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State Department & Immigration Forms for US Visas

By Ben Hart

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 23Oct2009 Word count: 425 Viewed: 275 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Obtaining an American visa for a foreign loved one can be a somewhat cumbersome process, particularly where the American Citizen spouse or fiance is in the United States and unable to deal with the day-to-day demands involved with obtaining a US visa. Therefore, some explanation is helpful to those interested in the US Immigration process and unaccustomed to its complexities.

When it comes time to process a visa application through the United States Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand it is necessary to compile a relatively large assortment of forms. This is perplexing to some as many are under the mistaken impression that the initial USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service) filing is the only time that a set of forms must be filled out and submitted in order to obtain a US visa. In reality, the United States Embassy requires a great many forms of its own.

One reason that may account for this seemingly redundant process is the fact that the United States Embassies in any country are under the jurisdiction of the State department while the USCIS is overseen by the relatively new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These two bureaucracies handle different aspects of the Immigration process. With regard to Embassy processing, the Consular Section first receives the case from the National Visa Center (NVC). After receipt, the Consulate will send a notice to the visa beneficiary that they are ready to begin processing the petition and outline the forms that will be necessary in order to grant the visa.

For the K1 fiance visa, these forms generally include forms like the DS-156 and 157 Although this is not an exhaustive list and many Embassies have different protocol for processing visas so extensive research may be required. The "DS" in front of the numbers denotes that the forms are issued by the Department of State, Immigration forms can be discerned by their use of the initial "I" before the specified number.

After compiling all of the necessary forms the applicant must send in the fully compiled appointment request packet, commonly referred to as packet 3. After receipt of this packet and the completed forms, the Embassy will set the interview appointment and the applicant will need to arrive prepared to demonstrate the bona fide nature of the relationship upon which the visa is being issued. If approved, the applicant generally must return to the Embassy within a few days to pick up their passport with the visa in it. The applicant is generally compelled to use the visa within 6 months or it will expire.

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