4 Things To Know About U.S. Immigration Laws

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The immigration laws in the United States are getting improved day by day, which is the reason why international travelers should be updated about what is going on when it comes to immigration laws in the United States. Many travelers get into immigration problems because their preparation was based on their prior knowledge that is based on the old laws which may contradict newly enacted laws. This is the main reason why most people end up not being eligible to get their passports approved for a visa. The change in administration can be pointed out as the main cause of the frequent change in the immigration laws as each government has its different point of view. 

ESTA Application is essential for passport holding citizens of visa waiver program eligible countries. It is mandatory for one to use the internet to apply if one’s country is among the eligible Visa Waiver Countries

1. Permanent Stay Lottery 

The permanent stay lottery (visa lottery) which is also known as a diversity visa is one of the less stressful ways of attaining the green card. The United States permanent stay lottery is a program whose target is increasing the population of immigrants from countries that have very few citizens that have immigrated to the United States. The lottery in the common concept is very easy as its application is free, and the system selects winners of the visa at random. Lucky people who end up getting picked as winners of the lottery will earn the right to be in the United States and work as a result of the green card which they will all be given. Countries that are eligible for the visa lottery include Somalia, Sri Lanka, amongst others. It should be noted that the US government under the leadership of President Donald Trump has made a deliberation on stopping the permanent stay lottery so as to curb the sudden increase in the rate at which immigrants get the green card. 

2. Temporary Stay Protection

The temporary stay protection for foreigners is the right to be in the country for an undesignated time, foreigners with the temporary protected status are free to get jobs and earn a living in the country temporarily. The reason the temporary status is given to foreigners is because of natural disasters, social unrest, and so on. Victims of such occurrences get the approved to be in the United States under Temporary protection status. The temporary status doesn’t guarantee a permanent stay (green card) and neither can it be extended as it only permits to stay till further notice. The government of Donald Trump has moved against the law that gave some citizens of some countries like Sudan, Somalia amongst others the Temporary protected status and also wants to cancel the reduce the system to few countries. After a lot of deliberation and argument about the cancellation, the government has decided to postpone their decision to 2020 while the immigrants from the affected countries that have been living in the US with the Temporary protected status beforehand can stay till another decision is reached in 2020. 

3. Employment

Many international migrants who are aspiring to work or are already working in the United States mostly wonder if there is the possibility of being eligible for permanent stay application because of possession of some special skills of labor. Some think eligibility for permanent stay by employment is determined by the number of years one has been in the US while others think it is impossible to eligible through employment. One can be eligible for the United States green card through employment in two major ways; the first way is through some special or rare skills, an example of such is if someone is a renowned professor in the world that decides to work in the United States. 

The second way of immigrating more easily is through rendering some special services to the government. Example of this are the afghans that worked for the United States in Afghanistan from the year 2003 who was given permanent stay due to the service they rendered during the Afghanistan unrest and the Iraqis that also worked for the United States in Iraq during the unrest in Iraq. 

The second way is very much easy and guaranteed so far it has very strict and specific conditions unlike the first way which does not have specific conditions, i.e. the special skills that can make one eligible for the permanent stay are many, but none is specified as a skill that can guarantee permanent stay for foreigners

4. Family

In the olden days, the basic rule is that if you have a family who is either a citizen of the United States a green card holder, he or she can be of help to you in getting the United States visa through his or her status. Nowadays, under president Trump, his new immigration laws include reducing the rate at which family members can influence the immigration system by getting a visa for their relatives. The new laws aimed at making the visa through relatives eligible for immediate relatives like your children and spouse unlike before that you can apply for any relative including distant cousins, uncles and so on.

Keep Up With Immigration Law Changes

Immigration laws and policies are changing all the time in the United States and throughout the world. Keep up with the latest information on our Law and Politics pages.

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