Visa Information

Once again we would like to publish some questions which we receive daily from our customers. These questions are answered by our counselors of the visa department. All our counselors have a long experience with immigration law and dispose of a great knowledge in the recent visa - regulations.

 

Please note that the given answers cannot automatically be referred to your own situation. The answers cannot replace a personal counseling and no responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information.

 

Please let us know how we can assist you. We will react to your personal counseling wishes as flexible as possible.

 

Please click on the following link and enter your questions and we will get back to you as soon as possible. http://www.green-card.com/Visa-Services/request.html

 

 

 

YOUR QUESTION:

 

Our daughter would like to do a traineeship in the USA. We already found a US company who would take our daughter as a trainee, but unfortunately they will not be able to fill out the DS 2019 for her, which she will need for the J-1 visa. We were told to contact an exchange agency, but we would like to avoid these extra costs. What do we have to do?

 

OUR ANSWER:

 

Almost all US companies do not have the DS 2019 authorization, meaning they are not allowed to take foreign trainees. In order to do so, the US immigration office has to agree on that. The process of this authorization is very complex and expensive and therefore many companies do not have the time or the money to undergo this procedure.

Therefore your daughter has to get in contact with an exchange organization, which can assist her with the J-1 visa application and issue the DS 2019 form for her. Unfortunately there is no way to avoid those costs.

 

 

 

YOUR QUESTION:

 

I do have a R1 visa, which will expire on May 31st, 2012. On my last entry to the US I received the stamp stating “September 11th, 2014”. Just in case there is an emergency and I have to leave the USA after May 2012, without having received a visa extension, will it be possible for me to re-enter the USA? Is there something like an urgent extension I could apply for in Germany?

 

OUR ANSWER:

 

Please note that the visa status and the residence status are two different things for the US authorities. You receive the visa from the US consulate (State Department) all over the world (outside of the USA). The residence status will only be issued in your passport or the I-94 travel authorisation when you enter the USA. The officer will have a look at your visa and will then decide for how long you may stay in the USA. In your case, you are allowed to stay in the USA until September 2014. You are now allowed to legally stay in the USA until that date – even though the actual visa will be expiring in the meantime.

Let us give you an example. If you leave the USA before your visa will expire (for example at the beginning of 2012) and you return in March 2012, the following two things might happen:

1. The officer will give you a new residence status with the same date, when your visa will expire (May 31st, 2012)

2. The officer will grant you a longer residence status, which will be valid after your visa expired

 

Unfortunately it all depends on the officer, who will be working on your case.

 

Important for you is the following scenario:

 

You are in the USA and have to travel back to Germany, due to an emergency within your family. Your status is still valid, but the visa in your pass already expired. In this case you have to re-apply for a R-1 visa in the US consulate - before entering the USA again. You do have to arrange for an interview appointment and you might have to face long waiting times.

 

Even though the possibility of organizing an emergency appointment exists, we cannot guarantee that the person in charge will accept your case as an emergency.

In order to avoid this situation, you could arrange for a trip abroad before your visa expire and re-apply for a R-1 visa.