Recently, the Federal Register published two new exemptions to the Immigration and Nationality Act on Wednesday by the Departments of Homeland Security and State mean that who provided “insignificant” or “limited” material support for terror groups will no longer be automatically denied eligibility from asylum or refugee status. An unknown…
Visa Lawyer Blog
Is the GOP Immigration Standards Changing Enough to Bring Change This Year?
Reactions to the release of the House GOP leadership’s principles for immigration reform tended more toward cautious praise for releasing something as a starting point, but with serious doubts about the shortcomings of the actual policy proposals. Because these principles are guidelines—without specific detail—“cautious optimism” is probably the healthiest approach…
Updates on Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers I-601A – Criminal History Analysis
By Ekaterina Powell, Esq. It’s been almost a year since the procedure for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver became effective. For all this time, USCIS has routinely denied cases where there was a reason to believe that the applicant may be subject to a ground of inadmissibility other than unlawful presence.…
Commuter Status: How Travels Into and Out of the U.S. Can Affect Maintaining Your Permanent Residence Status
By Andrew Desposito, Esq For many individuals, becoming a United States Permanent Resident and maintaining that status is a pretty simple thing. Simply living and working in the U.S. maintains the status because the purpose of being a Permanent Resident is that your home is in the United States. What…
Nonprofit Clinic Offers ‘Bridges of Health’ to Philadelphia’s Illegal Immigrants
Like many other immigrants, Mery Martinez has no legal status in the United States, no health insurance and no money. Sadly, Ms. Martinez does have leukemia, and has been struggling to find treatment for the disease, first in New York and more recently in Philadelphia. A hospital emergency room rejected…
Immigration and Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream
Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose dream of equality and human rights changed the course of history. His legacy will be remembered this week by people of all colors and creeds who still believe in the American dream and who…
Driving Jobs Growth in the American Heartlands – How Entrepreneurs Help Spur Job Growth
A new report from the American Immigration Council explains the journeys of three places—Detroit, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; and rural communities in Iowa—to implement strategies for future economic success that depend in part upon immigration. Despite tepid federal efforts at reform, such places are embarking on exciting ventures, such as…
Filing Tips for April 2014 H-1B Season
By Ekaterina Powell, Esq. As April 2014 is approaching, we would like to remind our readers to start preparing for H-1B filing. As you may already know, there is a numerical limit on the H-1B visas allotted for each fiscal year. There are 65,000 H-1B visas available with additional 20,000…
H-1B Visas for Entrepreneurs
By Ekaterina Powell, Esq. We get a lot of inquiries from entrepreneurs who want to come to the U.S. to engage in their businesses whether they can qualify for H-1B visa. Below is a summary of the current USCIS trends and practical tips in making H-1B for entrepreneurs a success.…
Immigration Appeals Lawyer: Lawyer Misconduct is Not the End of Your Case
So you hire a lawyer to file your immigration petition and your case gets a Request for Evidence on it. You provide all of the documentation in the request to your lawyer to file with immigration so that your case will be approved, relying on your lawyer’s advice for what…