Q: My sister filed for me to get an immigrant visa and she submitted all of the paperwork in the United States. I would like to know how long it takes for my visa to be issued and if there is any additional information I need to get before my visa interview.

A: The immigrant visa process involves several steps, starting with the filing of a petition by a US citizen relative(s), US lawful permanent resident, or by a prospective employer. Petitions are generally filed in the United States and should be submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) field office near you — a list of USCIS field offices is available on their website at: www.uscis.gov. In this example, the application submitted would have been a ‘family-sponsored petition’.

Family-sponsored Petitions

As a reminder, there are several different types or classifications of relationships for family or immediate relative sponsored petitions. Please keep in mind that there are limits on the number of immigrant visas that are issued each year in each of the relationship categories. This is one of the ways in which immigrant visas are very different from non-immigrant visas: immigrant visas have numerical limits, while there is no limit on the number of non-immigrant or visitor’s visas, which we can be issued for temporary travel to the United States.

Individuals are assigned a ‘priority date’ based on when their application was filed and their petition approved.

When is my Priority Date?

As of July 2010, the Department of State is scheduling and conducting visa interviews for the following groups with the following priority (or petition) dates:

* Unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens — April 1, 2005

* Spouses and children of U.S. permanent residents — July 1, 2008

* Unmarried sons or daughters of US permanent residents — May 1, 2003

* Married sons and daughters of US citizens — September 1, 2001

* Brothers and sisters of adult US citizens — January 1, 2001

This information is contained in a visa bulletin that is regularly updated by the Department of State, based on the number of available immigrant visas. You can access the visa bulletin at any time to check the current processing dates: travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html.

What happens after my petition is approved?

After the immigrant petition has been approved, the next step is preliminary processing for an immigrant visa. The Department of State’s National Visa Centre (NVC) works to collect documents and information necessary for US embassies to process your visa application. NVC works to collect affidavits of support — documentation of who will support you financially when you move to the United States — as well as other required documents, like birth certificate(s), marriage or divorce certificate(s), and police certificates.

Please note that, in response to specific security concerns at the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) Criminal Records Office, the US Embassy in Kingston is not accepting police certificates (police records) issued before June 14, 2010. All applicants who received their police certificate before June 14, 2010 will be required to obtain a new one before a visa can be issued. This applies to police certificates issued before this date that are already in the possession of applicants, as well as police certificates already submitted to the National Visa Centre in the United States.

Individuals who need to obtain a new police certificate will not be required to pay a fee to re-schedule their interview with the US Embassy once they have the new police certificates in their possession; additionally, the JCF requires payment for a replacement police certificate. This is beyond the Embassy’s control. Please contact the JCF directly for information regarding its fees at (876) 922-3221.

Lastly, the NVC can provide you information on the required medical exam or panel physician visit and your visa interview.

Once your file is complete, and once you have reached your priority date, the file is passed to the US embassy (or consulate) in your home country so that you can arrange an interview for your immigrant visa. Your interview will not take place until you are eligible, meaning that your priority date has been reached in our processing queue and there are additional immigrant visa numbers remaining.

What about my interview?

Once your priority date is reached, you will be contacted to schedule an interview with the US embassy or consulate in your home country. You will also be advised of what information and documentation to bring to your interview and how to schedule the required medical exam. Please note that if you do not bring the necessary information, our office will work with you to reschedule a time for you to return, though processing goes much faster if you are fully prepared.

Non-Immigrant visas & pending immigrant visa petitions

It is important to consider that once an IV petition is filed and remains pending, even perhaps for years, you are now an intending immigrant. It is significantly more difficult for intending immigrants to prove that they qualify for a visa for non-immigrant travel.

For more information on immigrant visas, you can visit the US Embassy Kingston website, kingston.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas.html, or the Department of State website, travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/immigrants_1340.html.

The American Embassy staff in Kingston will answer any questions you may have regarding US consular law, regulations and/or practice. In order to respect the privacy of applicants, the embassy will not answer questions on specific personal applications.

Send your questions to: editorial@jamaicaobserver.com and we will send them to the embassy.