Any consideration of including other Visas

[Heracles 417]

I was wondering have you guys ever considered including other visas in addition to family based visas.

There are a lot of other visas out there and I believe VJ would benefit greatly if they included sections for other visas like work visa, student visas etc..

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

I suppose a catch all "other visa" forum with possibly sub forums might be appropriate, however I would not want to do anything to tread on the community and theme of the site. Thoughts?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Captain,

VJ certainly does have the 'presence' to credibly host discussions of other visa types. The question is really for you and your team to answer - will you be able to handle the extra load? In terms of server capacity and moderator bandwidth....

[Jack and Barbara 0]

I stumbled onto this site looking for pros and cons between student and fiancee visa when I was first looking. If possible, I think it would be a good idea to have other topic areas. With VJ in the news, I think it has gotten other peoples' attention at least as a site for immigration issues and stories. Maybe it's time to include other non-immigration journeys in such a way as to not take the importance off of the reason this site was created in the first place.

[john_and_marlene 162]

Thoughts?

Just say NO!

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

I think we all go crazy enough with people in other centers getting trough the process faster than one another. If you had worked based visas getting processed at lightening speed it would further dose our already broken spirts. Visas isn't so much the common thread here as is FAMILY

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

Captain,

VJ certainly does have the 'presence' to credibly host discussions of other visa types. The question is really for you and your team to answer - will you be able to handle the extra load? In terms of server capacity and moderator bandwidth....

She shorts and sweet is yes on the servers, and yes with additional mods as needed .

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

I think we all go crazy enough with people in other centers getting trough the process faster than one another. If you had worked based visas getting processed at lightening speed it would further dose our already broken spirts. Visas isn't so much the common thread here as is FAMILY

I see your point. The other poster also makes a good point that some people find themselves in a position to have to juggle several visa related issues outside of family based. A great example would be people adjusting status from a student visa or work visa. Having additional information on those visa areas can compliment the current focus of the site allowing a good bridge of information. Clearly anything (as your state) that we add to the site would have to compliment and not detract from VJ.

[DI&JR 1]

May I join in? The main difference, as I see it, is that the family-based visas are petitioner-originated, whereas student and work visas are originated and facilitated by the school/employer (speaking as someone who starts the initial process for J-1 and H1b visas at a university department).

So, the school/employer is typically going to have either a department or office, or a relationship with a lawfirm, that has some, and probably significant, experience preparing student/work visas; beneficiaries would likely (and probably should) direct questions to the school/employer.

D.

[Jack and Barbara 0]

May I join in? The main difference, as I see it, is that the family-based visas are petitioner-originated, whereas student and work visas are originated and facilitated by the school/employer (speaking as someone who starts the initial process for J-1 and H1b visas at a university department).

So, the school/employer is typically going to have either a department or office, or a relationship with a lawfirm, that has some, and probably significant, experience preparing student/work visas; beneficiaries would likely (and probably should) direct questions to the school/employer.

D.

Well a petitioner for a family-based visa could direct questions to USCIS, but they won't likely hear anything, which is why we have this forum. People with student/tourist/work visas might not know that there are better (and more legal) options if they have the intent to marry or find themselves in the situation with a visa and meeting the love of their life in the U.S. So long as this is kept as a forum for marriage-based visa issues and not on how to get a work visa solely to to work in the U.S. or the steps of getting a tourist visa for the sole purpose of travel, then I think it would work within the scope of this forum.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Jack and Barbara

[rebeccajo 14]

I don't know if we have the knowledge base for it.

[Krikit 1,164]

If you build it, they will come.

[Jack and Barbara 0]

I have talked to some knoweldgable members when I first found this site who had lots of information on tourist and student visas. Remember, no one has to be an expert on how to get one, just on what to do to go from a one to a family-based one. From reading numerous posts, it seems like many members have come on a tourist visa for instance and have made the transition.

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

So the current layout is:

# Marriage Based Immigration (K1, K2, K3, etc) to the USA

    * K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures General Discussion
          o K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports
    * K-3 Spouse Visa General Discussion
    * IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa General Discussion
    * Direct Consular Filing (DCF) General Discussion
    * The Foreign Embassy and Consulate General Discussion
    * IMBRA Special Topics

# General Family Based Immigration Topics

    * Adjustment of Status (Green Card) General Discussion
    * Working & Traveling prior to getting a Green Card
    * Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion
    * US Citizenship General Discussion
    * Bringing family members of US Citizens to America
    * Bringing family members of Permanent Residents to America
    * Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)
    * Effects of Major Family Changes on Immigration Benefits

# US CIS and Dept of State Offices

    * USCIS Service Centers
    * National Visa Center (Dept of State)

# General Discussion Area

    * Off Topic
    * Regional Discussion
          o Africa: Sub-Saharan
          o Asia: East and Pacific (Except China)
          o Asia: South
          o Canada
          o China
          o Europe & Eurasia (except the UK and Russia)
          o Latin America, Mexico & the Caribbean
          o Middle East and North Africa
          o Philippines
          o Russia
          o United Kingdom
    * Moving Here and Your New Life In America
    * Introducing our Members
    * General Polls
    * Immigration News and Discussion
    * Site Related Discussion - Updates, Ideas, etc.

Are there any suggestions on updating or converting this to accommodate the new topics?

[Jack and Barbara 0]

Maybe adding a forum under General Family Based Immigration Topics or a subforum under the AOS section for non-family based visa holders. Again, the intent would be to have a forum for those looking to move from non-family based visa to family based visa. Or possibly a forum under General Discussion Area with a guide including summaries of work/tourist/student visas and guidance for the "other" visa holders to do a search in the AOS section since that would likely be their best bet for getting started. Once they know the site, they can spend other time going through the other forums such as Off topic or their country of origin.