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Signature Requirements for US Marriage Visa Petitions

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests we are going to be discussing signature requirements in the context of US marriage visa applications and petitions.

There was a recent announcement from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service. The announcement is titled USCIS finalizes his guidance on signature requirements. This is found on uscis.gov. Quoting directly: “US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today that petitioners and applicants who seek immigration benefits must provide a valid signature on forms submitted to the agency, in an effort to protect and safeguard the nation’s immigration system and those who benefit from it. Power of Attorney signatures will no longer be accepted. If forms are filed by a corporation or other legal entity they must be signed by an authorized person. The new policy is effective March 18, 2018. This final policy memorandum updates an interim memorandum that outlines the elements of valid signature and permitted entities that file petitions with USCIS to use the signature of an individual based on Power of Attorney. The prohibition of Power of Attorney signatures does not affect signatures on behalf of individuals younger than age 14 or those with disabilities”.

What should we take away from this? Well in the past it is my argument that the last administration was somewhat relaxing some of the formalistic regulations associated with filing petitions for immigrant or non-immigrant visa benefits to the United States. The current administration, as most of those watching this video are probably well aware, the current administration takes a more strict line with respect to the interpretation and the enforcement of immigration laws, rules and regulations. This is simply an outgrowth of that overall policy in my opinion and it just simply requires a ‘wet” signature an ink signature on forms associated with US marriage visas. So we are talking things like the standard CR-1 visa the IR-1 visa or the K-3 visa. The petition forms associated therewith will require “wet ink” signatures of the petitioner and the beneficiary where applicable in order to be processed and in order to be considered duly formalized, for lack of a better term.

So the things take away from this video is, not withstanding other information on the Internet to the contrary, as of the time of this video it is required that “wet ink” signatures be made on immigration forms and during the immigration process pertaining to the spouse of a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident.