Thinking about moving to the United States? If yes, then they might be some easier ways to do that. These 5 routes are optionally among the easiest, but legal routes to move to the United States of America as an African immigrant.
Immigration might seem as a difficult task, especially when immigrating to a country like the United States of America. Firstly, you need to understand the process involved, especially when you want to permanently relocate to the United States of America; you must meet certain requirements, pay the required government fee and have your application approved. These immigration procedures might sometimes be very complicated and also expensive, so it is important that you understand the necessary steps and also know some the easiest ways to get things done and in a right way too.
Moving or Immigrating to the United States of America (USA)
Immigrating to the United States of America as an African means to permanently relocate to the United States by obtaining a green card (also known as immigrant visa or “lawful permanent residence”). A green card allows unrestricted employment for an immigrant and can be renewed indefinitely. The green card is also a pathway to U.S citizenship. However not everyone is eligible for immigrant visa; applying for one and getting it approved is especially difficult for Africans.
The alternative therefore, is usually to go for a temporary visa to work and/or study in U.S. This type of visa is called nonimmigrant visa which can be renewed and allow you to live in the United States for a considerable length of time. But we will be looking at some of the easiest but legal routes for Africans to relocate permanently to the U.S.
5 Easiest (legal) routes for Africans to immigrate to the U.S
- Family based immigration: the largest group of Africans to enter the United States by far comes from the way of family-based immigration. In this immigration route, U.S citizens and legal residents can bring foreign spouse or fiancés, as well as unmarried children. They may also sponsor siblings who are below 21 years, and also older parents.
- Work visas: another easiest way for Africans to migrate to the United States is through work visas, employers can sponsor an African worker with some specialized skills that if they can’t find a qualified candidate in the U.S. However, there are different types of work visa, some are for a specific period of time after which the foreign worker returns to his/ her country of residence or in most cases long term visa.
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- Student visas: the student immigrant visas are of two types; one is called F visa – this visa allows a foreigner to pursue academic studies or language training programs in the United States. Another one is called an M visa which is mainly for non-academic programs or vocational studies. However, student visa holders face certain limitations if they wish to reside permanently in the U.S.
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- Visa lottery: The American visa lottery program has been one of the most popular and equally lucrative platforms for which Africans gain entry to the U.S and at the end, permanent residency. A lot of Africans have had their dreams of immigrating to the U.S fulfilled through visa lottery. Yearly, the U.S government gives out about 50,000 visas randomly to people who live in countries with low immigration numbers to the U.S.
- Investors: this type of immigration simply means buying your way into the United States of America, African entrepreneurs who invest at least a $500,000 dollars in a business and create at least five full-time jobs are eligible for an immigrant investor visa.
- Asylum seekers: Africans are mostly known to apply asylum, it is known that many people show up at a U.S port to seek asylum, and it is open to people who can prove that they have been or could be persecuted in their home country due to their race, tribe, religion, nationality, in most cases participation in a certain group or maybe because of their political opinions. The U.S is considered a protection home for asylum seekers.
Final thoughts:
You can start your immigration journey today with any of the listed routes. No 1 to 3 are much more easier routes for students and young immigrants not having the financial capability to meet immigration demands.