The first step in getting a temporary visa to the United States is to make sure you’re eligible. These laws can be complex and the lists long, so you may want to get help from a professional immigration lawyer for counsel on eligibility. This lawyer can also walk you through the steps of applications, maintaining your visa, and also getting you a green card if desired.

You can only stay in the US for a limited time with a temporary visa, and if you want to become a permanent resident in the future, it’s smart to follow all the immigration laws lest you lose your opportunity.

Let’s go over the basic steps of applying for a non-immigrant (temporary) visa.

Where to Apply for a Temporary Visa
You need to find a consulate close to you which can authorize the type of visa you want. The best place to find out is via the U.S. Department of State’s website, state.gov, which can help you find one near you and also walk you through the process. Wherever you are, that’s the country you need to apply for a visa in. If you’re in Russia, you must apply there. If you’re in a country with poor ties to the United States and has no consulate to help you, then going to a nearby countries consulate may be your best choice.

However, not all consulates will take your visa application if you try applying outside your home country. You can explain why you are unable to apply in your home country, such as if it has poor relations with the United States.

How to Apply for a US Visa
For certain visas, you can expect the process of applying to be simple. If you only want to visit the United States for a few days or weeks, you need only fill out some applications, attend and interview, and pass some if any security checks.

Student visas are a different process. You need to find a school who will admit you and send you a special form. You will then take this form to the US consulate. The only difficulty is in finding a school who will take you.

Work visas are the most lengthy of processes. If you already have a US employer willing to sponsor you, that’s step one. If you don’t, you need to find one who will. The employer must then do paperwork to get you to the United States, including paperwork with the U.S. Department of Labor, and the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). After that, it’s your job to file a visa application with the consulate in your country. Often, you can expect to have an interview at the US consulate or embassy.

Time You Wait for your U.S. Visa
Unfortunately, the waiting for the wheels of U.S. Immigration to work can be slow. With all these processes involved, and with security checks now more frequent, the days of getting tourist visas in days are gone. It might take months, so plan ahead and hire a good immigration lawyer.

Some of the best opportunities and adventures can be had in the United States, but immigration and traveling here is now more difficult than ever. And perhaps for the logical reason of keeping dangerous people out of the country. Unfortunately, this makes it more difficult for regular visitors, immigrants,and those who want to be naturalized to travel to the U.S.

So when can the United States keep you from visiting? How can your visa, green card, or U.S. entry be denied? For most, it’s completely open for you to visit here. There are some details you need to know, and this guide gives them.

Major Grounds for Inadmissibility
For everyone’s protection, if you have a history of criminal or terrorist affiliations, you can be denied entry. Also, people with drug abuse  problems, medical problems such as communicable diseases (AIDS, for example), can be denied entry. In some cases, there are wavers available for being allowed in.

The main reasons you could be denied include:
-If you have communicable diseases (waivers available)
-If you have physical or mental disorders (waivers available)
-If you abuse drugs, are an addict, or are involved in drug trafficking (no waivers available)
-Prostitutes and people convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude can be denied
-If you are a terrorist, spy, or Nazi (and other serious risks to U.S. security, no waivers)
-If you have multiple crime convictions (waivers available)
-If you are likely to become dependent on welfare

Of those, some may have you confused. First, “mortal turpitude” is defined as how you treat fellow people or society in a vile and base way. There are other considerations where you can be denied a visit to the United States as an immigrant, and this is where an immigration lawyer can help.

You Can’t Get In? U.S. Immigration Laws
If you are considered inadmissible for the above reasons or for others, that’s typically the U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security’s decision. You will often be dealing with the USCIS, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration  Services. The USCIS can deny you a visa or approve you for immigration.

If you have a green card (permanent resident status), you also could be deemed inadmissible. For example, you might stay in the U.S. for more than 180 days and be involved in a crime. In this case, you could be denied.

Getting Help with an Immigration Lawyer
There are a variety of ways to get around these laws, but it’s part of a complex system. If you have a green card, it’s often wise to apply for U.S. Citizenship as soon as possible. If you have a criminal history or something else which you believe you hurt your admission into the country, an immigration lawyer can help you not only get a green card but also get you U.S. citizenship.

Many across the world are already US citizens and do not even know it. How can that happen? The most common way is just be born in the US; in that case, citizenship is assured. The other way you might already be a US citizen is birth to US citizen parents. You could have lived in Siberia, but if your parents are US citizens living abroad, you still have the right to US citizenship. Even if you are not eligible for these, you can get US citizenship after an application and exam, or by naturalization of your parents. Naturalization is the most common way to become a US citizen. You’re parents may have applied and got US Citizenship, and that makes you eligible also.

Let’s go over the main ways you might be a US citizen in more detail.

Born in the US
Just because you’ve lived most of your life outside the  US does not mean you are not a US citizen. If you were born in New Jersey, but moved to France when you were one-year old, and lived there your whole life, you are by law a US citizen. You need not apply for US citizenship in this case. Location has no bearing in terms of where you are now; what matters is you were born in a state or district of the  United States and that makes you a citizen. If you were born in a US territory, you may also acquire US citizenship.

Ancestry Leads to Citizenship
Being born in the United States is not the only way you’re automatically a US citizen. If you’re grandparents were US citizens, for example, you can technically also be a US citizen, even if you’re grandparents lived most of their lives outside the US. You can again have lived your whole life elsewhere, but still be a US citizen.

Children of Naturalized US Citizens
If your parents were naturalized while you were under the age of 18, that means you are a legal United States citizen. Children under 18 cannot be naturalized, but if their parents are naturalized, they’re automatically US citizens.

Proving US Citizenship
The final step is to prove you’re a US citizen by any of these methods. If you are within these laws–born in the US, parents are US citizens, ancestry to US citizens, or a child of naturalized US citizens–all you need to do is prove it. Acquire a passport or other document to prove this. You’ll then get an interview, and if all goes well there you can expect a swearing-in ceremony.  Once you become a US citizen, you can even  bring  over other close family members to the land of opportunity.

You can expect to get a second chance when you apply for US citizenship. After all, this is the land where dreams are made. However, becoming a US citizen is a big decision with laws you have to know and follow.

So how do you apply for US citizenship? Actually, first you have to be eligible. If you don’t meet the requirements for US citizenship, it doesn’t mean you won’t be able to live here, as green cards are easier to get.

Let’s go over the eligibility requirements for US citizenship.
-You must first have a green card (permanent resident status)
-You have lived in the United States as a lawful permanent resident for at least five years with some exceptions for military personnel and refuges
-You have been in the United States for at least half of the last five years
-You have lived in the state you’re applying from for 3 or more months
-You have not spent over 1 year outside the US (continuously)
-You have no permanent home outside the US
-You are at least 18 years old
-You are able to speak, read, and write in English
-You have good moral character
-You are able to pass a test covering U.S. history and government
-Lastly, you swear that you believe in the principles of the U.S. Constitution and will be loyal to the United States

If you’ve followed these guidelines, you’re now eligible to become a US citizen. In any case, hiring an immigration lawyer is almost required. There are many exemptions and laws you must first follow. Also, if something in your record is wrong, you could risk losing your permanent resident status. For example, if you’ve broken some law, this will now be on record and you could lose your green card.

Also, you might already be a US citizen. For instance, if you were born in any state or district in the country, you are technically a US citizen! These are the seemingly small facts many forget.

Filing for Us Citizenship
The application process is where a professional immigration lawyer can save the day. You need not worry about making mistakes that will cost you.

To apply for US citizenship, you must complete a citizenship application and send it with a copy of your green card, required photos, and any fees involved. The next stages are waiting, meeting with a USCIS officer, and being given a practical test on the English language, US law, and US government.  These things can seem daunting, so it’s wise to brush up on the basics of English, US law, and how the government works.

Professional Immigration Lawyer
The best way to go through this process is with professional counsel, someone who can walk you through all the processes of US citizenship. Earning US citizenship is a tougher obstacle for many than getting a green card. But once you get it, the rewards are immense.

If you’re ready to get permanent residency status via a green card or to actually become a US citizen, this blog post is just the thing you need to get started. Getting a green card or US citizenship is difficult, so your best choice is to hire a professional immigration lawyer.

1-Mistakes People Make That You Shouldn’t
You don’t just walk across the boarder, off the plane or even boat and become a US resident. It may be surprising, but US immigration is one of the most complex laws you’ll ever face. However, it’s not as difficult as it sounds if you hire someone who’s been doing this for years, namely an immigration lawyer.

2-What a Green Card Is

An immigration lawyer’s biggest talent is often getting you permanent residence status and a green card. This allows you to stay in the US as long as you want for work. Typically, these are not easy to get unless you have family here. If you have family in the US, you have a very good chance of getting a green card. If you’re about to marry a US citizen, that’s also helpful. There are other ways to get green cards beyond that, but those are the majority.

3-How You Get a Green Card
To get a green card, you have to qualify. To qualify, you usually have family here in the states, or a spouse, or an employer wants to bring you here to work.

4-What is a Temporary Visa?
For college students studying in the US, you get a green card. Temporary visas are for brief stays in the US, for family engagement, work, and studying.

5-Immigration Rights
You get a green card by 1) applying at the US consulate in your home country or 2) applying while you’re visiting the US.

6-Becoming a US Citizen
There are many laws about changing from a permanent resident to an actual US citizen. If you want US citizenship, it’s very smart to hire a professional immigration attorney to help you. There are many criteria, including the fact you’ve been a permanent  resident of the US for the past 5 years and have spent at least half that time here.

7-Research is Important
Lastly, for all the applications you’ll fill out, be completely honest. If you lie to the US government, you not only hurt your chances of becoming a permanent resident and citizen, but also risk losing your opportunity to visit here and ever getting a green card.

As you can see, getting a green card and applying for US citizenship are open to many people. If you are unsure of the process, you can also ask professional counsel on the subject. Also, the US government has a variety of web sites on the immigration process. If you’re ready to get your green card, or go from permanent resident to a US citizen, hire a professional immigration lawyer who can help you succeed.

How can you lose your green card? It happens often to US residents who recently gained permanent resident status. Typically, you lose your green card if you break criminal or immigration laws, and you can also lose your green card if you abandon the United States as a resident.

How can you avoid that? It’s pretty simple: don’t break laws, and maintain residence in the US throughout. However, there is some fine print you should be aware of, and how to keep your green card in the event you get a job in Canada or Mexico, or if you unknowingly break an immigration law.

Breaking US Laws
This is the most common way immigrants lose their green cards. The problem is it doesn’t work like you might think. It’s not for some major federal crime, more often than not, but actually a variety of crimes involving domestic disputes or immigration laws. So it doesn’t have to be a major crime, such as helping someone enter the US illegally or possessing drugs.  Some people even lose their green cards and are deported for not being truthful and using marriage as a way into the country.

There are no definitive laws on what makes you lose your green card and permanent resident status. The best thing you can do is be clear with what the  laws of the US are. If you make a mistake, not only hire a criminal lawyer, but also consult with an immigration lawyer. An immigration lawyer will know the fine print you don’t. Just hiring a criminal lawyer is a mistake; they often don’t completely understand all the laws involved in immigration. Hire someone you can depend on to fight for your right to live in the US.

If You Don’t Live in the US
The US is not a place to visit when you want to stay here for work or family and go home. If you want to maintain a green card, you must maintain US residency or you will lose it. The laws are even more complex in how they are handled than with breaking laws. A professional immigration lawyer to consult with is a must in this situation.

Say you come to the US via marriage and get a green card. You maintain residency here for 1 year, but go back to your home of Mexico and live there for one year. You are in fact in danger of losing your green card in this situation, and it may be hard to reenter the US.

If You Work Outside the US
It should be noted that you  can maintain your green card and US permanent resident status if you work outside the country. If you work a job in Canada and live on the border, you can technically maintain your green card if you consult with the USCIS.

Final Tips
To maintain your green card, it’s wise to have a clear understanding of what you can and can’t do. An immigration attorney can help you before you get in trouble, or if you have questions about what you’re allowed to do to maintain residence in the US.  Also, if you intend to live outside the US for some time,  say 1 year, it’s smart to get a reentry permit from the USCIS so you don’t have any trouble getting back in.

The best way to get a green card is to voice intentions of marrying a US citizen or if you’re already married to a US citizen. To get a green card via family, you must be an immediate relative of a US citizen.

Say for example you are visiting your love in New York. You love it in New York, stay longer than you intended, and decide to stay here and apply for citizenship. You must prove you intend to marry this person, this person must be a US citizen, be legally able to marry, and have visited this person in the US within the last two years.

It does get complicated, but it’s really the best way to get sponsored for a green card and live in the US.

Let’s go over in more detail how to gain US citizenship and a green card while currently in the US or any other country.

How You Apply for a Green Card in the  United States
You are immediately not eligible for a green card if you visited the US legally and stayed past your intended date (which is on your I-94 card). There are exemptions which a professional immigration lawyer can help you with, namely being if you’re an immediate relative of a US citizen, and applying because of that.

If you visited New York but entered the country illegally somehow, you may actually face deportation. You should consult a New York immigration lawyer who can help you immediately, or hire one in any state you visit.

Applying for a Green Card From Outside the United States
If you’re living in Great Britain and want to apply for citizenship, you first apply for a Visa. Once accepted, the National Visa Center will begin sending you letters. The NVC will then help you handle immigrating from Great Britain  to the US through the US embassies there.

Your US immigration process is not over yet. The local consulate will set up an interview with you for your green card. They will tell you to get a medical exam and photos. You’ll then have to meet with them and hand over some documents, including your passport, birth and marriage certificated, and even police certificates. There are various other documents they typically ask you to bring too.

You’ll then make an appointment and wait for a consular officer to meet with you at the consulate. They will review your documents and talk with you. It’s then over for many people, as you’ll be accepted, have your passport stamped, given a US visa to be used within six months so you can claim permanent resident status, and get your green card a few weeks or months later by mail.

Problems with Your Green Card
There are many cases where you might have trouble not only getting all the documents but being able to get a green card so you can live in the US. If you want to live in New York, for example, you may want to meet with a professional New York immigration attorney who can help you. This costs a fee, but few people can afford to do everything by themselves, as it can be a complex, time consuming, and often taxing experience.

Depending on your situation, immigration fees do change. The best route for a quick immigration process is to hire a professional immigration lawyer in the state you intend to visit. Typically, for the basic forms and fees to get you started, it can cost $300-800. That does not include some of the more expensive applications. You also need to pay for a medical examination, which can cost around $300.

What Other Fees?
You typically hire a immigration lawyer so you can get all the documentation correct. Since immigration law is a complex subject and the US handles it via a process of forms, your best choice is to hire professional counsel to get started.

It should be noted that you can have certain immigration related services waived if you prove that you are unable to pay. If you are without a job and want a better life for you and your family, for example,  you can submit a separate form to the USCIS and ask them to waive the fee.

How Do I Get a Green Card? How Much Does that Cost and How Long Does it Take?
There are a number of different opportunities for getting a green card, but the most common are having immediate family in US and/or being offered a job by an employer in the states. There are many other programs for getting into the US, such as for being a political refuge, and you’ll find more info on that upcoming on this blog.

The green card typically costs around $1,000 if you file all the applications yourself. If you hire an experienced lawyer, that’s an additional fee. If your employer is bringing you over from another country for a special skill, those fees can be paid. In total, it might cost you or your employer, with lawyer and application fees included, $5,000-7,000 to get the green card successfully.

Green cards are not easy to get, as only so many are allowed into the US. and it’s even tough for employers to get them because they must first prove trying to find a skilled worker in the US. However, many do successfully get green cards, but usually you experience the benefits before you actually get the green card. A green card may take 2-3 years to get, in other words, but you can be in the US enjoying all the benefits before that.

Is a Lawyer Worth It?
Definitely, hiring a professional immigration lawyer in the US to get you, your employee, or family member to the US is a wise choice. With the chances of being rejected very high, and all the opportunities new immigrants have, hiring a professional immigration lawyer can actually save you time and money. You just have to choose the right one. Hire someone with experience in the field, who can educate you on the subject, and who’s upfront about fees.

Just what is a Green Card anyway? A Green Card is an identification card attesting to the permanent resident status of an alien in the United States of America. It can also refer to the immigration process of becoming a permanent resident.

The Green Card serves as proof that its holder, a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), has been officially granted immigration benefits, which include permission to reside and take employment in the USA. The holder must maintain permanent resident status, and can be removed from the US if certain conditions of this status are not met. Green Cards use to be issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), but after 911 and the forming of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the INS was absorbed into the DHS. Under the administration of the DHS, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is the bureaucracy now responsible for issuing Green Cards.

Some facts about Green Cards we all should know:

• When an alien (foreigner) holds a legal Green Card, it entitles him or her to two very important permits while in the United States- a temporary work permit formally called an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and a temporary travel document, advance parole, which allows the alien to re-enter the United States. Both permits confer benefits that are independent of any existing status granted to the alien.
• Being an LPR is not the same as being a citizen of the United States. Lawful Permanent Residents generally do not have the right to vote, the right to be elected in federal and state elections, the ability to bring family members to the United States, or eligibility for federal government jobs.
• The term “permanent” as used in LPR is probably more closely associated with the term indefinite. The Green Card has to be renewed every 10 years and continued residency is conditional. The issuance of the card to an alien will allow the alien to remain in the United States indefinitely if the card is renewed on time and he or she abides by the conditions set forth at the issuance of the card.
• An LPR can elect to become a naturalized citizen of the United States after five years residency.
• An LPR can elect to become a naturalized citizen of the United States after three years residency if married to a citizen of the United States.
• An LPR can elect to become a naturalized citizen of the United States after four years residency if residency was received through political asylum.
• Male LPRs between the ages of 18 and 26 are subject to register for the Selective Service System.
• Green Cards got there name because the cards were originally green in color. Today, the cards look similar to most driver’s license having the picture, thumb print, and other identification of the LPR along with the United States Seal. They are no longer green in color.
• Permanent residents who reside in the US must pay taxes on their worldwide income, like U.S. citizens.

What has been the Green Cards impact on Tucson, Arizona? Arizona has over 6.5 million residents today of which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 13 percent of them are foreign born. Since 2000, it is estimated there has been an increase of around five percent in foreign born residency. Tucson, Arizona has a population of over one million residents in its metropolitan area. Applying the state percentages of foreign born residents and taking into consideration that it takes at least five years before an LPR can become a citizen, there could be well over 65 thousand Green Card holders in the Tucson area alone. Since there is approximately 377 thousand jobs available in the Tucson area, the implication is that at least 17 percent of those jobs are held by Lawful Permanent Residents. (Note: These statistics have been taken from Government census charts and are approximations intended for generalizations. They are not intended to be used as detailed and exact data for research)

If you know someone who is seeking permanent lawful status, to immigrate, or become a citizen of the United States, contact us right now at www.immigrationlawstation.com, and we will help you find an immigration attorney in your area who will answer any legal questions you may have about immigration law.