Читать книгу U.S. Citizenship For Dummies - Jennifer Gagliardi - Страница 63

Providing that a visa number is available through the Department of State (unless you’re in a category that is exempt from numerical limitations — you can find more on this later in this chapter), certain nonimmigrants may adjust their immigration status from nonimmigrant to immigrant. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens usually are exempt from waiting for visa numbers and can adjust their status quickly.

If you have to wait for an immigrant visa number and are outside the United States when it becomes available, you’ll be notified to go to the local U.S. consulate to complete the processing. This visa process is known as consular processing.

If you are inside the United States and are waiting for an immigrant visa number to adjust your status, you must maintain valid nonimmigrant status while in the United States, or you risk encountering a three- or ten-year bar to naturalization.