USA ENTRY RESTRICTIONS AND APPRAISED VISAS CURRENTLY
Due to the continued restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Consulates General in South Africa remain unable to resume the routine immigrant and non-immigrant visa services.
However, the Consulates do provide limited immigrant visa services, restricted to namely, IR-1, IR-2, CR-1, CR-2, IR5, and K visas. They also offer limited non-immigrant visa services for crewmembers, certain student and exchange visitors’ categories, journalists, and petition-based workers who qualify for an exception to current travel restrictions. This is only applicable if you have an urgent life-or-death matter, or work/study in a critical medical field, and need to travel immediately.
According to most missions in South Africa, travelers must avoid unnecessary movement between Provinces due to the high number of Covid infections in the country. The 3rd Covid wave is more perilous than the 1st and 2nd waves and individuals must be aware of the dangers around the new delta variant.
Please note that the following USA visas can currently be considered:
IR-1– This is a type of immigrant visa issued to foreign spouses of US citizens. (Spouses, New arrivals)
IR-2– This is a family based green card for minors under 21 years of age. (Children, new arrivals)
CR-1– This is a United States immigrant visa that allows a spouse of a US citizen to enter the USA as a conditional permanent resident. (Spouses, new arrivals, conditional, certain family members of U.S. citizens)
CR-2– This type of visa is issued to the unmarried child of a foreign spouse. For a child to qualify as a stepchild, the marriage would need to have taken place before the child’s 18th birthday. The child must also be under the age of 21 at the time of the visa application. (Children, new arrivals, conditional)
IR5– This type of visa is a Family Based Green Card which is designed for parents of U.S citizens who are least 21 years old. The IR5 parent visa allows U.S. citizens to bring foreign-born parents to the United States as permanent residents. (Parents of adult U.S. citizens, new arrivals, certain family members of U.S. citizens)
K- This type of visa, include K-1’s, which allow a fiancé(e) of a United States citizen to travel to the USA and marry the United States citizen within 90 days of admission. Both the United States citizen and the foreign fiancé(e) must be free to marry, meaning they must both be unmarried, and any previous marriages must have ended through divorce, annulment, or death. Additionally, the United States citizen must have met with the fiancé(e) in person within the last two years before filing the K-1 visa. K-2 visas allow the children of the fiancé(e) to enter the United States if their parent qualifies for the K-1 visa. (Fiancé(e) to marry U.S. citizen & live in U.S)
