1) The letter should outline the applicant's two-year minimum membership, including where that membership occurred, in or out of the US.

2) It should also include a statement that the foreign-based religious group and the US based religious group for which the applicant will work belong to the same denomination.

3) It must state the name and location of the organization in the US for which the applicant will work.

4) Finally, it should outline the applicant's qualifications and salary.

Once Form I-526 is approved, you may obtain status as a conditional resident by:

• Filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, if residing within the U.S. or;

• Applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad, if residing outside the U.S.

Before each year's lottery drawing, the Department of State will publish explicit instructions on how to apply in press releases and the Federal Register. Please follow all directions exactly. Millions of applicants are rejected each year for failure to follow the directions. Instructions are usually posted in August, and the registration period is usually held in October each year.

The Reentry Permit processing time is generally between 8 to 16 months.

If you are a permanent resident, who needs to replace your card, or conditional resident who needs to replace your two year card, you may apply for a replacement of Green Card by filing Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Residence Card.

If you are a permanent resident or conditional resident, you must attach any one of the following documents along with Form I-131, Application for a Travel Document:

• A copy of the alien registration receipt card, or

• If you have not yet received your alien registration receipt card, a copy of the biographic page of your passport and the page of your passport indicating initial admission as a permanent resident, or other evidence that you are a permanent resident, or

• A copy of the approval notice of a separate application for replacement of the alien registration receipt card or temporary evidence of permanent resident status

A: The numerical limit refers to the number of visas issued by Department of State (DOS) to first-time workers and to the number of persons changing to H-2B status determined by USCIS. For FY 2006, the total annual numerical limit or cap is 66,000. Approximately 99 percent of the cap is made up of visas.

A: Generally one business day at most posts. It is issued on the same day the application is made, but time for background check that may be required is not included.

You or your spouse must be a native of a country that is eligible to participate in the Diversity Visa Lottery. You may also be eligible to apply if your parent was born in a country that is eligible to participate. (The State Department will publish the names of countries that are eligible to participate before each year's lottery.)
You must have a high school diploma or the equivalent, defined in the United States as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR you must have two years of work experience within the last five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform.

To seek status as an immigrant investor, you must file Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur. The Form I-526 must be filed with supporting documentation which clearly demonstrates that your investments meet all the requirements, such as:

• Establishing a new commercial enterprise

• Investing the requisite capital amount

• Proving the investment comes from a lawful source of funds

• Creating the requisite number of jobs

• Demonstrating that the investor is actively participating in the business; and, where applicable

• Creating employment within a targeted employment area

B-1 visa is available for the following people:

1) An individual traveling to the United States to take part in an exhibition, set up an exhibition booth, display samples, sign contracts, and take orders for merchandise produced in and delivered from the alien��s foreign country;

2) Individuals participating in a voluntary service program which benefits a U.S. local community, who establish that they are a member of, and have a commitment to, a particular recognized religious or nonprofit charitable organization;

3) Individuals who will install, service or repair commercial or industrial equipment or machinery sold by a company in the alien��s foreign country to a buyer in the United States;

4) Individuals traveling to the United States in connection with a speaking engagement;

5) Participants in scientific, educational, professional, or business conventions, conferences or seminars;

6) Individuals who will engage in independent research;

7) Individuals traveling to the United States to survey potential sites for a business and/or to lease premises;

8) Individuls coming for an elective clerkship which affords practical experience and instruction in the various disciplines of medicine under the supervision and direction of faculty physicians at a U.S. medical school's hospital;

9) Individuals temporarily resident in the United States who will be working from home as computer programmers for foreign based companies;

10) Individuals performing missionary work on behalf of a religious denomination, to engage in an evangelical tour and do not plan to take an appointment with any one church you may be eligible, or to preach in the United States for a temporary period;

11) Individuals participating in a voluntary service program which benefits a U.S. local community;

12) An amateur, or group of amateurs performing in a social and/or charitable context, or as a competitor in a talent show or contest;

13) A professional entertainer may be eligible, unless an O visa or P visa is appropriate;

14) An amateur athlete or group of athletes competing in an athletic event for which they will receive no payment, other than incidental expenses;

15) Professional athletes, such as golfers and auto racers, who receive no salary or payment other than prize money for his/her participation in a tournament or sporting event.

A: If you are a U.S. citizen, you, you have the right to vote in national, state, and local elections. Besides, you have the right to travel on a U.S. passport under the protection of U.S. government. And you may sponsor relatives, such as your parents, spouse, children, brothers and sisters for permanent resident status in the U.S.

It is a new nonimmigrant category within the immigration law that allows the spouse or child of a U.S. citizen to be admitted to the United States in a nonimmigrant category. The admission allows the spouse/ fiance or child to complete processing for permanent residence while in the United States. It also allows those admitted in the new category to have permission for employment while they await processing of their case to permanent resident status.

The maximum stay in R-1 status is 5 years. A person can obtain R-1 status again after remaining outside the US for one year before making another application.

A way two or more people can own property together. Each can leave his or her interest upon death to beneficiaries of his choosing instead of to the other owners, as is required with joint tenancy. In some states, two people are presumed to own property as tenants in common unless they've agreed otherwise in writing.