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 fats 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!

Any questions can also be submitted via our homepage at any time.

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

YOUR QUESTION: My fiancé is a US citizen and I'm German. We will get married in the next months. Next year, my husband will go back to his company in the US. What do we have to do now so that I can go with him?

OUR ANSWER: After you get married your husband can apply for family-based immigration even while he is still in Germany. Experience has shown that processing times this way are shorter than if you apply in the US (approximately 9 months). Best apply in person at the US consulate in Frankfurt/Main. After the application has been approved - you will usually not receive a written notification of that - you will receive the National Visa Center's (NVC) documents for the consular application that you will have to send back to the NVC. Later you will be invited for an interview at the US consulate general in Frankfurt, after which you will receive your immigration visa by mail. Once you're in the US, your green card will be delivered to your US address. After two years you will have to apply for unconditional permanent residence.

YOUR QUESTION: I would really like to emigrate to the US. Can I - WITHOUT a job offer from an American company - apply for a temporary work permit for the US? Or is this not allowed or even illegal?

OUR ANSWER: For a work visa, even a temporary one, you will always need a US employer who handles all the formalities at the US authorities based on his job offer. There is only one visa category, for exceptionally skilled workers, that doesn't require a formal job offer. A temporary work visa, on the other hand, always requires such a job offer, and usually also documented evidence that no US citizen could be found for the position.

YOUR QUESTION: My wife has worked as a church organist for two and a half years, is currently studying church music, and after she graduates we would like to move to the US. Is it only possible to apply for the EB-4 green card in case you have a job in the US (e.g. as an organist) or can it be granted without that?

OUR ANSWER: The EB-4 green cards - even if they are not yet intended only for priests and other religious workers - are only very rarely issued to people of other professions. Eligibility criteria have become stricter - in anticipation of revised rules for 2008, when they will only be issued to pastoral professions.

In any case, a job offer that includes regular payment has to exist before you can apply. The same applies to work experience, which should not be too long in the past and has to have been obtained in a denominational group that also exists in the US and preferably already has close ties to the appropriate group there.

YOUR QUESTION: I'm a German citizen and would like to go on vacation to the US for three weeks in January 2008 together with my Thai friend. Now I was asking myself whether my friend will need a visa for this vacation. How early would she have to apply for that?

OUR ANSWER: Your friend needs a tourist visa (B-2) that she can obtain by applying (and attending an interview) at one of the US consulates in Frankfurt, Berlin or Munich, provided she has been living in Germany for 8 to 10 years under a permanent status and has close economic and social ties, in any case she will have to have permanent employment and a good income. If she is here as a student or a tourist, she will not qualify since her stay is only temporary. In case she grew up here and is still in school/university, she will need documentation about her education and prove that her parents will pay for the trip. Preparation, interview and receiving the visa should take about four weeks.

YOUR QUESTION: I am 23 and have received a job offer from one of California's biggest sailing clubs as a sailing instructor (long-term employment). I am a trained sailing and water sports teacher and have almost three years of work experience. I believe due to my qualifications my chances of getting the job are quite high. Please tell me what I should do next.

OUR ANSWER: First off, the US employer should advertise the job in trade magazines, internet databases and national and regional newspapers/magazines and wait six weeks to see if there are any American applicants. In case someone does apply, he should write a detailed protocol about the applicant's profile, and a detailed statement about why the US applicant was not suitable for the position. He does not have to submit these documents, but they can be asked for at any time. After the advertisement, he will have to apply for a No Objection Letter for your employment. This will be valid for one year and can be extended for one year at a time up to a maximum validity of three years. On the basis of this letter, the employer will submit a petition for a work and residence permit for one year. After this has been approved by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, you can apply for the H-2B visa at your local US consulate.