What if you are ineligible for a visa? Examples of ineligibilities?

In order to immigrate to the United States you are going to have to qualify for a visa. There are several ways that you can do this so you will need to determine which is the best category for you. It is important to keep in mind that in some cases even if you meet the requirements for the visa you may still be deemed ineligible. This normally happens because of something illegal that you have done.

When you apply for an employment based immigrant visa you have to be aware that even if you meet the requirements for one of the preference categories you may still not be eligible to get a visa. In most cases the reason will be that you have done something wrong in the past. If that is the case you may still be able to move to the United States but it will depend on what you did to become ineligible. The best thing to do if this happens is to contact an immigration lawyer to discuss your options.

The most common reason that people are ineligible for a visa is that have overstayed a previous visa. This is a fairly common issue as there a lot of illegal immigrants in the US most of whom got into the country on a temporary visa and then simply didn't leave. You will also be ineligible if you have submitted fraudulent documents as part of the visa application procedures. In situations like these it may be possible to still qualify for a visa.

There are some more serious issues where it will likely be impossible for you to ever be able to qualify for a visa. This would include criminal activity, although people who have committed relatively minor crimes may still be able to get a visa. Drug trafficking is one of the more serious issues that comes up on a fairly regular basis. It is unlikely that you will ever be able to get a visa if you have a conviction for trafficking drugs. The same is true if you are deemed to be security threat, normally this would involve membership in a terrorist group or if you have openly advocated the overthrow of the American government. You may also be ineligible if you have a communicable disease.

If you are deemed to be ineligible you may be able to get a waiver that allows you to qualify for a visa. The State Department will inform you why you were ineligible and will also let you know if a waiver is possible. If it is possible to get a waiver they will also inform of you of the required procedure to get one. At this point you are probably going to want to have a lawyer help you with your waiver application.