Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in Immigrant Visas

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You are a H-1B visa holder from a country with a backlogged employment based category and you are currently living and working in the United States. You have applied for permanent residence through your employer. You have been working for the same employer for years and have extensive experience in your field. Despite all of these factors, you are still waiting in line for your priority date to become current, and what’s more, your spouse has not been eligible to apply for their employment authorization due to the restrictions on their visa. What, if anything, can be done to receive your permanent resident card sooner?

Thousands of immigrants are in the same hypothetical situation. Comprehensive Immigration Reform is necessary not just for undocumented immigrants living in the United States, but also for such specialty workers who regularly contribute to our economy and society, but are stuck in limbo awaiting their permanent residency. Comprehensive immigration reform is also necessary because specialty occupation workers often run out of their H-1B status while they are in line for their priority date to become current. If the specialty occupation worker is married, chances are their spouse has not had the opportunity or privilege to legally obtain employment while the primary applicant has been in line waiting to adjust their status. Many immigrants who have found themselves in similar situations fear international travel due to the risk they may run in not being able to return to the United States.

Bypassing the Quota System

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Want to track the status of a pending case? Moving to a new address? Want to report a problem with your case? No problem!

Our loyal fans and followers, who communicate with us through our various social networking sites and web page, often ask our law office how they can track or check the status of their pending case, how they can change their address with USCIS while their case is pending, and how they can report a problem with their case. These are all very important questions. It is imperative that all applicants who have pending cases with USCIS regularly check the status of their case both online and by calling USCIS. There are several ways to communicate with USCIS. You can check the status of your pending case online, submit a service request online, schedule an Infopass online, and submit a change of address online.  For time sensitive issues, applicants should check the status of their pending case or report a problem with their pending case by calling USCIS directly by phone. In this post we will walk you through the steps of how to communicate with USCIS via all of these methods.

How to check the status of a case online:

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USCIS recently announced new policy changes regarding Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. Starting June 1, 2014, USCIS has limited the validity period for all Forms I-693 to one year from the date that USCIS receives the form. This updated policy applies to any Form I-693 supporting a benefit application that USCIS adjudicates on or after June 1, 2014.

If you are applying for adjustment of status, you may submit Form I-693 in one of the following ways:

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By Marie Puertollano, Esq. 

Form 1-131 Application for Travel Document is the form you must file with immigration when requesting a travel authorization from USCIS. This Application for Travel Document can be requested in various situations for the purposes of obtaining a reentry permit or advance parole.

One of the most common Form I-131 application’s we file within our practice, is the advance parole for an applicant who has a pending I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status application for a green card. While awaiting a decision from USCIS about the green card application, the applicant CANNOT leave the United States without a travel authorization issued by USCIS, or the application will be considered abandoned.  Given that many applicants need to travel while their green card application is pending, we submit an I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status application along with Form I-131 Application for Travel Document to request an advance parole which will allow the green card applicant to travel once it is issued by USCIS, approximately 60-90 days after being filed. The applicant need not pay any fees for the I-131 Application for Travel Document, if it was submitted with an I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, to obtain a green card.

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By Yingfei Zhou, Esq.

Today, June 09, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that children who waited for years with their parents to obtain immigrant visas still have to go to the back of the line when they turn 21.

BACKGROUND: The case, Mayorkas v Cuellar de Osorio, began as two separate suits, one joining many individual plaintiffs, and the other certified as class action.  One of the respondents involved in this case is a Salvadoran family-sponsored immigrant who was in line for a visa along with her 13-year-old son.  But after years of waiting, her son turned 21 and government officials said he no longer qualified as an eligible child.  The aged-out son was then placed at the back of the line, resulting in a wait of several more years.

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First time visitor at our office? We have you covered on what to expect during your first visit in 5 easy steps.

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Our Clients

Since every client’s case is truly unique, it is important for our potential clients to attend their free consultation, where a member from our team will explain the appropriate legal process that should be taken, in addition to answering all of their questions and concerns. Please contact our office to schedule an appointment for an in person or phone consultation at (619) 819-9204 or Toll Free at 1-866-488-1554

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Aditya Agarwal, VP of Engineering at Dropbox and Joe Green of FWD

Aditya Agarwal, VP of Engineering at Dropbox and President and Founder of FWD. us Joe Green

For decades, immigrants from all parts of the world have come to the United States, bringing with them their unsurpassed talents and ground breaking innovations.  This entrepreneurial spirit was first fostered by our founding fathers and later matched by such brilliant minds as, telecommunications magnate Alexander Graham, Google founder and college dropout Sergey Brin, and Nordstrom founders John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, all of whom immigrated to the United States in pursuit of the American dream. Such immigrants have continued to shatter conventions by making significant contributions to our country’s history, its technology, and economy.

In early 2013, the Kauffman Foundation released an updated report as a supplement to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, which tracks new business creation in the United States. The report studied rates of entrepreneurial activity among different demographic groups during an 18 year period, beginning in 1996 through 2013. Of interest, is the report’s finding that the number of immigrants who were new entrepreneurs in 2013, at 26 percent, was nearly twice that of the native-born population of non-immigrants, a rate that was up 6 points from 19 percent in 2003.

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On Tuesday May 6, 2014 the Department of Homeland Security announced the publication of two newly proposed rules designed with the purpose of attracting and retaining highly skilled foreign workers. Both initiatives seek to advance the United States economy and improve competitiveness by recruiting the best and brightest professionals the world has to offer.

Proposal to Extend Employment Authorization to Spouses of Certain H-1B Workers:

The first proposal allows spouses of certain H-1B workers to extend their employment authorization in the United States

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The Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State, Charles Oppenheim, recently shared the expected projections for monthly and annual visa demand and Visa Bulletin projections regarding family and employment based green cards. It is important to note that these projections may be subject to change based on the reported or observed visa demand witnessed by USCIS and the U.S. Department of State.

Important developments to look forward to this year include significant advancement of EB-2 category for India and unmarried sons and daughters of LPR over 21 years old. On the other hand, several immigrant visa categories are expected to retrogress due to high demand, such as the category of spouses and children of LPR, EB-5 for Chinese nationals and EB-3 for Chinese nationals. The expected projections are as follows:

Family Based Second Preference 2A Worldwide (FB-2A) –Spouses and Children (under 21) of Permanent Residents:

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