easyvisanow.com - International Visa And Immigration Services

DEFINITION OF VISA USES - The visa allows a foreign citizen to travel to a port-of-entry in the destination country, such as an international airport, a seaport or a land border crossing. At the port-of-entry, a competent immigration officer of that country shall decide whether to allow or deny your entry to that country. Even with a visa, you may be denied an entry to the country.

CATAGORIES - The visa system can be divided into two major categories. The first one is officially called a permanent residence visa and known as an immigrant/migrating visa, which entitles you to work and live in your selected country on a permanent basis. The second one is called a nonimmigrant/temporary visas, which vary in types and privileges attached thereto. In general, they are issued for specific purposes such as vacation, study or employment.

Visa – a document issued and approved by a country for the purpose of traveling across international boarders for a specific period of time, purpose

Embassy – An agency representing a country that is located in other countries offering representation for the country of origin.

Immigration – An agency that is located in the country it represents allowing foreign persons to apply for rights of travel and other temporary assignments as retirement, work privileges or residence. Satellite offices are located all over the world.

Green Card – A document giving the right of residence and permission to work in a country for a period of time and may become permanent. This is not citizenship but offers many of the same privileges.

A Tourist/Visitor visa is only issued for vacation, travel and pleasure trips. You must not be engaged in any type of business activities while under this type of visa. To qualify for this type of visa, you must produce a valid passport or other valid travel documents to the consular officer. In general, you should apply for a tourist/visitor visa at a foreign embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over your permanent residence. Although visa applications may be submitted at any consular office in abroad, it is often more difficult to qualify for a visa outside the country of your permanent residence.permanent residence.

The Fiance' & Marriage Visa allows the married or engaged couples (girlfriends & boyfriends) to enter and stay in a foreign country on a temporary basis; and the length of stay of applicants under this type of visa will depend on the government policy of such foreign country; for examples, in the United States, an applicant under a fiance' visa can stay in the U.S. for 3 months; meanwhile, in the UK, the duration is 6 months. A fiance' visa is issued to provide the engaged person an opportunity to travel to a foreign country, and to stay with and/or to marry his/her fiance'e/fiance'

 In some countries, it takes up to one year to get a visa; in others, it takes less than 3 months. The visa processing time depends on the government policy of such foreign country and the reliability of documents that you have submitted to the Consular Officer. This procedure can be highly complicated, particularly when you are dealing with immigration and consular matters for the first time. Failure to complete all necessary documents accurately will result in delays or denial of many cases of visa application.

Before a marriage visa is issued, the foreign consular officer must be satisfied that your intentions are genuine. Therefore, you need to prove that your relationship is genuinely a long-lasting one. Examples of these obvious evidences include photos of the two of you taken together, letters, postcards, and phone records of calls made between both of you. The process of marriage visa application is more complicated than those of a tourist/non-immigrant visa. Complicated forms must be completed and evidence gathered. An important thing is to be aware of any mistake in your visa application form, which will be considered by the consular officer/the embassy as one of the reasons for denying your visa issuance.

UK: For UK citizens or permanent residents, there are no hard and fast rules about documentation that you should produce when sponsoring a visitor to the United Kingdom. There is no specific form of sponsorship to fill out; however, a UK resident/citizen must state an invitation indicating his/her intention to sponsor his/her foreign visitor to go abroad. If your visa application is rejected, you might be eligible appeal the decision through the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA); but this appeal process will take quite a long time, possibly up to one year.

Australia: An Australian citizen or permanent resident may guarantee a family member to visit Australia by giving a bond to secure the foreign relative’s return to his/her country of residence. To visit Australia as a visitor of the sponsoring family, it is important that the sponsored person must comply with the visa conditions and must return to his/her country within the time limit. The guarantor can sponsor only one family member at a time. After submitting the application along with this form to the Embassy, the officer will determine whether the guarantor needs to give a bond as security or not and for how much. The guarantor then has a specified period of time to pay for the bond; otherwise, the application will be withdrawn. Regarding the migration sponsorship, there are a number of forms for family members to fill out.

Canada: There are 2 main types of visas, including temporary visa (tourist/business) and permanent visa (conjugal partner/spouse/common-law partner). An applicant for a tourist/business visa must fill out IMM-5257 Form and IMM-5406 Form. More importantly, the applicant must be stabilized with his/her working and financial status and must be a faithful taxpayer. Once you have been issued a permanent residency, you may apply for your spouse or close relative for settlement in a foreign country, subject to the immigration law of that country.

Business, student and tourist visas are the most common visas to be sought. Each country has its own guidelines for eligible applicants. In general, each embassy has similar guidelines; but some documentary requirements may vary from country to country. In many European countries, known as “Schengen States”, citizens are allowed to invite foreigners to visit them by submitting an invitation letter certified by their local district office to the Embassy abroad, based on the visa qualifications of applicants. It is not guaranteed that your visa will be definitely issued; however, it does generate your chance of acquiring a visa. The USA has a different point of view on applicants for tourist/non-immigrant visas. The American consular assumes that all visa seekers have financial problems and/or attempt to migrate to America. U.S. citizens are not prescribed by law to assume responsibility for any sponsored visa holders. Therefore, in USA, a letter of guarantee is not as helpful as in Europe. Australian Citizens may be required to purchase bonds for their friends or relatives depending on the applicant’s circumstances. But the applicant is still obliged to comply with the rules and all other requirements under the Immigration Law. For Canada, the Government sometimes allows its citizens to sponsor a visitor by notarizing an invitation letter and stating all accommodations that will be provided during the visit. For UK visitors, visa requirements are similar to those of the USA, except that a UK citizen may give financial support for a foreign visitor; therefore, an invitation letter is helpful in the United Kingdom.

is used for specific business purposes transpiring during a visit to that country, including attendance in a business meeting, court hearings, etc…. In many cases, you can make indefinite visits during such business transactions so long as no compensation is earned in the foreign country. To facilitate the visa processing, you should obtain an invitation letter from the company in that foreign country, which must be specified with details of your business trips as well as accommodations (if available).

is an authorization for an applicant to study in a foreign country. You may not be allowed for any kind of employment or permanent stay in that country, and must return to your country of residence upon your graduation. In order to obtain this type of visa, you must be admitted by an educational institution in such foreign country.

This type of visa application form must be completed by your selected educational institution in such foreign country and must be returned to you. Then, you must submit the application along with your other supporting documentation. You must also prove your educational affordability through sponsorship or personal funds. Students are encouraged to apply for this type of visa far earlier than the date when the courses begin. The student visa processing may require an extra period of time, which delays the visa issuance.

Each country has different rules and procedures governing its immigrant and non-immigrant visas.

USA: In some cases, your friends or relatives living in the United States can use I-134 Affidavit of Support Form to acquire a U.S. non-immigrant visa for you. For immigrant visas, you have to file I-864 Affidavit of Support Form. In most cases, it is not recommended to use the Affidavit of Support Form for a sponsorship of non-immigrant/tourist visa.

Immigration is a government agency of any country that monitors and controls the flow of incoming foreigners by giving or denying admittance to foreigners. This agency is responsible for approving or disapproving all applications submitted by foreigners to enter the country as visitors or to remain staying in the country as immigrants. When you apply for a visa to visit or migrate to another country, you must be approved by this agency before your visa can be processed.

The Office of the Consulate of Foreign Affairs is also referred to as the embassy. Each country has its designated embassy to work for it in a foreign country. An embassy is a foreign government office located in a country where people can apply for visas to travel to such foreign country. Within the scope of law, the Consulate has almost an absolute discretion as to whom ever will be issued a visa and under whatever circumstances.

“Green Card” is terminologically referred to as an Alien Registration Receipt Card identifying its holder as a legal permanent resident. Under the status of citizenship, you are entitled to live and work permanently in America. The date of your green card issuance is so important because after three to five years you will be eligible to apply for US citizenship. A green card is normally issued for a 10-year period and may be conditional according to circumstances of your green card issuance. You may be required to renew your status in every two years or so. It is very much sensible to apply for citizenship as soon as you are eligible to do so.