Individualized, Innovative
In order to qualify to adjust status from within the United States (i.e. apply for a green card), you have to have been “inspected and admitted or paroled.” In other words, a person who entered without a visa or other documentation must generally return to his or her home country to apply for an immigrant visa there rather than filing…
Many immigrants with employment authorization documents (EADs) must renew their cards every year or two. Because the Department of Homeland Security is inconsistent in adjudicating EAD renewals, some immigrants’ EADs expire while they desperately wait for their renewal applications to be approved. In an attempt to cure this problem, the Department of Homeland Security will soon begin automatically extending the…
The final rule expanding the I-601A provisional waiver process went into effect on August 29, 2016. The most significant and most publicized change in the rule allows applicants with U.S citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR) spouses and parents to qualify for provisional waiver processing. Accordingly, USCIS estimates that an additional 44,061 newly eligible provisional waiver applicants and their family…
The Supreme Court of the United States is set to decide United States v. Texas, the case regarding the constitutionality of President Obama’s new immigration policies, in June 2016. When Antonin Scalia—one of the nine Justices on the Supreme Court—passed away, the outcome of this monumental case became more uncertain. President Obama proposed a new immigration policy in November 2014.…
Most attorneys are aware that a finding of guilt in a criminal matter may create a consequence for his or her client if he or she is not a U.S. citizen. For certain crimes, pleading guilty or being found guilty at trial will cause loss of lawful status, denial of a future application of citizenship, deportation, and/or denial of eligibility…
Wilson Law Group recently became aware of a disturbing new trend relating to non-immigrant visa (NIV) holders. Those in the United States with student (F), employment-based (H-1B), exchange (J-1) visas, and investor visas (E-2), among others, are affected. Those NIV holders who, during their stay in the US, are arrested for a minor criminal incident are receiving correspondence from the…
H-2B Visa Program Updates: Registration Currently Inoperative & Emergency Guidance Wilson Law Group recently commented on the new 2015 H-2B Interim Final Rules and how they impact the H-2B program and employers, including a new requirement of registration, recruitment procedures, and the crucial need to navigate the various phases of the process with meticulous attention to detail to timelines and requirements. …
The Revised Visa Bulletin: Tempering Your Expectations The debate around comprehensive immigration reform has long had many detractors decrying earned legalization as “amnesty” for people who should instead head “to the back of the line.” What is little understood is exactly what is meant by “the line;” who is eligible to wait in it; and how infinitely long this line…
Extreme Hardship doesn’t have to be so hard. On October 7, 2015, USCIS shared its draft “extreme hardship” policy memo, created with the goal of better defining the standard applied to various types of waivers. The draft memo was happily received more than ten months after President Obama announced the endeavor with various other, more popular strides like the expansion…
It is well known that citizens of certain countries may enter the United States to establish a trade relationship with their home country or to invest in the United States. Few people, however, know that companies can establish the same relationship as the individual investor. This novelty in the law allows for some very flexible opportunities and creates the capacity…
