US is the favorite destination of many immigrants and there is always a constant surge of them into the country. The people immigrating into the country are a varied group and the US felt it hard to regulate their entry into the country. Several laws were passed to organize the immigration issue, which were to the benefit of both the immigrants and the country.

Know about the immigration forms

Immigration forms can be obtained from any USCIS office at free of cost. Additionally, they can also be ordered via mail or through phone. Applicants can also download the forms from the USCIS website. There is also the facility of filing the USCIS forms online (e- filing) but this is possible for only specific forms. Applicants should note that there is no fee for getting a form and any fee should be paid only while submitting it.  The fee is also subject to a change, so the USCIS advises all applicants to check with their website before attaching the fee.

Need for immigration form

Anybody who is intending to enter the US must first acquaint him/herself with the immigration process. This is because the procedures are different for each category of applicants. Every immigrant category has a specific immigration form which should be compulsorily completed by the applicant. The need for people to immigrate to the US may be of a temporary or a permanent nature. The forms are also different based on this need. The immigration form is the application for obtaining entry into the US. Every immigration form has a set of instructions in it, as to how the applicant should proceed with the process and USCIS advises the applicants to go through this carefully.

Decide on the category of immigrant

This is the first step in the immigration process. Applicants should determine whether they are going in as an immigrant (permanent basis) or a non- immigrant (temporary). People who want to work and live in the US should opt for the immigrant category. Some of the below mentioned categories of people should file in the immigration form in the second category

• Tourists on sightseeing trips
• People who come medical treatment
• People who are attending a conference
• People on a business trips
• Professionals

Filing the appropriate immigration form

Every form has a set of requirements and conditions, so applicants should not treat all the forms as the same. For example the Form N-400, application for naturalization can be filed only by applicants who have been green card holders for the past 5 or 3 yrs (conditional residents) and are 18 yrs of age. Whereas the Form I-130, Petition for alien relative can be filed by a US citizen or a green card holder.

Similarly there are also certain time restrictions as to when a particular form can be filed. In case a person has submitted a completely filled application, along with all the supporting documents, just a day before the permitted time starts, his/her application will be rejected. So applicants should properly check this issue to avoid the waste of filing fee.

After choosing the right form, applicants are advised to read through all the notices, warnings or explanations listed on the Forms Entry Page (FEP). The location for filing the immigration forms also vary and this should also be considered while submitting the completed application. Photo is a must for a majority of the forms and it is mandatory that the photos are as per the USCIS specifications. Fee Waiver is allowed on some forms and applicants should check whether they are eligible for it before submitting the application.