US Immigrant Visa for Portuguese will be Issued in Paris

Portuguese nationals wishing to apply for immigrant visa for USA will have to submit it in Paris, France as the US embassy in their home country’s capital is no longer accepting with such application. The change is in effect from March 1, 2012.

USA State Department has sited a very low number of applicants using this service in Lisbon the reason behind shifting the application processing to Paris.

According to data for the year 2010, the number of immigrant visa issued by US Embassy in Lisbon was 134 whereas this number was just 32 at the Consulate General in Ponta Delgada.

The Embassy explained in a statement that US Embassy in Lisbon and Consulate General in Ponta Delgada will neither schedule nor conduct Immigrant Visa or Diversity Visa interviews after 1 March 2012. All such immigrant and diversity visa interviews and adjudications for residents of Portugal and France will take place at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France.

However, The Embassy in Lisbon and the Consulate in Ponta Delgada will keep on dealing with all those cases that are being processed and in which the interview has already taken place until 30 May, 2012.  After May 30, all pending immigrant and diversity visa cases will be transferred to the Embassy in Paris.

However, The U.S. Embassy in Lisbon and the U.S. Consulate General in Ponta Delgada will continue to provide the non-immigrant visas for business, tourism, education, and other purposes.

The services for the American citizens in Portugal at the US Embassy in Lisbon and US Consulate General in Ponta Delgada will continue as usual.

The services available to American citizens include the issuance of U.S. passports, issuance of reports of birth abroad for children born in Portugal to American citizen parents, provision of emergency services to American citizens, performance of notarial services, and assistance in voting by absentee ballot in U.S. elections.

Tags: France, Paris, Portugal, US Embassy, USA immigration