Visa Lawyer Blog

by

Some good news to help speed up the process of getting a Student Visa. On January 19, 2012, President Obama announced an initiative to improve and speed up the visa process for certain categories of travelers. One of the cornerstones of this initiative is the Department of State’s Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Waiver Pilot Program, under which certain foreign visitors who were interviewed in conjunction with a prior visa application may be able to renew their visas without undergoing another interview.

What are the prevailing interview and fingerprint requirements of the U.S. nonimmigrant visa (NIV) application process?

Generally, all Non Immigrant applicants must make a personal appearance and be interviewed by a consular officer. In addition, visa applicants must provide biometric identifiers for verifying their identity (the biometric identifiers currently required are fingerprints and a photo image).

Continue reading

by

PERM is the process for obtaining labor certification, the first step of the green card process for foreign nationals seeking permanent residence through their employment.

To obtain an approved PERM Labor Certification, the employer must prove (through newspaper advertising and other recruiting methods) that they were unsuccessful in recruiting a qualified U.S. worker for a certain position.

The employer must be prepared to hire the foreign worker on a full-time and permanent basis. Watch our Video to learn more, and yes you can subscribe to our You Tube Channel as well, click here.

Continue reading

by

For more than a century, agriculture has been an entry point into the labor market for immigrants in the United States. Presently, close to three-fourths of all U.S. hired farm workers are immigrants, most of them unauthorized. Their unauthorized legal status, low wages, and an inconsistent work schedule contribute to a precarious economic state.

In a move that reflects the growing agricultural labor shortage across the country, Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman has decided to seek a federal waiver that would allow Kansas dairies and feedlots desperate for workers to hire undocumented immigrants.

The proposal is likely to stir controversy in the Kansas Legislature and divide the Republican majority, some of whose members are pursuing proposals to crack down on illegal immigration. Representatives of the business coalition, which includes agriculture groups and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, provided a draft copy of their proposed legislation to The Associated Press ahead of its formal introduction in the House and Senate.

Continue reading

by

The question whether a Fiance Visa beneficiary can obtain a work permit during the 90 days visa validity comes up frequently. The K-1 fiance visa was created exclusively for United States citizens engaged to a foreign citizen. It allows a United States citizen to bring their foreign fiance to the United States to live with them permanently, provided that they get married within 90 days of the foreign fiance’s arrival. The United States citizen is called the petitioner and the foreign fiance is called the beneficiary.

This issue came up recently at a meeting between representatives of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Customs and Border Protection Reps.

By regulation, K-1 nonimmigrant aliens are authorized to engage in employment pursuant to and incident to their status, but they must apply to USCIS for an EAD. 8 C.F.R. §274a.12(a)(6). The EAD requirement creates a significant problem since USCIS routinely takes approximately 90 days to issue an EAD, and applicants may only hold K-1 status for 90 days following admission. Thus, a K-1 entrant cannot effectively obtain work authorization during the period of K-1 admission, even though he or she is supposedly work-authorized “incident to status.”

Continue reading

by

A number of measures to help startups and support entrepreneurs have either been introduced in Congress or on their way. But if lawmakers don’t act on them by early Spring, their sponsors are doubtful they’ll come to pass this year.

Yesterday, President Obama sent Congress a new Startup America Legislative Agenda to accelerate startup and small business growth following his State of the Union Address last week. The agenda lays out his legislative vision as well as his intent to proceed with a series of administrative reforms that would be completed in the future.

Among these are several key immigration initiatives to be implemented at some future point by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State. These include:

Continue reading

by

Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) proposed a bill this week similar to the DREAM Act but aimed only at those who serve in the military. Illegal immigrants are currently not allowed to join the military.

“If these young people are willing to die for America, then certainly they deserve a chance at life in America,” Rivera said in a statement.

Rivera’s bill, called the ARMS Act, would grant illegal immigrants who join the military the ability to apply for permanent resident status after five years.

Continue reading

by

On January 6, USCIS posted a notice outlining its plan to reduce the time that certain families are separated when the foreign national goes home to apply for an immigrant visa. The current process allows applicants to file for a waiver only after they have their initial interview at the U.S. Consulate, usually in their home country. Under the proposed process, the applicant may file the waiver application with USCIS while they are still in the U.S. The provisional waiver will be available only to applicants with U.S. citizen spouses or parents, but not to applicants whose qualifying relatives are permanent residents.

Although the new process will change the filing procedure for some, all applicants are still required to prove that the qualifying relative will suffer extreme hardships if they are not re-admitted to the U.S.

The following post will explain a few of the misconceptions about the new proposals and address a few of the questions clients have been asking.

Continue reading

by

On Wednesday, President Obama gave the State of the Union address. During his speech, President Obama discussed many key themes in immigration, including the DREAM Act for students and foreign students educated in this country to have a way to legalize their status, and a belief that he’s done enough to the secure the border. More importantly, he framed these themes in context to America’s economic recovery, innovation and growth.

In the State of the Union address, President Obama repeatedly signaled to Congress that he would sign sensible bills to reform our immigration system, big or small. But he quickly noted that partisan politics would make it all but impossible to pass comprehensive reform:

“The opponents of action are out of excuses. We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now. But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away.”

Continue reading

by

It is a sad day when a high school student is denied an opportunity to pursue his sports passion and a solid university education because of an arbitrary and capricious policy. Chester Brown is a highly recruited football player in the State of Georgia. He is also the son of Samoan immigrants. Chester committed to the University of Georgia back in July, 2011. Yesterday, Chester reluctantly announced he will not be attending as the result of a controversial immigration policy at the university. The Georgia Board of Regents Policy states that an undocumented student cannot be admitted to the school over a legal resident should there be a space limitation.

Chester would not say whether the policy forced him to make the decision, but the Atlanta Journal Constitution, cited multiple sources, indicated it was. Chester said simply it was his decision – and a painful one at that. “It was my decision to make, and I had to do it,” said Chester. “When I told the coaches they just were surprised, but they told to me do what I have to do. I don’t want anyone to think that we went out on bad terms, and I love UGA, but I had to make this decision.” Chester’s status is unclear. His parents, who immigrated to the country decades ago, said he was born in the United States. But he apparently does not have the proper documentation.

The Board of Regents rule came about following an incident involving Jessica Colotl, a Kennesaw State student who sparked a national immigration debate after she was found to be in the country illegally following a traffic stop in May of 2010. She was attending the school and paying in-state tuition at the time. Colotl was jailed and nearly deported back to Mexico but was eventually allowed to return to school; she graduated last spring.

Continue reading

by

Our offices specializes in complex J1 waivers, the following Blog post will describe a recent success case we feel will benefit our readers. This article is presented by Attorney Ekaterina Powell from our office.

A lot of J-1 Exchange Visitors coming to the United States are subject to a so-called “two-year rule” which means that J-1 holders are required to return to their home countries for two years after completion of the exchange program. This rule creates a lot of obstacles for foreigners who get married to U.S. citizens but are unable to adjust status because of the two-year rule.

So, what can these couples do in a situation like this?

Continue reading