New York Immigration Blog

New York residents who are planning on marrying a foreign national may be able to legally bring them to the United States. This is done by filing Form I-129F and obtaining the K-1 nonimmigrant visa. To qualify for this visa, an individual must plan on marrying the partner within 90 days, and the marriage must be seen as a legitimate attempt by two people to start a life together.

Furthermore, the wedding must take place in the United States and after the visa has been obtained. Individuals who marry foreign nationals prior to bringing them to the United States generally cannot bring them to the country with this type of visa. After a legitimate marriage becomes official, the foreign national may be allowed to apply for permanent residency status. This is true if a couple gets married within 90 days of an individual obtaining the K-1 visa.

It is not uncommon for people in New York to have questions about immigration eligibility categories. Many who are already citizens or permanent residents have family members who need sponsors, and people who are seeking permanent residency may have family members who are able to sponsor them. In order to sponsor a relative's immigration into the country, a person must first be a permanent resident or a citizen and be able to support the relative at 125 percent of the poverty line.

Citizens can petition for a related foreign national to be allowed to immigrate if they can demonstrate that the foreign national is a spouse, unmarried child less than 21 years old, unmarried child of the citizen over the age of 21 or married child of the citizen. If the citizen is at least 21 years old, he or she is free to petition for the immigration of a brother, sister or parent who is a foreign national. Permanent residents can petition for immigration only for their spouses or for an unmarried daughter or son of any age.

For foreign nationals residing in New York, there are essentially two types of visas -- those that permit the holder to work in the US and those that do not. Temporary work visas allow a foreign national to work for a limited period of time. In some cases, the worker will pursue and secure the visa on his or her own. In other circumstances, the worker's employer will petition for the visa on that person's behalf.

The most common category of visa for foreign nationals working in the US is the H type. H-1A visas apply to registered nurses and are a specific response to a shortage of registered nurses nationwide. Specialty or professional occupations are covered by the H-1B visa. To qualify for an H-1B visa, the applicant must have specialized knowledge in a particular field. At a minimum, the applicant must show he or she has earned a four-year college degree. Additionally, the position the applicant is set to work in must require a four-year college degree.

Optional Practical Training visas allow employers in New York and around the country to hire foreign students and recent college graduates to fill positions that are related to their major field of study. OPT visas give students and graduates an opportunity to receive valuable training and provide employers with highly skilled workers, but recent reports suggest that the program is currently being hampered by excessively long waiting times.

Fewer than 400 of the 900 international students who applied for training positions at Massachusetts General Hospital have received their OPT visas, and immigrant advocacy groups say that the problem is not confined to the northeast. In previous years, students who did not receive an OPT visa within three months could obtain one by visiting a local immigration office. However, the Trump administration has eliminated this rule, and waiting times are now as long as seven months.