American Experience

Visa Procedure

ALIENS DESIRING TO PROCEED TO THE UNITED STATES Visa Procedure

1. Under present regulations the cases of prospective applicants for visas must be submitted to the Department of State on Form BC, as indicated below, before final consideration may be given to the application by the appropriate consular officer abroad. Exemption from this procedure is made for native-born citizens of independent countries of the Western Hemisphere; citizens of Canada or Newfoundland and British subjects born or domiciled in any part of the Western, Hemisphere; applicants for nonquota, immigration visas who are the beneficiaries of approved Forms 633 according them nonquota status as the wife, husband by marriage prior to July 1, 1932, or minor child of an American citizen; and applicants in the Western Hemisphere for nonquota immigration visas as returning resident aliens. Such exempted applicants should apply direct to American consuls abroad for visas. The forms maybe obtained free of charge upon request from the Visa Division, Department of State, Washington, D. C. Social service organizations offering their services without charge to sponsors of visa applicants may obtain forms from the President Advisory Committee on Political Refugees, 122 East Twenty-second Street, New York, N. Y. The President's Advisory Committee has volunteered to refer sponsors of visa applicants, at their request, to such social service organizations.

2. IMMIGRATION VISAS FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE.--Form BC must be completed in full and submitted to the Department of State. The original only must be notarized.

3. NONIMMIGRANT VISITOR'S VISAS: TRANSIT CERTIFICATES; LIMITED ENTRY CERTIFICATES.--Form BC (Part B, Biographical Data Concerning Alien Visa Applicant) (Part C, Affidavit of Support and Sponsorship, omitting the portion relating to the sponsor's financial position and assurance of support) must be submitted to the Department.

4. FORM K, DESIGNATION TO ACT AS AGENT OR REPRESENTATIVE OF PERSON DESIRING TO SPONSOR THE ADMISSION OF AN ALIEN INTO THE UNITED STATES.--Must be submitted in duplicate by:

(a) any person, other than a relative or friend acting without charge, on behalf of an applicant;

(b) any organization acting for a sponsor in a visa case except a Federal, State, municipal, or charitable agency.

5. PROCEDURE.--Each application is considered by an Interdepartmental Visa Committee acting in an advisory capacity. If the case is approved by that body, a notice will be sent to interested persons and also to the American consular officer where the alien intends to apply for a visa. However, should an unfavorable decision be reached by the committee or should the alien be classifiable under the regulations as an alien enemy (i. e., natives, citizens, subjects, or denizens of countries with which the United States is at war), each case is given further consideration by an Interdepartmental Visa Review Committee which sits in Washington only; this gives an opportunity to an alien residing in the United States or to interested individuals to appear in person or through an attorney or other intermediary before the committee to make such additional statements as may be deemed appropriate. The hearing is conducted in an informal manner.

With a view to avoiding delay in the event that a case may require a hearing before

the review committee, one copy of an Application for Appearance (Form IVRC-1) should be executed in single copy by one or more persons who desire to appear at the hearing, as a sponsor, an interested relative or friend acting as a witness, or as an attorney. If additional persons desire to appear, extra copies of the Application for Appearance may be typewritten for the purpose. If a hearing before the review committee becomes necessary, persons who have indicated their desire to appear will be given reasonable notice of the time and place where the hearing will be conducted in Washington. If no interested person is able to appear, the sponsors should request by letter, transmitted with the BC forms, that the case be reviewed without personal testimony. Although the same consideration is given to a case reviewed without such testimony, personal appearance of the applicant, when he already is in the United States, is most advisable, as well as the personal appearance of a sponsor or other interested person who is familiar with the applicant's background and who, accordingly, is in a position to furnish material information not contained in the BC forms.

6. SUBMISSION OF FORMS.--When the required forms are executed they should be assembled together and transmitted to the Department of State as a single and complete file: A file will consist of Forms BC (in sextuplicate); Form (s) K (where necessary) ; and one or more Forms IVRG-1, unless it is desired that the case be heard without personal appearance and a covering letter to this effect is attached.

7. REGULATIONS.--The regulations pertaining to the visa procedure outlined above appear in the Department of State's publication No. 1709 (for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., price 10 cents; however, it is understood to be now out of print but these regulations may also be consulted in the Federal Register of November 22, 1941, as amended by the Federal Register of January 29, 1942).

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