U.S. Citizenship For Dummies. Jennifer Gagliardi

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U.S. Citizenship For Dummies - Jennifer Gagliardi


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href="#fb3_img_img_d273dae8-4097-52f1-91ea-cf9c37333870.png" alt="Technical Stuff"/> According to the Secretary of State, for the 2022 fiscal year (October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022), the total ceiling is set at 125,000 admissions, divided among six geographic regions and a catchall unallocated category. Here’s how those 125,000 admissions are divided:

       Africa: 40,000

       East Asia: 15,000

       Europe and Central Asia: 10,000

       Latin America and the Caribbean: 15,000

       The Near East and South Asia: 35,000

       Unallocated reserve: 10,000

      The Department of Labor (DOL)

      The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is responsible for protecting the nation’s workforce by making sure that workers enjoy safe conditions and fair employment practices. If you’re applying for immigration through employment, your potential employer and your employer’s attorneys will need to interact with the DOL.

      Before a U.S. employer can hire a foreign worker, the employer will usually have to first obtain a DOL-issued labor certification. The certification is the DOL’s way of officially letting the USCIS know that there are no qualified U.S. workers available and willing to work at the prevailing wage in the occupation for which the employer wants to hire a foreign worker. For further information about the required labor certifications, visit the Foreign Labor Application Gateway at www.flag.dol.gov.

      After a labor certification is obtained, the potential employer must petition the USCIS. For the proper forms, see the USCIS Working in the United States web page at www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states. If everything passes USCIS approval, the case then goes to the National Visa Center (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/national-visa-center.html) to await a visa number, or if you are in the United States, you may be eligible to apply for adjustment of status. Even if the DOL issues a certification, you aren’t guaranteed a visa. Whether you get a visa is ultimately up to the USCIS or State Department and also depends on visa availability. Nonetheless, applicants for a labor certification must prove they’re able to pass other necessary immigration qualifications, like those outlined in Chapter 3.

      The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

      The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the national law-enforcement agency in the U.S. The FBI’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., provides direction and support to 56 field offices, about 400 satellite offices, 4 specialized field installations, and more than 40 liaison posts. Each foreign liaison office is headed by a legal officer who works with both U.S. and local authorities abroad on criminal matters that fall under FBI jurisdiction, including cases of immigration and visa fraud.

      For more information about fingerprints, see USCIS Preparing for Your Biometric Services Appointment (www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-guidance/preparing-for-your-biometric-services-appointment).

      

To obtain a copy of your FBI identification record, submit a written request via the U.S. mail directly to the FBI, Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, ATTN: SCU, Mod. D-2, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306. This request must be accompanied by satisfactory proof of identity, which shall consist of name, date and place of birth, and a set of rolled-inked fingerprint impressions placed upon fingerprint cards or forms commonly utilized for applicant or law enforcement purposes by law enforcement agencies.

      HELPING REFUGEES: THE UNITED NATIONS

      The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (www.unhcr.org/en-us/) was established to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Striving to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, the agency has helped an estimated 50 million people restart their lives in the last 70 years. During the first half of 2021 alone, 142,900 refugees returned or were resettled.

      Today, a staff of around 7,300 staff working in 135 countries continues to help an estimated 26.6 million people find safe refuge in other countries.

      Finding Out about Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visas

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Visiting the United States on a temporary basis

      

Safeguarding your future immigration plans

      

Obtaining a green card

      

Making sense of the preference categories

      Whether you’re just visiting the United States on a nonimmigrant basis or hoping to live here permanently, you’ll need to know about visas and how to get them in order to remain in the country legally.

      All visa applicants should be aware that having a valid visa does not guarantee you entry into the United States. Upon arrival in the United States, you’ll receive a form I-94 “Arrival-Departure Record” from the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). (You can find out more about this in Chapter 1.) This document states the amount of time you’re allowed to remain in the United States legally.

      Nonimmigrants enter the United States for a temporary period of time, and their activities are restricted to the reasons their visas are granted. In other words, if you enter the United States on a tourist visa, you may not legally work because that would necessitate an employment visa.

      

Business travelers who stay for pleasure after their business concludes — provided they leave the country within the time period authorized when they are admitted to the United States — do not need to go
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