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THE ABC'S OF IMMIGRATION - V VISAS FOR SPOUSES AND MINOR CHILDREN OF PERMANENT RESIDENTS
The INS has provided its first guidance on the new V visa category.   Only applications from people living abroad are currently being accepted.  The INS will not begin accepting applications from people within the US until regulations are published, which is expected to be sometime in May.

The V visa is designed to reunite spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents with their families while their visa applications are processed.  The V visa allows the visa holder to be lawfully employed in the US, and to travel to and from the US.  However, while people who have been unlawfully present in the US can obtain a V visa, their unlawful presence will still prevent them from adjusting status unless they obtain a waiver.  Therefore, people with status violations may not want to travel abroad in order to prevent the reentry bars from taking effect.

To qualify for a V visa, the applicant must be the spouse or unmarried child under 21 of a permanent resident for whom an application for immigration was filed on or before December 21, 2000.  The application for immigration must have been pending for three years at the time of the application for the V visa. 
The State Department also recently announced the creation of a new supplement form to the OF-156 Nonimmigrant Visa Application that is intended for V visa applicants. The new form, the DS-3052 Nonimmigrant V Visa Application will soon be available on the State Department web site at http://travel.state.gov. 
The National Visa Center recently began sending a letter to nearly 300,000 potential V Visa applicants. Receiving the letter is not necessary to process a V Visa, but the letters contain a form which potential applicants can send to consular posts which will establish eligibility and will prompt the posts to schedule appointments.
The letter will read as follows:
Begin Text of Letter
        Dear Applicant:
        According to our records, you have a visa petition on file as the spouse or child of a Legal Permanent Resident.  Though the priority date for your petition has not been reached, the LIFE Immigration Family Equity Act created a new class of nonimmigrant visa that allows people in circumstances like yours to live and work legally in the United States while waiting for a visa number to become available.
        You may have heard of this new nonimmigrant visa, called the "V" visa. The purpose of this letter is to inform you how you may apply for this visa. We have placed general information on the "V" visa on our website at <HTTP://TRAVEL.STATE.GOV/V-VISA.HTML> . If you are in the United States, you may apply to change your current status (regardless of what that status might be) to the "V'" visa status by contacting the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. You should see their website:
         http://WWW.INS.GOV .  
 
If you are outside the United States, you must apply at selected U.S. embassies or consulates. 
        This letter and the enclosed worksheet are provided as a courtesy and not as an invitation to a specific interview.  If you have already received an interview date for your immigrant visa, you will be processed as an immigrant and not receive a V visa. To begin the process at a consular section overseas, you must complete the "V'" visa application worksheet (OF-156V). We have included one with this mailing, but it too can be completed and downloaded from our website:
<HTTP://TRAVEL.STATE.GOV/V-VISA.HTM>.    Once complete, send the worksheet to the consular section at the embassy or consulate where your immigrant visa was to be processed. Records show that your visa file has been assigned to the post below.
         Name of post
        Address
When consular personnel receive your information, they will send you further instructions concerning required documentation such as family records, a medical exam, and financial evidence. Many overseas posts have a website that describes their particular procedures. To find out if the post handling your case has its own website, go to
<HTTP://TRAVEL.STATE.GOV>  and click on the link that says, "U.S. Embassyand Consulate Websites Worldwide." When communicating with the consularoffice by telephone, letter, or e-mail, you must give your full name and case number as they appear below:
        Applicant's name
        Applicant's case number
        INS receipt number
- end of letter -