Printed By: Karin M King  03/13/2001 08:57:53 AM

Cable Text:

UNCLASSIFIED
TELEGRAM                                           March 12, 2001


To:       ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR  POSTS - ROUTINE           

Origin:   VO                                                     

From:     SECSTATE WASHDC (STATE 44273 - ROUTINE)                

TAGS:     CVIS, CMGT                                             

Captions: VISAS                                                  

Subject:  V Visa Processing Mass-Mailing                         

Ref:      State 17318                                            
_________________________________________________________________

1. The National Visa Center is about to begin mailing
letters to approximately 300,000 potential applicants for
"V'' visas, based on petition records available at NVC.
(The Department estimates that Ciudad Juarez will process
66-percent of these applications.) NVC is mailing the
letters merely as a courtesy. Since having a letter from
NVC is not a legal prerequisite for qualifying for a "V''
visa, posts should not insist on seeing one to establish
the bona fide nature of a case. Nevertheless, since these
letters include a form that we are directing the
applicants to send to the processing posts in order to
establish eligility and for appointment scheduling, VO
wishes to alert posts to this mailing. We repeat the text
of the letter below.

Begin Text of Letter

Dear Applicant:

According to our records, you have a visa petition on file
as the spouse or child of a Legal Permanent Resident.
Though the priority date for your petition has not been
reached, the LIFE Immigration Family Equity Act created a
new class of nonimmigrant visa that allows people in
circumstances like yours to live and work legally in the
United States while waiting for a visa number to become
available.

You may have heard of this new nonimmigrant visa, called
the "V'' visa. The purpose of this letter is to inform you
how you may apply for this visa. We have placed general
information on the "V'' visa on our website at
HTTP://TRAVEL.STATE.GOV/V-VISA.HTML.   If you are in the
United States, you may apply to change your current status
(regardless of what that status might be) to the "V'" visa
status by contacting the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service. You should see their website:
WWW.INS.GOV.   If you are outside the United States, you
must apply at selected U.S. embassies or consulates.

This letter and the enclosed worksheet are provided as a
courtesy and not as an invitation to a specific interview.
If you have already received an interview date for your
immigrant visa, you will be processed as an immigrant and
not receive a V visa. To begin the process at a consular
section overseas, you must complete the "V'" visa
application worksheet (OF-156V). We have included one
with this mailing, but it too can be completed and
downloaded from our website: HTTP://TRAVEL.STATE.GOV/V-
VISA.HTML.    Once complete, send the worksheet to the
consular section at the embassy or consulate where your
immigrant visa was to be processed. Records show that
your visa file has been assigned to the post below.
Name of post
Address

When consular personnel receive your information, they
will send you further instructions concerning required
documentation such as family records, a medical exam, and
financial evidence. Many overseas posts have a website

that describes their particular procedures. To find out
if the post handling your case has its own website, go to
HTTP://TRAVEL.STATE.GOV and click on the link that says,
"U.S. Embassy and Consulate Websites Worldwide." When
communicating with the consular office by telephone,
letter, or e-mail, you must give your full name and case
number as they appear below:

Applicant's name
Applicant's case number
INS receipt number

End Text of Letter

2. OMB has just approved the form that will accompany the
letters, and NVC plans to begin mailing letters and forms
on March 15. Posts can naturally expect to start getting
inquiries shortly thereafter. Posts should develop an
abbreviated Packet-3 that will inform applicants of post-
specific application procedures. Reftel explains the
documentary requirements for receiving a V visa (similar
to those required for a fiance visa), including results of
a medical exam from a panel physician, police records,
appropriate civil documents, and evidence of financial
support, not/not including the I-864. The Department
expects posts to schedule the first V visa appointments in
April. The NIV software will permit the issuance of a V
visa as of April 1.

3. Further directions regarding "V"' visa processing,
including discussion of particular adjudication issues and
Best Practices, will follow by SEPTEL.

POWELL
_____________________________________________________________