Frequently Asked Questions

No. Only citizens of the United States are permitted to vote in elections.

Up to 6 months prior to the expiration date of your alien registration card, you may apply for arenewal of the card by filing Form I-90 (application to replace permanent resident card).

Yes. Permanent residents are eligible to petition for close family members (spouse and unmarried children) to receive permanent residence and join you. However, your family members will be considered “preference relatives,” meaning that only a limited number of immigrant visas are available to people in this category per year, and so they are likely to spend many years on a waiting list before being allowed to enter the United States or get a green card.

Applications for naturalization generally cannot be expedited. There is an application for expedited naturalization specifically for permanent resident spouses of a U.S. citizen when that U.S. citizen spouse will be taking an overseas assignment on behalf of a U.S. employer.

No. If your visa is still valid you can travel to the United States with your two passports, as long as the visa is valid, not damaged, and is the appropriate type of visa required for your principal purpose of travel. Both passports (the valid and the expired one with the visa) should be from the same country and type. When you arrive at the U.S. port-of-entry (POE, generally an airport or land border) the Customs and Border Protection Immigration Officer will check your visa in the old passport and if s/he decides to admit you into the United States they will stamp your new passport with an admission stamp along with the annotation “VIOPP” (visa in other passport). Do not try to remove the visa from your old passport and stick it into the new valid passport. If you do so, your visa will no longer be valid.

No. If the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection Immigration Officer at the port-of-entry admitted you into the United States for a specific period of time, s/he will note your authorized period of stay on your admission stamp or paper Form I-94, called an Arrival/Departure Record. You will be able to remain in the United States during your authorized period of stay, even if your visa expires during the time you are in the United States. Since your admission stamp or paper Form I-94 documents your authorized stay and is the official record of your permission to be in the United States, it is very important to keep inside your passport.

The fee that you paid is an application fee. Everyone who applies for a U.S. visa anywhere in the world must pay this fee, which covers the cost of processing your application. This fee is non-refundable regardless of whether you are issued a visa or not, since your application was processed to conclusion. As one example, if your application was refused under Section 214(b) and you choose to reapply for a visa, whether applying at the same embassy or elsewhere, you will be required to pay the visa application processing fee.

Yes, you will have to go through the whole visa application process each time you want to apply for a visa, even if your visa is still valid. There are some situations where a visa applicant may not need to be interviewed when renewing his/her visa.

A visa does not guarantee entry into the United States. A visa allows a foreign citizen to travel to the U.S. port-of-entry, and the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) immigration inspector authorizes or denies admission to the United States.

If your passport with your admission stamp or paper Form I-94 are lost or stolen, you must get them replaced immediately.

If your visa has been damaged in any way, you will need to reapply for a new visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad.

When a visa is available for your petition (or if the Department of State believes that one will be available in the next several months), the NVC will send you a letter asking what you plan to do. If you respond that you plan to adjust your status, the NVC will hold your file until a USCIS office requests it. If you do not reply, after 30 days, the NVC will begin processing your petition.

Requests for adjustment of status are processed by USCIS not by the NVC. You should contact the USCIS office nearest you for adjustment of status information.

If you are planning to adjust status with USCIS, do not submit any fee payments to the NVC. Notify the NVC of your intent to adjust status and contact the USCIS for further information.