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STATE DEPARTMENT GEARS UP FOR V VISA PROCESSING
Under the LIFE Act signed by President Clinton in December, a new V visa will be available to spouses and children of permanent residents who had I-130s filed before the law was signed and who have had petitions pending for more than three years. Detailed information on the V visa is available on our web site at http://www.visalaw.com/hottopics.html. 
The State Department has now 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 will now be 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 will 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 alreadyreceived 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 - 

The State Department has indicated that it has just started mailing the letter out at the end of this week.