Immigrant Visas
Other Important Information
Documents Required in Support of a Visa Application:
All applicants must submit certain personal documents such as passports, birth certificates, police certificates, and other civil documents, as well as evidence that they will not become public charges of the United States. Visa applicants will be informed of the documents needed as their applications are processed.
Medical Examinations:
Before an immigrant visa is issued, every applicant, regardless of age, must undergo a medical examination. The examination must be performed in Barbados at the Diagnostic Clinic on Beckles Road at least two whole days before the interview. The visa applicant pays all costs associated with the medical examination.
Recommendations:
Persons who have been refused immigrant visas may return in the same month of the appointment without a further appointment, or mail the missing documents in.
Visa Fees
The immigrant visa fee is $355 USD plus a $45 USD surcharge (subject to change). If the fees are not collected by the National Visa Center in New Hampshire, they will be collected at the time of the appointment.
Other Notes:
In addition to the numerical limitations for each category of immigrant visa described above, there are limits on various sub-preferences, as well as limits on the number of immigrant visas per year which can be issued to natives of any single country. Some of these numerical limits are based on formulas which change in relationship to each other, so that it is not possible to state a specific figure for each sub-category.
Whenever there are more qualified applicants for a category than there are available numbers, the category will be considered oversubscribed, and immigrant visas will be issued in the chronological order in which the petitions were filed until the numerical limit for the category is reached. The filing date of a petition becomes the applicant's priority date. Immigrant visas cannot be issued until an applicant's priority date is reached. In certain heavily oversubscribed categories, there may be a waiting period of more than ten years before a priority date is reached.
Since no advance assurances can be given that a visa will be issued, applicants are advised not to make any final travel arrangements, not to dispose of their property, and not to give up their jobs until visas have been issued to them. An immigrant visa is valid for 6 months from the date of issuance.
Persons born in countries other than the United States may have a claim, under US law, to United States nationality if: either parent was born or naturalized in the United States OR either parent was a United States citizen at the time of birth of the applicant. With few exceptions, a person born in the United States has a claim to United States citizenship. Any applicant believing that he or she may have a claim to United States citizenship should not apply for a visa until his or her citizenship has been determined. The applicant should inform the consular officer immediately of a potential qualification for a US passport rather than an immigrant visa. For further information on this issue, please refer to the Office of American Services section of this web page.