What Is A Family Visa – Legal notions used at identifying different types of visas are confusing. This is true for almost everyone.
However, the notion family visa might easily be known to you. But, the same doesn’t hold for the family visa application process.
Therefore, if you’re planning to apply soon for such a visa the following content is particularly important for you.
What Is A Family Visa?
Just for the sake of information
Imagine a situation: Due to some past events in your life you and your family members live in different countries. At a point, you both decide to get together. That is, one of you must immigrate to a foreign country. But, that’s not easy. You must possess a valid traveling document to enter a foreign country. And the document you need in this case is a FAMILY VISA.
Who Is Eligible To Apply For a Family Visa?
In principle, if you have a family member who is a permanent resident or a citizen of a foreign country, you’re eligible to apply for a family visa.
On the other hand, if your relative is living there on a short-term visa he/she cannot request a family visa for you. However, in this case, he or she can sponsor a short-stay visa for you.
In general, this is what you’d expect for your eligibility. However, there are still slight variations among countries. The reason for that is that every country applies individual immigration schemes.
For instance, a list of close family members may not include the same persons in different countries. Moreover, some close relatives might need to meet specific conditions. For example, your parent living in the US can file an immigration petition on your name for a US family visa only if you’re not married.
How To Apply For a Family Visa?
Applying for a family visa is not hard. Nevertheless, the process can sometimes appear difficult to you. That is often because the information available is rather unclear.
Here’s a brief description of the process (details follow below)
To begin with, your relative must file an immigration request for you at the immigration authorities of the country he/she lives in.
A few days or weeks later, both of you receive a confirmation letter (online or per mail).
With that document at your disposal, you can continue with the usual visa application process. So, you pay application fees, complete your application file and arrange an appointment at the embassy of the country you want to immigrate to.
Note: If your relative’s request is denied you cannot proceed with your family visa application.
How To Request A Visa For A Family Member?
If you want to request a family visa for your close relative you must submit a request to immigration authorities in the country you live in. You can send them this request by mail or online.
If authorities approve your request, both of you receive a confirmation letter. After that, your close relative can proceed with the usual visa application procedure. He/she completes the application file, pays fees, arranges an appointment at the embassy, attends the interview, and finally gets his/her visa.
US Family Visa
Since the US embassies collect a high number of visa applications every year, it’s a good example to take.
If you want to settle permanently in the US, you need first a familybased immigration (IV) visa. Note that you must meet a set of requirements to qualify for a US family visa application. Likewise, this applies to your close relative in the US.
What Requirements Must The US Family Visa Applicant Meet?
There’s one thing to note right away. Only certain relatives in the US can sponsor your visa.
Your relative in the US can file an immigration petition for you if and only if the person is your:
- Spouse
- Parent
- Son or Daughter
- Brother or Sister
Whereas if your relative is staying in the US on a permanent residence permit he can only do that for these family members:
- Spouse
- Son or Daughter
Side note: The son or the daughter has to be unmarried by the time of visa application.
Other essential requirements include your marital status and the age of your US sponsor. Your marriage with the person must be well-document. If the US citizen is married to more than one person, only his/her first partner qualifies for such a visa. As per the latter if your relative is under 18 he/she cannot file an immigration petition for you.
Additionally, you must provide the US embassy with a valid medical examination.
Additional note: The number of certain visas issued by the US per year is limited. Therefore, it can happen that although your application is approved you would have to wait to get your US. Furthermore, the US authorities will deny your family visa if your participation in illegal activities in the past is confirmed. That might include drug trafficking, overstaying your US visa, or submitting fake documents.
Summary
You can immigrate to a foreign country on visa. To obtain such a visa, you and your relative living in that particular country there must meet certain conditions. First of all, both of you must be close family members. By definition, a close family member includes parents, spouse, children, and siblings. requirements you must meet vary from one country to the other. Overall, these requirements include your family relationship to your visa sponsor, his/her age, and his/her immigration status in that particular country you want to immigrate to. To start the family visa application procedure your relative abroad must first submit an immigration request for you. After that, a common visa application process follows. Find more invisastate.com
