State Department edits visa rules for diplomats’ families

{mosads}Previously, those family members were stuck with visas identifying them as diplomatic dependents, known as A visas, not as employees of international organizations, who are granted G visas. Inability to get a G visa “has posed an impediment to the employment” of some family members, the department asserts in the new rule.

Once the rule is published, a diplomat’s immediate family members will be eligible for the G visa.

“With this change, family members of diplomats assigned to the United States will be able to accept employment with international organizations and obtain visas that reflect their status as employees of such organizations, rather than as diplomatic dependents,” the department claims.

The State Department grants visas for diplomats and their immediate family, which includes a diplomats’ spouse, single children who are members of the household and other family members who “reside regularly in the household” of the diplomat, such as domestic partners and blood, marriage or adopted relatives.