Family Based

Consular
Processing

Consular processing is applying for an immigrant visa at a US Department of State consulate abroad. This allows you to have the green card in hand before coming to the United States as a permanent resident. The experts at LA Legal Advocates have assisted with numerous consular processing cases – let us help. 

What is Consular Processing?
Petitioning for a loved one to immigrate to the United States can be a difficult and confusing process. Consular processing is the process through which a foreign national acquires his/her immigrant visa in their consular post/ embassy abroad. Consular processing involves working with several different U.S. agencies and at times long periods of waiting. Applicants should have a full grasp on the steps to be taken, and a realistic understanding of the costs and approximate waiting time involved.

Is Consular Processing right for you?
There are two circumstances in which consular processing is the correct route to use in your legalization journey. First, if the applicant lives in their country of nationality, consular processing may be the best option to obtain a green card. Secondly, if the applicant is living in the U.S., and does not qualify to obtain their green card in the U.S. through a process called adjustment of status, consular processing may be an option. To determine what category you may fall under, it is vital that an consular processing attorney is consulted to review your individual case.

How does Consular Process work?
The consular process begins with the approval of an I-130 family petition. This petition must be filed by an immediate relative or an individual under the visa bulletin. The purpose of the petition is to establish the family relationship between the petitioner and beneficiary.

Once the USCIS approves the petition, it is forwarded to the National Visa Center, an office of the U.S. Department of State. The U.S. Department of State is the U.S. government agency tasked with issuing permission (i.e. visas) for foreigners to enter the U.S. The approved petition waits at the National Visa Center (NVC) for the visa classification to be current for processing. Meanwhile, the NVC collects required documents and visa fees from the parties and compiles the visa application file.

The NVC will notify the parties when the visa is available to begin the process of applying for the immigrant visa. The NVC will forward the visa to the U.S. Embassy where the beneficiary resides and an interview is scheduled. The interview step is one of the most critical for visa issuance. If the interview is successful, the beneficiary could be in the U.S. as a permanent resident within a matter of weeks. If the interview is unsuccessful, the beneficiary could be facing an indefinite delay to their immigration plans, or worse yet, a permanent bar. Factors that can delay or prevent the issuance of a visa include a criminal record, past fraud or misrepresentations, and health-related bars, among others.

After the immigrant visa has been approved, the beneficiary can enter the U.S. to become a permanent resident. At the U.S. port of entry airport where the immigrant arrives, he or she will be given instructions for receiving their green card and social security number.

Need help with your Legal request?

Other Legal Family Based

LA LEGAL Website Privacy Policy

 

What information do we collect?

We collect information from you when you register on our site or fill out a form.

When registering on this site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your: name, e-mail address, phone number or other information. You may, however, visit our site anonymously.

Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on this site. Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt-out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

What do we use your information for?

Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:

To personalize your experience (your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs)

To improve our website (we continually strive to improve our website offerings based on the information and feedback we receive from you)

To improve customer service (your information helps us to more effectively respond to your customer service requests and support needs)

How do we protect your information?

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you access your personal information. 

We offer the use of a secure server. All supplied sensitive/credit information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our Database to be only accessed by those authorized with special access rights to our systems, and are required to keep the information confidential.

After a transaction, your private information (credit cards, social security numbers, financials, etc.) will not be kept on file for more than 60 days.

Do we use cookies?

Yes (Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computers hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.erstand and save your preferences for future visits.

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.

Third-party links

Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third-party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We, therefore, have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.

California Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

Because we value your privacy we have taken the necessary precautions to be in compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act. We therefore will not distribute your personal information to outside parties without your consent. 

As part of the California Online Privacy Protection Act, all users of our site may make any changes to their information at any time by logging into their control panel and going to the ‘Edit Profile’ page.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

We are in compliance with the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), we do not collect any information from anyone under 13 years of age. Our website, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 13 years old or older.

Online Privacy Policy Only

This online privacy policy applies only to information collected through our website and not to information collected offline.

Terms and Conditions

Please also visit our terms and conditions section establishing the use, disclaimers, and limitations of liability governing the use of our website.

Your Consent

By using our site, you consent to our websites privacy policy

Changes to our Privacy Policy

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page.

How can we help you?