Overview of the Process of Immigration

When someone wants to come over from another country to the United States, there is a process called Immigration that they must follow. You just cannot show up and say I am an American now; there is a whole process that you must follow and we say it is intense and it doesn't happen overnight but when it is done you will be an American Citizen. Most people that come over have good intentions of permanently living or working here. The US Immigration system does allow entry into the United States for almost any legal purpose; here is an overview of the process for legal entry into the United States.

Eligibility: The United States Immigration System is set up to grant immigration status that are based on many, many factors. These factors include Refugees, Family Reunification, In Demand Work Skills and Capital Investment. The system is also open for a certain number of people that are chosen through a lottery, this lottery only has people who do not have an overwhelming instant need to be here. To gain legal entry here, the legal immigration position will also take into consideration the person's eligibility for employment, education and family situations.

Family: If you are looking for an immigration status based on family that does live here in the United States or has lawful permanent residency you will need:

  • The person who is looking for entry has to be eligible for lawful permanent residency based on a family relationship that is recognized by the Immigration Laws in the United States.
  • The Relative of the person looking to come into the country has to fill out the Form I-130, which is the Petition for Alien Relative. The relative would be a sponsor for the immigrant until legal status is given. The Petition has to be approved by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau.

Employment: If you are an immigrant looking to immigrant status for a permanent employment opportunity then you will need to do the following:

  • The person seeking residence has to be eligible under 5 categories of the employment based immigration US law
  • The employer must hand it a completed Form ETA and ETA 750B, these forms have to be handed in to the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration
  • The Employer has to file for an immigrant visa petition Form I –140 Petition for Alien Worker and the US Government has to approve the petition.

Capital Investment: These applications are very rare, however if a person makes a qualifying capital investment in the United States they may be eligible for immigrant status but this depends on:

  • If the investment meets a certain dollar amount that benefits the US Economy and creates of saves a certain amount of jobs
  • Form I-526 Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur is filed and approved with the US Government.

Diversity Lottery: The United States has a Diversity Lottery Program that has made immigrant visas available every year to people whose homeland has low immigration rates to the United States. Every year the amount of Visas available do change.

Refugee: To be eligible for this status, the person has to have suffered past or present prosecution based of race religion, political view, nationality or a member in a certain group. If you are found to be eligible then you have to satisfy medical and security criteria to have entry into the US.