United States Immigration is a narrow yet deep area of American jurisprudence since it may touch upon many aspects of the American economy, body politic, and business community. For many, American immigration law also has an impact upon families since issuance of an American travel document may be the only method by which a Vietnamese-American couple can be reunited in the USA.
There are basically three commonly utilized family based visas for the spouses and fiances of United States Citizens. The CR-1 visa is an Immigrant visa which allows the bearer to enter the United States in Lawful Permanent Resident status. That stated, such status is conditional and such conditionality may only be lifted after at least two years of marriage and lawful presence in the USA. The IR-1 visa is a travel document providing the bearer with lawful permanent residence upon admission to the United States of America. An alien entering the United States in IR-1 visa status is admitted to unconditional lawful permanent residence. This means that the foreign husband or wife of an American Citizen entering the United States in IR-1 status does not need to later apply for a lift of conditionality as his or her status is unconditional. In order to gain unconditional lawful permanent residence the prospective immigrant must have been married to their American spouse for at least two (2) years at the time admission to the United States in IR-1 status is requested.
United States fiance visas (also referred to colloquially as the K1 visa) are treated in a similar manner as spouse visas for Consular Processing purposes, but such travel documents are, in fact, non-immigrant visas. Therefore, those entering the United States of America on such a travel document are required to apply for adjustment of status within 90 days of arrival lest the individual concerned falls out of lawful status.
Family based visa categories are not the only American travel documents sought by those in Vietnam. Employment based visas can be obtained for those who have specialized knowledge or skills. Also, foreign employees of multi-national organizations are often granted a travel document such as an L-1 visa in order to enter the United States as an intra-company transferee. Meanwhile, prospective investors in the United States of America may be interested to note the fact that the EB-5 visa grants lawful permanent residence to those entering the United States in order to oversee a pre-approved enterprise in which the visa holder has invested.
Those seeking advice and counsel regarding their immigration options are well advised to ascertain the credentials of anyone claiming qualification as an American attorney since on a licensed American attorney is permitted to accept fees in the practice of American immigration law. In order to determine the licensure of an American lawyer it may be necessary to examine a copy of an attorney's license to practice law before the Supreme Court of one of the sovereign American States or in one of the federal territories. In some cases, production of a State Bar Association membership card can suffice to prove the licensure of an American attorney.
For further information related to legal services in Southeast Asia please see: Legal.