On December 21, 2000 the President signed into law significant new immigration legislation, effective April 1, 2001. The Legal Immigration and Family Equity (LIFE) Act and amendments have effectively created new categories of nonimmigrant visas, including three V Visas, the K-3 Visa and the K-4 Visa. Extremely helpful for second preference beneficiaries and spouses of U.S. citizens, these visas will help ease the immigration process for thousands of individuals, and reunite families separated for long periods of time during the process of immigration. The new categories will allow the issuance of nonimmigrant visas to spouses, children and, in some cases, grandchildren of both lawful permanent resident aliens and spouses of U.S. citizens. Beneficiaries may apply for admission to the U.S. as nonimmigrants and then remain in the U.S. until the visa petition is approved or denied. If the petition is approved, beneficiaries may continue to remain in the U.S. until the application for adjustment of status is approved or denied, or may seek an immigrant visa at a consular office abroad. These new categories specifically relate to spouses and children for whom an immigrant visa or adjustment of status is not available even though the petition has been filed. This unavailability may be due to lengthy processing delays or the absence of available visa numbers due to annual visa limitations.