Immigration forms don’t have to be confusing. To make them easier to deal with, follow these tips.

No one likes filling out forms — especially when there’s so much at stake as there is on your immigration forms! If you want to make things a whole lot easier on yourself, follow these 4 tips:

1. Do everything you can to make sure you can renew your passport by mail
The only thing worse than dealing with a bunch of confusing immigration forms? Standing in a never-ending line! If you want to save yourself the hassle of heading downtown, make sure you’re eligible to renew your passport by mail.
How do you do that?
Make sure it’s been less than 15 years since you last got a passport (and make sure you were at least 16 years old the last time you were issued that passport). Then, take a look at your passport. As long as it doesn’t have any damage and has your current name on it (or you can prove that you legally changed your name), you’re eligible to renew your passport by mail.
As an added benefit, renewing your passport by mail only requires filling out one form — DS-82.

2. Wait until you get married to get your Green Card
If you’re planning on marrying a U.S. Citizen anyways, wait until after you’re married to fill out all of the necessary immigration forms. After all, getting a Green Card by marriage is much easier than getting one all by yourself.
Why?
When you apply for a Green Card by marriage, you get the benefit of being an immediate relative of a U.S. Citizen. As a result, you get to move to the front of the line, so to speak — meaning things will run much smoothly.

3. Decide how long you want to stay before you look at U.S. Visas
Since there are so many U.S. Visas to choose from, the easiest way to narrow down your search is to decide how long you’re planning to stay in America, then pick the Visa that matches it. If you try to do it the other way around, you’ll be overwhelmed with possibilities!
If you absolutely can’t decide on an end date, apply for an Immigrant Visa. They come with open dates, so that you can be a little more flexible.

4. Look for U.S. Visas that match your situation
If narrowing down your end date still leaves you with too many choices, see which U.S. Visas apply to your specific situation. For example, some are meant just for college students, while some are designed just for seasonal employees.

Looking for more expert advice? The American Immigration Center, Inc.was created to give you just that!