visa Proffesional.

Here, you will find detailed answers to many of most common immigration questions.

10.	What is the processing time for H-1B visa?

	The H1B processing time varies because all cases are different. Generally it takes between three to six months to process an H-1B visa. You must wait at least two weeks after you send in your application for a receipt from the USCIS and another two weeks before you call the USCIS to check the status.

	Note: When USCIS officials get your application package, they will send you a receipt showing the date your case was received and the receipt number assigned to it. Use the receipt number to track the status of your application when you call the number listed at the bottom of the receipt notice.

11.

What do you mean by 'H-1B dependent employer'?

An employer runs the risk of becoming an 'H-1B dependent employer' if he hires too many H-1B employees. Employers are considered to be H-1B dependent if they fall into any one of the following three categories:

•	An employer has 25 or fewer full time employees of which more than seven are H-1B employees

•	An employer has between 26 to 50 full time employees of which more than 12 are H-1B employees

•	An employer has more than 50 full time employees of which 15% or more are H-1B employees

12.	When should I file my H-1B petition if I am currently under optional practical training on F-1 visa?

	You may file for H-1B status while in your practical training itself. Getting H-1B takes a lot of time and sometimes you might have to wait for three to four months before you resume employment. If you file your H-1B petition while in the practical training, you will have your H-1B ready by the time you are out of training. If the H-1B petition is filed before the expiry ofF-1 or B-2, you will not be out of status. If your OPT expires before the H-1B is approved, you cannot legally work until the H-1B is approved.

Documents for H1 Visa applicant

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Documents for H1 Visa applicant

If your interview is at the U.S. consulate in Mumbai or Hyderabad, you will need to submit some of the documents in advance to VFS, as listed here[1]. Rest of the documents should be carried to the interview. For the interview at U.S. embassy in New Delhi and the U.S. consulates in Chennai and Kolkata, you will need to take all the documents to the interview.

Mandatory documents

Passport[2]
One photograph[3]
Confirmation page of online submitted Form DS-160[4] with CEAC bar code.
Visa Fees[5]
Fees to be paid in advance at participating HDFC bank[6] before taking an appointment.
Original interview appointment letter and one copy.
Sample[7]
Form I-797[8] - the original Notice of Action and one copy.

Supporting documents

Original Form I-129 and one copy.
Recent letter from the employer that describes your proposed duties and intention to hire you.
Work experience letters from your previous employers that indicate your employment history, experience and specific work skills
Original degree certificates along with mark sheets and transcripts. (Secondary school information is not required)
Relevant diplomas or certificates, e.g. computer certification.
Photocopies of the first page, last page and remarks pages of your current Passport[2].
All previous passports, even if not used for travel.
Evidence of extension of legal status in the U.S., if applicable.
Pay stubs from your current or last place of employment and a recent income tax return.
If you have previously worked in the U.S.,

Your federal income tax returns (IRS Form 1040) and W-2 forms for all the years in which you have been employed in the U.S.
Copies of all pay slips and monthly bank statements.
If applicable, a notarized letter from the petitioner explaining the failure to pay the approved wage for a specific period.

First time applicants are also requested to bring the following items:

Names and current phone numbers of the personnel managers at the applicant's present and past jobs.
Photographs of the inside and outside of current or most recent employer's place of business.
Names and contact information of two co-workers from your current or most recent place of employment.
Names and contact information of two co-workers from past jobs.
A complete resume and cover letter describing current job duties in detail.
Personal bank records for the last six months.
U.S. company information: photographs of the inside and outside of the company's offices, prospectus, brochures, and annual report.
Resume or CV.

Petitioner (Employer) Documents

In case confidentiality is an issue with the documents from the petitioner, they can be submitted in a sealed envelope.

Labor Condition Application (LCA).
A copy of the petition with all supporting documents as filed to USCIS.
A copy of the employment contract or letter of agreement signed by you and the petitioner.
Petitioner's Income Tax Return for the last two tax years and financial statements.
A notarized list of all the petitioner's employees for each location. The list should show all employees' names, their specific job titles, start dates, end dates, and their individual salaries and immigrations status.
State Unemployment Wage Reports, showing all wages paid to each employee in the state, for the past three quarters as filed to all states or specific states.
(This should not be payroll reports, but the actual forms filed to the State authorities listing each employee and wages paid during the quarter.)
A list of all candidates petitioned by the petitioning entity that applied at the consulate where applicant will be applying, the exact times when they joined and duration for which they worked, including the date of departure if no longer employed with the company, and their current where abouts.
15 photographs of the inside and outside of the petitioner's work premises.
A detailed and specific account of how the application will be employed during the next 12 months. It must specify the location, client and client information (if any), nature of the project, duration of the project.
Client site project

A copy of the contract between the U.S. employment agency (petitioner) and the job site (the location where you will actually work).
A letter (on letterhead) from the personnel department at the U.S. job site stating that there is a vacancy for you. This letter should outline the nature of the job to be performed by the H1B visa applicant and should also provide the details of where the person will perform work, the length of the projects and why this specific H1B employee is required to get this job done.

This may be difficult to get some times. End clients generally hire the contractors through a company because they don't want to get involved in the H1B visa process or even any HR or administration related responsibilities.
The applicant's complete itinerary of services, including company names and address. This should be from the end client.
Employment letter from your sponsoring employer clearly defining your roles and responsibilities, project description, duration, team size and technologies used.
15 interior and exterior photographs of the client site location where the worker will be deployed.
Name, phone number and email address of the contact person at the client site.

Documents mentioned above are routinely asked by the consulate even though law does not require such documents in order to issue the H1B visa. And in fact, H1B employers are supposed to pay the required prevailing wage to the H1B employee, irrespective of whether they are on project with end clients, doing internal projects or on bench. Also, sponsoring employer signs the H1B petition related documents under the penalty of perjury. Moreover, the employer always has an option open to send the H1B employee back to his/her home country, if they can't find the project for him/her. Additionally, these kinds of requirements cause delays in the implementation of projects, cause financial loss to both sponsoring employer and the end client and sponsoring employer looses credibility with their clients because not being able to provide the required workers on time.

If you are not able to get any or some of the end client documents, you can use these arguments for your H1B visa application.

Internal project

A detailed and specific description of the internal development project to which you will be assigned. Include a complete technical description of the project, employer, timeline, current status, number of employees assigned, work site location, and marketing analysis for the final project.
If you are going to join a U.S. based product company, find out whether you are going to work on that product. If yes, product's complete requirement specification, functional design, your role in that product development, competitor's description, phase wise costing, deployment schedule etc. should be included in some document. You also must be aware of your role and responsibilities.

The consulate will not accept documents received directly from the company by mail or fax. All documents should be brought by the applicant to the interview. The consulate will not make this information available to anyone and will destroy the documents after review.

If you are currently working in the U.S. on an H1B visa, please submit your pay slips for the current calendar year and your federal tax returns (IRS Form 1040 and W-2) for all years in which you were employed in the U.S.

All H-1B applicants are requested to bring one extra photocopy of any original documents they presented with their application package that they wish to be returned.

Immigration to the United States

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Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants, settlement patterns, impact on upward social mobility, crime, and voting behavior. As of 2006, the United States accepts more legal immigrants as permanent residents than all other countries in the world combined.^[1] Since the liberalization of immigration policy in 1965,^[2] the number of first- generation immigrants living in the United States has quadrupled,^[3] from 9.6 million in 1970 to about 38 million in 2007.^[4] 1,046,539 persons were naturalized as U.S. citizens in 2008. The leading emigrating countries to the United States were Mexico, India, and the Philippines.^[5]

While an influx of new residents from different cultures presents some challenges, "the United States has always been energized by its immigrant populations," said President Bill Clinton in 1998. "America has constantly drawn strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants [...] They have proved to be the most restless, the most adventurous, the most innovative, the most industrious of people."^[6] Cheap airline travel post-1960 facilitated travel to the United States, but migration remains difficult, expensive, and dangerous for those who cross the United States–Mexico border illegally.^[7] Family reunification accounts for approximately two-thirds of legal immigration to the US every year.^[8]

Recent debates on immigration have called for increasing enforcement of existing laws with regard to illegal immigrants, building a barrier along some or all of the 2,000-mile (3,200 km) U.S.-Mexico border, or creating a new guest worker program. Through much of 2006, the country and Congress was immersed in a debate about these proposals. As of April 2010, few of these proposals had become law, though a partial border fence was approved.^{[citation needed]}

History

Main article: History of immigration to the United States

American immigration history can be viewed in four epochs: the colonial period, the mid-nineteenth century, the turn of the twentieth, and post-1965. Each epoch brought distinct national groups, races, and ethnicities to the United States. During the seventeenth century, approximately 175,000 Englishmen migrated to Colonial America.^[9] Over half of all European immigrants to Colonial America during the 17th and 18th centuries arrived as indentured servants.^[10] The mid-nineteenth century saw mainly an influx from northern Europe; the early twentieth-century mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe; post-1965 mostly from Latin America and Asia.

Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, 1902

Historians estimate that less than one million immigrants—perhaps as few as 400,000—crossed the Atlantic during the 17th and 18th centuries.^[11] The 1790 Act limited naturalization to "free white persons"; it was expanded to include blacks in the 1860s and Asians in the 1950s.^[12] In the early years of the United States, immigration was fewer than 8,000 people a year,^[13] including French refugees from the slave revolt in Haiti. After 1820, immigration gradually increased. From 1836 to 1914, over 30 million Europeans migrated to the United States.^[14]The death rate on these transatlantic voyages was high, during which one in seven travelers died.^[15] In 1875, the nation passed its first immigration law.^[16]

The peak year of European immigration was in 1907, when 1,285,349 persons entered the country.^[17] By 1910, 13.5 million immigrants were living in the United States.^[18] In 1921, the Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The 1924 Act was aimed at further restricting the Southern and Eastern Europeans, especially Jews, Italians, and Slavs, who had begun to enter the country in large numbers beginning in the 1890s.^[19] Most of the European refugees fleeing the Nazis and World War II were barred from coming to the United States.^[20]

Polish immigrants working on the farm, 1909

Immigration patterns of the 1930s were dominated by the Great Depression, which hit the U.S. hard and lasted over ten years there. In the final prosperous year, 1929, there were 279,678 immigrants recorded,^[21] but in 1933, only 23,068 came to the U.S.^[11] In the early 1930s, more people emigrated from the United States than immigrated to it.^[22] The U.S. government sponsored a Mexican Repatriation program which was intended to encourage people to voluntarily move to Mexico, but thousands were deported against their will.^[23] Altogether about 400,000 Mexicans were repatriated.^[24]

The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965, also known as the Hart-Cellar Act, abolished the system of national-origin quotas. By equalizing immigration policies, the act resulted in new immigration from non-European nations, which changed the ethnic make-up of the United States.^[25] While European immigrants accounted for nearly 60% of the total foreign population in 1970, they accounted for only 15% in 2000.^[26] Immigration doubled between 1965 and 1970, and again between 1970 and 1990.^[27] In 1990, George H. W. Bush signed theImmigration Act of 1990,^[28] which increased legal immigration to the United States by 40%.^[29] Appointed by Bill Clinton,^[30] the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform called for reducing legal immigration to about 550,000 a year.^[31]

Nearly eight million immigrants came to the United States from 2000 to 2005, more than in any other five-year period in the nation's history.^[32] Almost half entered illegally.^[33] Since 1986, Congress has passed seven amnesties for illegal immigrants.^[34] In 1986, Ronald Reagan signed immigration reform that gave amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants in the country.^[35] Hispanic immigrants were among the first victims of the late-2000s recession,^[36] but since the recession's end in June 2009, immigrants posted a net gain of 656,000 jobs.^[37] 1.1 million immigrants were granted legal residence in 2009.^[38]

Contemporary immigration

Until the 1930s, the gender imbalance among legal immigrants was quite sharp, with most legal immigrants being male. As of the 1990s, however, women accounted for just over half of all legal immigrants, shifting away from the male-dominated immigration of the past.^[39] Contemporary immigrants tend to be younger than the native population of the United States, with people between the ages 15 and 34 substantially overrepresented.^[40] Immigrants are also more likely to be married and less likely to be divorced than native-born Americans of the same age.^[41]

Immigrants are likely to move to and live in areas populated by people with similar backgrounds. This phenomenon has held true throughout the history of immigration to the United States.^[42] Three-quarters of immigrants surveyed by Public Agenda^[when?] said they intended to make the U.S. their permanent home, and that if they had to do it over again, 80% of immigrants say they would still come to the US. In the same study, 80% of immigrants say the government has become tougher on enforcing immigration laws since 9/11, and 30% report that they personally have experienced discrimination.^[43]

Public attitudes about immigration in the U.S. have been heavily influenced by the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. After the attacks, 52% of Americans believed that immigration was a good thing overall for the U.S., down from 62% the year before, according to a Gallup poll.^[44] Half of Americans say tighter controls on immigration would do "a great deal" to enhance U.S. national security, according to a Public Agenda survey.^[45]

More than 80 cities in the United States,^[46] including Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Dallas,Fort Worth, Houston, Detroit, Jersey City, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Baltimore, Seattle, Portland, Oregon and Portland, Maine, have sanctuary policies, which vary locally.^[47]

Demography

The United States admitted more legal immigrants from 1991 to 2000, between ten to eleven million, than in any previous decade. In the most recent decade, the ten million legal immigrants that settled in the U.S. represent an annual growth of only about 0.3% as the U.S. population grew from 249 million to 281 million. By comparison, the highest previous decade was the 1900s, when 8.8 million people arrived, increasing the total U.S. population by one percent every year. Specifically, "nearly 15% of Americans were foreign-born in 1910, while in 1999, only about 10% were foreign-born." ^[48]

Little Italy in New York, ca.1900

By 1970 immigrants accounted for 4.7 percent of the US population and rising to 6.2 percent in 1980, with an estimated 12.5 percent to this date.^[49] As of 2010, a quarter of the residents of the United States under 18 are immigrants or are immigrants' children.^[50] Eight percent of all babies born in the U.S. in 2008 belonged to illegal immigrant parents, according to a recent analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center.^[51]

Legal immigration to the U.S. increased from 250,000 in the 1930s, to 2.5 million in the 1950s, to 4.5 million in the 1970s, and to 7.3 million in the 1980s, before resting at about 10 million in the 1990s.^[52] Since 2000, legal immigrants to the United States number approximately 1,000,000 per year, of whom about 600,000 are Change of Status who already are in the U.S. Legal immigrants to the United States now are at their highest level ever, at just over 37,000,000 legal immigrants. Illegal immigration may be as high as 1,500,000 per year with a net of at least 700,000 illegal immigrants arriving every year.^[53]^[54] Immigration led to a 57.4% increase in foreign born population from 1990 to 2000.^[55]

While immigration has increased drastically over the last century, the foreign born share of the population was still higher in 1900 (about 20%) than it is today (about 10%). A number of factors may be attributed to the decrease in the representation of foreign born residents in the United States. Most significant has been the change in the composition of immigrants; prior to 1890, 82% of immigrants came from North and Western Europe. From 1891 to 1920, that number dropped to 25%, with a rise in immigrants from East, Central, and South Europe, summing up to 64%. Animosity towards these different and foreign immigrants rose in the United States, resulting in much legislation to limit immigration.

Crowd at the Philippine Independence Day Parade in New York City

Contemporary immigrants settle predominantly in seven states, California, New York, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Illinois, comprising about 44% of the U.S. population as a whole. The combined total immigrant population of these seven states is 70% of the total foreign-born population as of 2000. If current birth rate and immigration rates were to remain unchanged for another 70 to 80 years, the U.S. population would double to nearly 600 million.^[56] The Census Bureau's estimates actually go as high as predicting that there will be one billion Americans in 2100, compared to one million people in 1700 and 5.2 million in 1800.^[57]^[58]

The top twelve emigrant countries in 2006 were Mexico (173,753), People's Republic of China (87,345), Philippines (74,607), India (61,369),Cuba (45,614), Colombia (43,151), Dominican Republic (38,069), El Salvador (31,783), Vietnam (30,695), Jamaica (24,976), South Korea(24,386), Guatemala (24,146). Other countries comprise an additional 606,370.^[59] In fiscal year 2006, 202 refugees from Iraq were allowed to resettle in the United States.^[60]^[61]

In 1900, when the U.S. population was 76 million, there were an estimated 500,000 Hispanics.^[62] The Census Bureau projects that by 2050, one-quarter of the population will be of Hispanic descent.^[63] This demographic shift is largely fueled by immigration from Latin America.^[64]^[65]

Origin

Rate of immigration to the United States relative to sending countries' population size, 2001-2005

Projected regional growth rates using birth, death, immigration, and emigration rates. Latin America and Caribbean will be growing slower than US by 2024

Top Ten Foreign Countries - Foreign Born Population Among U.S. Immigrants

Country	per year	2000	2004	2010	2010, %
Mexico	175,900	7,841,000	8,544,600	9,600,000	23.7%
China	50,900	1,391,000	1,594,600	1,900,000	4.7%
Philippines	47,800	1,222,000	1,413,200	1,700,000	4.2%
India	59,300	1,007,000	1,244,200	1,610,000	4.0%
Vietnam	33,700	863,000	997,800	1,200,000	3.0%
Cuba	14,800	952,000	1,011,200	1,100,000	2.7%
El Salvador	33,500	765,000	899,000	1,100,000	2.7%
Dominican Republic	24,900	692,000	791,600	941,000	2.3%
Canada	24,200	678,000	774,800	920,000	2.3%
Korea	17,900	701,000	772,600	880,000	2.2%
Total Pop. Top 10	498,900	16,112,000	18,747,600	21,741,000	53.7%
Total Foreign Born	940,000	31,100,000	34,860,000	40,500,000	100%

Immigration by state

Percentage change in Foreign Born Population 1990 to 2000

North Carolina	273.7%	South Carolina	132.1%	Mississippi	95.8%	Wisconsin	59.4%	Vermont	32.5%
Georgia	233.4%	Minnesota	130.4%	Washington	90.7%	New Jersey	52.7%	Connecticut	32.4%
Nevada	202.0%	Idaho	121.7%	Texas	90.2%	Alaska	49.8%	New Hampshire	31.5%
Arkansas	196.3%	Kansas	114.4%	New Mexico	85.8%	Michigan	47.3%	Ohio	30.7%
Utah	170.8%	Iowa	110.3%	Virginia	82.9%	Wyoming	46.5%	Hawaii	30.4%
Tennessee	169.0%	Oregon	108.0%	Missouri	80.8%	Pennsylvania	37.6%	North Dakota	29.0%
Nebraska	164.7%	Alabama	101.6%	South Dakota	74.6%	California	37.2%	Rhode Island	25.4%
Colorado	159.7%	Delaware	101.6%	Maryland	65.3%	New York	35.6%	West Virginia	23.4%
Arizona	135.9%	Oklahoma	101.2%	Florida	60.6%	Massachusetts	34.7%	Montana	19.0%
Kentucky	135.3%	Indiana	97.9%	Illinois	60.6%	Louisiana	32.6%	Maine	1.1%

Source: U.S. Census 1990 and 2000

Effects of immigration

Demographics

The Census Bureau estimates the US population will grow from 281 million in 2000 to 397 million in 2050 with immigration, but only to 328 million with no immigration.^[66] A new report from the Pew Research Center projects that by 2050, non-Hispanic whites will account for 47% of the population, down from the 2005 figure of 67%.^[67] Non-Hispanic whites made up 85% of the population in 1960.^[68] It also foresees the Hispanic population rising from 14% in 2005 to 29% by 2050.^[69] The Asian population is expected to more than triple by 2050. Overall, the population of the United States is due to rise from 296 million in 2005 to 438 million in 2050, with 82% of the increase from immigrants.^[70]

In 35 of the country's 50 largest cities, non-Hispanic whites were at the last census or are predicted to be in the minority.^[71] In California, non-Hispanic whites slipped from 80% of the state's population in 1970 to 42.3% in 2008.^[72]^[73]

Economic

Immigrants march for more rights in Northern California's largest city, San Jose in 2006.

In a late 1980s study, economists overwhelmingly viewed immigration, including illegal immigration, as a positive for the economy.^[74]According to James Smith, a senior economist at Santa Monica-based RAND Corporation and lead author of the United States National Research Council's study "The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration", immigrants contribute as much as $10 billion to the U.S. economy each year.^[75] The NRC report found that although immigrants, especially those from Latin America, caused a net loss in terms of taxes paid versus social services received, overall immigration was a net economic gain due to an increase in pay for higher-skilled workers, lower prices for goods and services produced by immigrant labor, and more efficiency and lower wages for some owners of capital. The report also notes that although immigrant workers compete with domestic workers for low-skilled jobs, some immigrants specialize in activities that otherwise would not exist in an area, and thus can be beneficial for all domestic residents.^[76] About twenty-one million immigrants, or about fifteen percent of the labor force, hold jobs in the United States; however, the number of unemployed is only seven million, meaning that immigrant workers are not taking jobs from domestic workers, but rather are doing jobs that would not have existed had the immigrant workers not been in the United States.^[77] U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2002indicated that the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States grew to nearly 1.6 million in 2002. Those businesses generated about $222 billion in revenue.^[78] The report notes that the burden of poor immigrants is not born equally among states, and is most heavy in California.^[79] Another claim supporting expanding immigration levels is that immigrants mostly do jobs Americans do not want. A 2006 Pew Hispanic Center report added evidence to support this claim, when they found that increasing immigration levels have not hurt employment prospects for American workers.^[80]

In 2009, a study by the Cato Institute, a free market think tank, found that legalization of low-skilled illegal resident workers in the US would result in a net increase in US GDP of $180 billion over ten years.^[81] Jason Riley notes that because of progressive income taxation, in which the top 1% of earners pay 37% of federal income taxes (even though they actually pay a lower tax percentage based on their income), 60% of Americans collect more in government services than they pay in, which also reflects on immigrants.^[82] In any event, the typical immigrant and his children will pay a net $80,000 more in their lifetime than they collect in government services according to the NAS.^[83]

The Kauffman Foundation’s index of entrepreneurial activity is nearly 40% higher for immigrants than for natives.^[84] Immigrants were involved in the founding of many prominent American high-tech companies, such as Google, Yahoo, Sun Microsystems, and eBay.^[85]

The number of garment factories inManhattan's Chinatown has fallen from 400 in 2000 to about 150 in 2005. Most of the garment industry has moved to China.^[86]

On the poor end of the spectrum, the "New Americans" report found that low-wage immigration does not, on aggregate, lower the wages of most domestic workers. The report also addresses the question of if immigration affects black Americans differently from the population in general: "While some have suspected that blacks suffer disproportionately from the inflow of low-skilled immigrants, none of the available evidence suggests that they have been particularly hard-hit on a national level. Some have lost their jobs, especially in places where immigrants are concentrated. But the majority of blacks live elsewhere, and their economic fortunes are tied to other factors."^[87]

The analysis shows that 31% of adult immigrants have not completed high school. A third lack health insurance.^[32] Robert Samuelson points out that poor immigrants strain public services such as local schools and health care. He points out that "from 2000 to 2006, 41 percent of the increase in people without health insurance occurred among Hispanics."^[88] According to the immigration reduction advocacy group Center for Immigration Studies, 25.8% of Mexican immigrants live in poverty, which is more than double the rate for natives in 1999.^[89] In another report,The Heritage Foundation notes that from 1990 to 2006, the number of poor Hispanics increased by 3.2 million, from 6 million to 9.2 million.^[90]

Hispanic immigrants in the United States were hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis. There was a disproportionate level of foreclosures in some immigrant neighborhoods.^[91] The banking industry provided home loans to undocumented immigrants, viewing it as an untapped resource for growing their own revenue stream.^[92] In October 2008, KFYI reported that according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, five million illegal immigrants held fraudulent home mortgages.^[93] The story was later pulled from their website and replaced with a correction.^[94] The Phoenix Business Journal cited a HUD spokesman saying that there was no basis to news reports that more than five million bad mortgages were held by illegal immigrants, and that the agency had no data showing the number of illegal immigrants holding foreclosed or bad mortgages.^[95] Thousand of federal government jobs has been created by immigrants to US, such as USCIS is 99% funded by immigrant application fees.The types of job includes interview immigraiton official,finger printer,etc.

Social

The largest mass lynching in American history involved the lynching of eleven Italians in New Orleans in 1891.

Benjamin Franklin opposed German immigration, stating that they would not assimilate into the culture.^[96] Irish immigration was opposed in the 1850s by the nativist Know Nothing movement, originating in New York in 1843. It was engendered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed byIrish Catholic immigrants. In 1891, a lynch mob stormed a local jail and hanged several Italians following the acquittal of several Sicilian immigrants alleged to be involved in the murder of New Orleans police chief David Hennessy. The Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act in 1921, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The Immigration Act of 1924 was aimed at limiting immigration overall, and making sure that the nationalities of new arrivals matched the overall national profile.

After the September 11 attacks, many Americans entertained doubts and suspicions about people apparently of Middle-Eastern origins.^{[citation needed]}PBS in 2010 fired a prominent black commentator, Juan Williams, when he talked publicly about his fears on seeing people dressed like Muslims on airplanes.^[97]

Racist thinking among and between minority groups does occur;^[98]^[99] examples of this are conflicts between blacks and Korean immigrants, notably in the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, and between African Americans and non-white Latino immigrants.^[100]^[101] There has been a long running racial tension between African American and Mexican prison gangs, as well as significant riots in California prisons where they have targeted each other, for ethnic reasons.^[102]^[103] There have been reports of racially motivated attacks against African Americans who have moved into neighborhoods occupied mostly by people of Mexican origin, and vice versa.^[104]^[105] There has also been an increase in violence between non-Hispanic Anglo Americans and Latino immigrants, and between African immigrants and African Americans.^[106]

Political

Immigrants differ on their political views; however, the Democratic Party is considered to be in a far stronger position among immigrants overall.^[107]^[108] Research shows that religious affiliation can also significantly impact both their social values and voting patterns of immigrants, as well as the broader American population. Hispanic evangelicals, for example, are more strongly conservative than non-Hispanic evangelicals.^[109] This trend is often similar for Hispanics or others strongly identifying with the Catholic Church, a religion that strongly opposes abortion and gay marriage.

Health

The issue of the health of immigrants and the associated cost to the public has been largely discussed. The non-emergency use of emergency rooms ostensibly indicates an incapacity to pay, yet some studies allege disproportionately lower access to unpaid health care by immigrants.^[110] For this and other reasons, there have been various disputes about how much immigration is costing the United States public health system.^[111] University of Maryland economist and Cato Institute scholar Julian Lincoln Simon concluded in 1995 that while immigrants probably pay more into the health system than they take out, this is not the case for elderly immigrants and refugees, who are more dependent on public services for survival.^[112]

Immigration from areas of high incidences of disease is thought to have fueled the resurgence of tuberculosis (TB), chagas, and hepatitis in areas of low incidence.^[113] According toCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TB cases among foreign-born individuals remain disproportionately high, at nearly nine times the rate of U.S.-born persons.^[114]^[115] To reduce the risk of diseases in low-incidence areas, the main countermeasure has been the screening of immigrants on arrival.^[116] HIV/AIDS entered the United States in around 1969, likely through a single infected immigrant from Haiti.^[117]^[118] Conversely, many new HIV infections in Mexico can be traced back to the United States.^[119] People infected with HIV were banned from entering the United States in 1987 by executive order, but the 1993 statute supporting the ban was lifted in 2009. The executive branch is expected to administratively remove HIV from the list of infectious diseases barring immigration, but immigrants generally would need to show that they would not be a burden on public welfare.^[120] Researchers have also found what is known as the "healthy immigrant effect", in which immigrants in general tend to be healthier than individuals born in the U.S.^[121]^[122]

Various researchers have criticized the position held by Simon and others that increased U.S. population growth is sustainable. David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture atCornell University, and Mario Giampietro, senior researcher at the National Research Institute on Food and Nutrition (INRAN), note in their study Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy the maximum U.S. population for a sustainable economy at 200 million. To achieve a sustainable economy, the United States must reduce its population by at least one-third.^[123]^[124]

Perceived heavy immigration, especially in the southwest, has led to some fears about population pressures on the water supply in some areas. California continues to grow by more than a half-million a year and is expected to reach 48 million in 2030.^[125] According to the California Department of Water Resources, if more supplies are not found by 2020, residents will face a water shortfall nearly as great as the amount consumed today.^[126] Los Angeles is a coastal desert able to support at most one million people on its own water.^[127] California is considering using desalination to solve this problem.^[128]

Crime

Empirical studies on links between immigration and crime are mixed. Certain studies have suggested that immigrants are underrepresented in criminal statistics.^[129] An Op-Ed in The New York Times by Harvard University Professor in Sociology Robert J. Sampson says that immigration of Hispanics may in fact be associated with decreased crime.^[130] A 1999 paper by John Hagan and Alberto Palloni estimated that the involvement in crime by Hispanic immigrants are less than that of other citizens.^[131]

Native-born American men between 18-39 are five times more likely to be incarcerated than immigrants in the same demographic.^[132] In a study released by the non-partisan research group The Public Policy Institute of California, immigrants were ten times less likely to be incarcerated than native born Americans.^[133] In his 1999 book Crime and Immigrant Youth, sociologist Tony Waters writes that immigrants themselves are less likely to be arrested and incarcerated; he also noted, however, that the children of some immigrant groups are more likely to be arrested and incarcerated. This is a by-product of the strains that emerge between immigrant parents living in poor, inner city neighborhoods.^[134] According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, for example, as of 2001, 4% of Hispanic males in their twenties and thirties were in prison or jail, compared to 1.8% of non-Hispanic white males. Hispanic men are almost four times as likely to go to prison at some point in their lives than non-Hispanic white males, although less likely than non-Hispanic African American males.^[135] There was an estimated 30,000 street gangs and more than 800,000 gang members active in the U.S. in 2007, up from 731,500 in 2002. New immigrants are susceptible to gang influences and activities because of language barriers, employment difficulties, support, protection, and fear.^[136]^[137]^[138]^[139]

Environment

Some commentators have suggested that increased immigration has a negative effect on the environment, especially as the level of economic development of the United States (and by extension, its energy, water^[140] and other needs that underpin its prosperity) means that the impact of a larger population is greater than what would be experienced in other countries.^[141] There is, however, no empirical evidence linking immigration to the degradation of the environment.

Education

Forty percent of Ph.D. scientists working in the United States were born abroad, an example of brain drain.^[84] Immigrant children have historically been greatly affected by cultural misunderstanding, language barriers, and feelings of isolation within the school atmosphere. More recently, however, immigrant children are finding a more welcoming school atmosphere.^{[citation needed]} This does not undermine the difficulties immigrants face upon entering U.S. schools; immigrant children maintain their native tongue can leave them feeling disadvantaged within English speaking schools.^{[citation needed]}

Public opinion

The ambivalent feeling of Americans toward immigrants is shown by a positive attitude toward groups that have been visible for a century or more, and much more negative attitude toward recent arrivals. For example a 1982 national poll by the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut showed respondents a card listing a number of groups and asked, "Thinking both of what they have contributed to this country and have gotten from this country, for each one tell me whether you think, on balance, they've been a good or a bad thing for this country," which produced the results shown in the table. "By high margins, Americans are telling pollsters it was a very good thing that Poles, Italians, and Jews emigrated to America. Once again, it's the newcomers who are viewed with suspicion. This time, it's the Mexicans, the Filipinos, and the people from the Caribbean who make Americans nervous." ^[142]^[143]

In a 2002 study, which took place soon after the September 11 attacks, 55% of Americans favored decreasing legal immigration, 27% favored keeping it at the same level, and 15% favored increasing it.^[144]

In 2006, the immigration-reduction advocacy think tank the Center for Immigration Studies released a poll that found that 68% of Americans think U.S. immigration levels are too high, and just 2% said they are too low. They also found that 70% said they are less likely to vote for candidates that favor increasing legal immigration.^[145] In 2004, 55% of Americans believed legal immigration should remain at the current level or increased and 41% said it should be decreased.^[146] The less contact a native-born American has with immigrants, the more likely one would have a negative view of immigrants.^[146]

One of the most important factors regarding public opinion about immigration is the level of unemployment; anti-immigrant sentiment is where unemployment is highest, and vice-versa.^[147]

Legal issues

Laws concerning immigration and naturalization

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, ifappropriate. Editing help is available. (July 2010)

Laws concerning immigration and naturalization include:

the 1990 Immigration Act (IMMACT), which limits the annual number of immigrants to 700,000. It emphasizes that family reunification is the main immigration criterion, in addition to employment-related immigration.
the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA)
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA)

AEDPA and IIRARA exemplify many categories of criminal activity for which immigrants, including green card holders, can be deported and have imposed mandatory detention for certain types of cases.

Asylum for refugees

Main article: Asylum in the United States

In contrast to economic migrants, who generally do not gain legal admission, refugees, as defined by international law, can gain legal status through a process of seeking and receivingasylum, either by being designated a refugee while abroad, or by physically entering the United States and requesting asylum status thereafter. A specified number of legally definedrefugees, who either apply for asylum overseas or after arriving in the U.S., are admitted annually.^[quantify] Refugees compose about one-tenth of the total annual immigration to the United States, though some large refugee populations are very prominent.^{[citation needed]}

Since World War II, more refugees have found homes in the U.S. than any other nation, and over two million refugees have arrived in the U.S. since 1980.^{[citation needed]} Of the top ten countries accepting resettled refugees in 2006, the United States accepted more than twice as much as the next nine countries combined; for example, Japan accepted sixteen refugees in 1999, while the United States took in 85,010 for resettlement, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Since 1975, an estimated 1.4 million refugees from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries have been resettled to the United States.^[148] Most Asian countries were unwilling to accept these refugees.^[149]

The U.S. will accept 70,000 refugees in fiscal year 2007, and President Bush stated that his eventual goal is a program that resettles 90,000 refugees in the United States each year. In 2006, the State Department officially re-opened the Vietnamese resettlement program. In recent years^[when?], the main refugee-sending regions have been Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, and Ethiopia.^[150] The ceiling for refugee resettlement for fiscal year 2008 was 80,000 refugees.^[151] The United States expected to admit a minimum of 17,000 Iraqi refugees during fiscal year 2009.^[152]

In 2009, President Bush set the admissions ceiling at 80,000 refugees.^[153] In FY 2008, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) was appropriated over $655 million for the longer-term services provided to refugees after their arrival in the US.^[154]

In 1991-92, Bhutan expelled roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepalis, most of whom have been living in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal. The United States has worked towards resettling more than 60,000 of these refugees in the third country settlement programme.^[155]

Miscellaneous documented immigration

In removal proceedings in front of an immigration judge, cancellation of removal is a form of relief that is available for certain long-time residents of the United States. It allows a person being faced with the threat of removal to obtain permanent residence if that person has been physically present in the U.S. for at least ten years, has had good moral character during that period, has not been convicted of certain crimes, and can show that removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his or her U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, children, or parent. This form of relief is only available when a person is served with a Notice to Appear to appear in the proceedings in the Immigration Court. Many persons have received their green cards in this way even when removal or deportation was imminent.^{[citation needed]}

Members of Congress may submit private bills granting residency to specific named individuals. A special committee vets the requests, which require extensive documentation. Congress has bestowed the title of "Honorary Citizen of the United States" to six people. The only two living recipients were Winston Churchill and Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, while the other instances were posthumous honors. The Central Intelligence Agency has the statutory authority to admit up to one hundred people a year outside of normal immigration procedures, and to provide for their settlement and support. The program is called "PL110", named after the legislation that created the agency, Public Law 110, the Central Intelligence Agency Act.

Immigration in popular culture

1888 cartoon in Puck attacks businessmen for welcoming large numbers of low paid immigrants, leaving the American workingman unemployed.^[156]

The history of immigration to the United States is the history of the country itself, and the journey from beyond the sea is an element found in American folklore, appearing over and over again in everything from The Godfather to Gangs of New York to "The Song of Myself" to Neil Diamond's "America" to the animated feature An American Tail.^[157]

From the 1880s to the 1910s, vaudeville dominated the popular image of immigrants, with very popular caricature portrayals of ethnic groups. The specific features of these caricatures became widely accepted as accurate portrayals.^[158]

In The Melting Pot (1908), playwright Israel Zangwill (1864–1926) explored issues that dominated Progressive Eradebates about immigration policies. Zangwill's theme of the positive benefits of the American melting pot resonated widely in popular culture and literary and academic circles in the 20th century; his cultural symbolism - in which he situated immigration issues - likewise informed American cultural imagining of immigrants for decades, as exemplified by Hollywood films.^[159]^[160] The popular culture's image of ethnic celebrities often includes stereotypes about immigrant groups. For example, Frank Sinatra's public image as a superstar contained important elements of the American Dreamwhile simultaneously incorporating stereotypes about Italian Americans that were based in nativist and Progressive responses to immigration.^[161]

Maggie and Jiggs from Bringing Up Father (January 7, 1940).

The process of assimilation was often a theme of popular culture. For example, "lace-curtain Irish" referred to middle-class Irish Americans desiring assimilation into mainstream society in counterpoint to an older, more raffish "shanty Irish". The occasional malapropisms and left-footed social blunders of these upward mobiles were gleefully lampooned in vaudeville, popular song, and the comic strips of the day such as "Bringing Up Father", starring Maggie and Jiggs, which ran in daily newspapers for 87 years (1913 to 2000).^[162]^[163] In recent years the popular culture has paid special attention to Mexican immigration^[164]

Immigration in literature

This section requires expansion.

The Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg wrote a series of four novels describing one Swedish family's migration from Småland to Minnesota in the late 19th century, a destiny shared by almost one million people. These novels have been translated into English (The Emigrants, 1951, Unto a Good Land, 1954, The Settlers, 1961, The Last Letter Home, 1961). The musical Kristina från Duvemåla by ex-ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson is based on this story.^[165]^[166]

The Hareliks (1919).

Theatre

The Immigrant is a musical by Steven Alper, Sarah Knapp, and Mark Harelik. The show is based on the story of Harelik's grandparents, Matleh and Haskell Harelik, who traveled to Galveston, Texas in 1909.^[167]

Interpretive perspectives

The Statue of Liberty was a common sight to many immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island

The American Dream is the belief that through hard work and determination, any United States immigrant can achieve a better life, usually in terms of financial prosperity and enhanced personal freedom of choice.^[168] According to historians, the rapid economic and industrial expansion of the U.S. is not simply a function of being a resource rich, hard working, and inventive country, but the belief that anybody could get a share of the country's wealth if he or she was willing to work hard.^[169] This dream has been a major factor in attracting immigrants to the United States.^[170]

Legal perspectives

University of North Carolina law professor Hiroshi Motomura has identified three approaches the United States has taken to the legal status of immigrants in his book Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States. The first, dominant in the 19th century, treated immigrants as in transition; in other words, as prospective citizens. As soon as people declared their intention to become citizens, they received multiple low-cost benefits, including the eligibility for free homesteads in the Homestead Act of 1869, and in many states, the right to vote. The goal was to make the country more attractive, so large numbers of farmers and skilled craftsmen would settle new lands. By the 1880s, a second approach took over, treating newcomers as "immigrants by contract". An implicit deal existed where immigrants who were literate and could earn their own living were permitted in restricted numbers. Once in the United States, they would have limited legal rights, but were not allowed to vote until they became citizens, and would not be eligible for the New Deal government benefits available in the 1930s. The third and more recent policy^[when?] is "immigration by affiliation", which Motomura argues is the treatment which depends on how deeply-rooted people have become in the country. An immigrant who applies for citizenship as soon as permitted, has a long history of working in the United States, and has significant family ties, is more deeply affiliated and can expect better treatment.^[171]

Philippines to USA

2010-12-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

Until 1965, immigration from the Philippines to the USA was much restricted owing to the discriminatory USA immigration law. However, once the immigration law was reformed, Philippine immigration to the US increased by leaps and bounds and today it is one of the important countries which send immigrants to the US and it is necessary to have a brief overview of the knowhows of Philippines to USA Visa .

Immigrant Visa :

A Philippine citizen who wishes to permanently immigrate to the United States must have a petition approved by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) before applying . The petition is to be filed either by a relative or a potential employer at a USCIS office in the United States.

For the Family-Sponsored (IR or F) category, application has to be made by beneficiary of an approved Form I-130 petition.

For the Employment-Based (E) category, application has to be made by beneficiary of an approved Form I-140 petition.

For the Special Immigrant visa category, excepting a qualified current or former US Government employee, an applicant needs I-360 petition approved by the USCIS.

Investors have to file Form I-526 petition with the USCIS.

A Philippine spouse or fiancé(e) of a US citizen can apply for a non-immigrant K visa with an approved I-129F petition.Documents Required for Immigrant Visa :
1. Valid passport for at least six months.
2. DS-230 Parts I and II Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Forms.
3. Birth Certificate issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and printed on NSO security paper.
4. Applicants aged 16 years and above must have valid Record Clearance for Travel Abroad Purposes from theNational Bureau of Investigation (NBI) . For immigration purposes, NBI clearance is considered valid only for a year from the date of issue.
5. Police certificate is required from a country in which the applicant lived for more than a year (six months for applying for a K visa) after turning 16 years old. Information on how to get police certificates can be obtained by contacting U.S. Embassy Manila's Immigrant Visa Branch
6. Marriage certificate (If applicant is married in the Philippines issued by the National Statistics Office
7. If never married, a Certificate of No Marriage Record (CENOMAR) issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO)
8. Evidence of financial support
9. Form I-864 Affidavit of Support (AOS) is required for visa applicants in all family-sponsored categories (IR and F) and certain E visa categories.
10. Form I-134 Affidavit of Support is required for returning residents (SB-1), fiancé(e)s or spouses of US citizens (K1, K3), children of K1 and K3 applicants, spouses and children of LPRs, and others.
11. Two colored photographs
Immigrant Visa Fee :
Each individual applicant for immigrant visa (irrespective of age) has to pay US $ 380 to cover the application and processing fees. The fees for immigrant visas can be paid either in cash, travelers check or US Postal Order at the Embassy's Consular Cashier (in case these have not been paid to the National Visa Center)
Non Immigrant Visa :
The non-immigrant visas are necessary to enter the US for various kinds of purposes and in various capacities. Some of the types of nonimmigrant visas are:

business (B-1)

tourism, visit to relatives and friends(B-2)

for visiting as representatives of foreign governments (A & G)

transit (C)

crewmen (C-1/D)

treaty traders and investors (E)

students in academic or language programs (F)

temporary workers and trainees (H)

journalists (I)

exchange visitors (J)

fiancé(e)/spouse of U.S. citizens (K)

intra-company transferees (L)

students in vocational or other nonacademic programs (M)

temporary workers of extraordinary ability (O)

athletes and entertainers (P)

cultural exchange visitors (Q)

religious (R)

NAFTA Derivative (TD).Procedure for application for non-immigrant visa :

Submission of Documents including:

Valid Passport for at least six months

Payment of Visa fee: Each non-immigrant visa applicant (excepting those for diplomatic (A), official (G), certain American Government sponsored exchange visitors (J), and certain NAFTA treaty nationals (TN) and treaty dependents (TD) visa) must pay the machine-readable visa application fee equal to US $100. This fee can be paid at any designated branch of Citibank or Bank of the Philippine Islands and must be paid in Philippine currency at the American Government exchange rate.

Form DS-156

Form DS-157

One 2” x 2 ” standard, full- faced color photo against a white background taken within the last six months. It should be signed (full name) at the back by the applicant, and must be glued to the application form where specified.

Extension of stay/change of status – Copies of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approvals of extension of stay or change of status, if applicable.

Proof of relationship (if applying with dependent/s) such as: Original marriage certificate, Original birth certificate, etc.• Appointment for Interview:
Applicants (excepting for visa categories A-1, A-2, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, and C-3 ) are to fix appointment as early as possible for interview by obtaining a confirmation number (applicants can call at 1-909-101-7878, if in Philippines, or at 1-888-877-9888 if in US mainland)
• Processing during interview:

Nonimmigrant visa applicants between the ages of 14-79 ages will have to undergo finger scanning at the time of interview

Applicants requiring interpreters must inform the interviewing officer at the day of their interview

Upon concluding, the applicant will be advised whether he/she qualifies for the visa.

USA IMMIGRATION

2010-12-05T11:23:00.001-08:00

USA IMMIGRATION VISAS

Need an Immigration Lawyer?

Immigrants to the United States are divided into two categories: (I) those who may obtain permanent residence status without numerical limitation, and (II) those subject to an annual limitation. The latter category is further divided into (A) family-sponsored, (B) employment-based, and (C) diversity immigrants.
I. UNLIMITED IMMIGRANTS
A. Immediate Relatives: The spouse, widow(er) and minor unmarried children of a United States citizen, and the parents of a United States citizen who is 21 or older.
B. Returning Residents: Previous U.S. lawful permanent residents who are returning to the U.S. after a stay of more than one year abroad.
II. LIMITED IMMIGRANTS

Subject to certain transitional laws, immigration into the United States beginning in 1995 will be limited to 675,000 persons per year. That figure is divided into three distinct sub-categories.
A. USA Family-Based Immigration Visas

Preference relatives may receive all of the visas not used by Immediate Relatives, but no less than 226,000 visas per year. Family-based preference categories (with minimum limits in parentheses) include:

1. First Preference: Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and children if any. (23,400)
2. Second Preference: Spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent resident aliens. (114,200)
3. Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and children. (23,400)
4. Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and children, provided the U.S. citizens are over 20. (65,000)
B. USA Employment-Based Immigration Visas

A total minimum of 140,000 immigrant visas yearly are available for this category which is divided into five preference groups (percent of yearly limit):

1. Priority Workers: Persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; and certain multinational executives and managers (28.6%).
2. Members of the Professions: Professionals holding advanced degrees, and persons of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, and business (28.6%).
3. Professionals, Skilled and Unskilled Workers: Professionals holding baccalaureate degrees, skilled workers with at least two years experience, and other workers whose skills are in short supply in the United States (28.6%).
4. Special Immigrants: Certain religious workers, ministers of religion, certain international organization employees and their immediate family members, and qualified, recommended current and former U.S. Government employees. (7.1%).
5. Investors: Persons who create employment for at least ten unrelated persons by investing capital in a new commercial enterprise in the United States. The minimum capital required is between $500,000 and $1,000,000, depending on the employment rate in the geographic area (7.1%).
C. USA Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery (USA Green Card Lottery)

The Diversity Lottery makes available a maximum of 55,000 immigrant visa numbers annually to persons selected at random from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. There is a separate registration for each year's visas. Information on registration for the lottery is announced each year by the State Department.
APPLYING FOR THE VISAS

Certain applicants such as priority workers, investors, certain special immigrants, and diversity immigrants can petition on their own behalf. All others must have a relative or potential employer petition for them.

Applicants for family-sponsored immigrant visas should request the U.S. citizen relative to file a petition Form I-130 with the nearest USCIS. In some cases, if the U.S. citizen is residing abroad, he or she may file the petition with a consular officer at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

Applicants for employment-based immigrant visas may require an approved petition Form I-140 from the USCIS. Priority workers may petition on their own behalf with the USCIS, while others must have their prospective employers file the petitions. Prior to filing a petition with the USCIS, members of the profession, professionals, skilled and unskilled workers, must obtain certifications from the Department of Labor that there are no qualified workers available for the proposed employment in the U.S.

Special immigrant returning residents and U.S. Government employees must apply to the Secretary of State through a U.S. consular office abroad. All other special immigrants must file the I-360 petition with USCIS.

An investor must file a Form-I-526 petition with the USCIS.

Diversity immigrants must file an application with the U.S. Department of State. Information on registration will be announced each year by the State Department.

The State Department will advise the beneficiary of the petition (the applicant for a visa) when it is received from the approving office. The visa applicant will receive further instructions at that time.
VISA INELIGIBILITY/WAIVER

The immigration laws of the United States, in order to protect the health, welfare, and security of the U.S., prohibit visa issuance to certain applicants. This includes persons who have a communicable disease such as tuberculosis, or have a dangerous physical or mental disorder, or are drug addicts; have committed serious criminal acts, including crimes involving moral turpitude, drug trafficking, and prostitution or procuring; are terrorists, subversives, members of a totalitarian party or former Nazi war criminals; are likely to become public charges in the U. S.; have used fraud or other illegal means to enter the U.S.; or are ineligible for citizenship. Some former exchange visitors must live abroad 2 years. Physicians who intend to practice medicine must pass a qualifying exam before receiving immigrant visas.

If any of the above restrictions might apply, then a statement regarding the facts should be submitted to the consular officer, who will advise the applicant if the law provides for some form of waiver.

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Immigration to the United States

Contents

History

Contemporary immigration

Demography

Origin

Immigration by state

Effects of immigration

Demographics

Economic

Social

Political

Health

Crime

Environment

Education

Public opinion

Legal issues

Laws concerning immigration and naturalization

Asylum for refugees

Miscellaneous documented immigration

Immigration in popular culture

Immigration in literature

Theatre

Interpretive perspectives

Legal perspectives

See also

Philippines to USA

USA IMMIGRATION