Visa & More: Frequently Asked Questions

Below, you will find a selection of visa questions we have been asked by our customers over the last few days. Please note that none of the answers below is an actual substitute for individual consulting and can only touch on the real issues. We would like to point out that we do not take responsibility for the correctness of this information.
If you need fast and individual information, our service team is there for you on the phones from Tuesday to Friday between 10am and 5pm. Find the phone number on our homepage and get our experts' advice on everything visa as quickly and as conveniently as possible. Please note that our phone number has changed due to legal requirements!

And as usual, for all questions concerning the green card lottery just call our service team.

YOUR QUESTION: I am 22 and would like to do a 6-months internship in New York. Unfortunately, I have a criminal record because of possession of narcotics. What do I have to do?

OUR ANSWER: We don't believe you can be issued a visa. Drugs convictions, no matter to what extent, especially final convictions, inevitably lead to inadmissibility for a visa, even if the offense was a long time ago. This applies to every kind of non-immigration visa.

YOUR QUESTION: I already have the green card, but I am divorced and returned to Germany immediately after the divorce. But now I am planning to return to the US within the next two or three years. Do I have to fill out form I-751 or what can I do? My son from this marriage is also a US citizen and 10 years old by now.

OUR ANSWER: We don't see a chance for you right now to renew/extend your green card status. You have a chance to keep your status in case the two-year conditional period on your green card has already expired and the petition to remove the conditions on residence has already been approved. Do you mean that with the I-751? Your US husband has to file that for you. That would also be the requirement for the following two steps, otherwise your green card status may already have expired.
No more than one year must have passed between your leaving the US under the green card status and re-entering the country, unless you have a valid re-entry permit (I-131). It is possible that you might receive a so-called Returning Resident Visa, but then you would have to prove that all this time you have maintained your social and economic ties to the US. You son can't sponsor you for a green card before he is 21.

YOUR QUESTION: I have been in the US for 90 days from October to January. Now I would like to return for 14 days in April and again in June (when I will get married and stay there permanently). Do I have to leave the country for 90 days before I'm allowed to return or don't I? Or is it okay to return after 6 weeks? I was told it wouldn't be a problem and would like a second opinion.

OUR ANSWER: You already wouldn't have had to be admitted the first time, and accordingly there are no regulations for re-entry for the same kind of period. The Visa Waiver Program was not designed for multiple entries of this length, since it is only an exception to the usually obligatory visa. If it is discovered, or if it can be proven that you are planning to get married in the US and stay for good, you might be denied re-entry. In individual cases it is possible to apply for a change of status under the Visa Waiver Program, but it might just as well be denied, or at least there may be severe complications in case the authorities have reason to suspect that you planned this before coming to the US. According to our long years of experience, we would advise you to at least wait for your K-1 Fiancé(e) visa, or, even better, for the approval of your immigrant visa (I-130 process) by the US authorities.

YOUR QUESTION: In one of your last newsletters you mentioned something about visa-free travel to the US (Visa Waiver Program): What do you mean by "you can travel as a tourist and conduct limited business activities."? What are limited business activities? Does this include the observing of business processes in our US subsidiary?

OUR ANSWER: We would say that the observing of business processes is in included here. It has to be determined separately in each individual case, because US regulations don't specifically list all business activities. It is more a question of work experience. Provided that the business processes aren't accompanied by active management measures on-site (in place of a US colleague) as active interference in the business' day-by-day operations, you should be able to use the Visa Waiver Program. The basic condition is that you don't exceed the maximum of 90 days for the whole year. We would recommend that you consider the B-1 Business Visitor Visa for the future after this trip, especially if you will be traveling more often in the future.

YOUR QUESTION: I have written my diploma thesis in the US in September 2005 (biotechnology) on the J-1 student visa. I was enrolled in Germany and only in the US to write my thesis. I have been in Hawaii for the past five weeks now (no visa, just as a tourist). I have now received an email from my former mentor, she would like to hire me, because there will be a job opening soon. Can I obtain a visa without leaving the country first? May the employer apply for the visa together with you?

OUR ANSWER: You could apply - possibly - for the H-1B visa, provided the job is appropriate for your qualifications. You would have to leave the country, however, since an adjustment of status under the Visa Waiver Program is not possible. Your earliest employment start date, after the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and your local US consulate have approved, would be October 1, 2006. That even applies if the US authorities approve your application earlier than that (usually within two weeks). Your employer should submit the visa petition within the first two weeks of April and apply for Premium Processing, because otherwise you won't have such a good chance of obtaining one of the available 65,000 H-1B visas.