Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

Sometimes family members get left out of the immigration process. Costs, logistics, family obligations and other inconveniences can prevent a family member from coming to the United States.

There's no need to worry, though, United States Immigration officials have anticipated this situation. We'd like our friends here in Columbus to make sure they're aware of a potentially helpful tool.

Following to join allows a spouse or child of a principal immigrant to immediately obtain a visa to immigrate to the United States any time after the principal immigrant becomes a lawful permanent resident of the United States. There are, though, some major limitations of following to join.

Following to join is only available to immigrants in categories that give derivative status to spouses and children. Such categories include family-preference immigrants and employment-based immigrants. Further, following to join only applies to preexisting spouses and children. Spouses and children added after an immigrant becomes a permanent resident cannot follow to join. Finally, children can "age out" of eligibility to follow to join.

In spite of the above limitations following to join is far more versatile than one might think. A family member that is following to join doesn't have to literally follow the principal immigrant to the United States. Spouses and children that are inside the United States as nonimmigrants can "follow to join" and adjust status through a principal immigrant, even if they precede the principal immigrant in entrance into the United States.

Considering its limitations, following to join is not for everybody. That being said, following to join is still a valuable and important part of the immigration toolbox. Using following to join to immediately obtain an immigrant visa for a spouse or child is an excellent way to avoid the long waits that can be associated with family based immigrant petitions.

Late last month the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released the most recent count for its H-1B visa. These numbers represent what the USCIS has received since the the FY2012 schedule began in April.

As of July 22 there have been 21,600 regular petitions accepted by the USCIS out of a total cap of 65,000. That is an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's total.

The Master's Exemption category has had 13,300 petitions accepted out of hits total cap number of 20,000. On July 15 the USCIS reported 12,800 petitions were accepted for this advanced degrees category.

These numbers are somewhat low, perhaps reflecting the economy's sluggish recovery. The positive is that it means there is still ample opportunity to qualify for a visa that begins in October of this year.

A Form-129 needs to be completed in the most complete manner possible for an applicant to have his or her best chance for the petition to be approved. Because of the emphasis the process places on accuracy we recommend seeking experienced counsel for help working through the forms.