ONE of the most important requirements for naturalization is that an applicant must maintain residency in the US for the five years before filing a naturalization application. The person should…
IN many professions, bonus is a material part of a professional’s compensation. It is often a challenge characterizing bonuses in the context of a divorce case especially if the bonus…
AS you may be aware, the USCIS, in coordination of the Department of State (DOS), announced last September 2015, announced revisions as to the procedures for determining visa availability for…
IN many professions, bonus is a material part of a professional’s compensation. It is often a challenge characterizing bonuses in the context of a divorce case especially if the bonus…
IF a person commits certain immigration violations (such as fraud, or overstaying in the US for over six months and then departing, etc.), the person may not be eligible to…
UNDER current immigration laws, there is a bar to admissibility to the United States for foreign nationals who are “unlawfully present” in the United States. An unlawfully present foreign national…
ON October 2, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formally announced the upcoming implementation of a parole program that will help reunite certain family members of Filipino WWII Veterans. …
DIVORCES do not have to get costly and lengthy. Divorce can carry its own set of stresses that couples do not need. An alternative to a costly and lengthy divorce…
What’s new and what’s next ON October 7, 2015 USCIS released draft policy guidance regarding the “extreme hardship” threshold that Waiver of Inadmissibility applicants must reach. The draft guidance is…
EACH month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment based categories. A…
THE spouse of a US citizen will be granted permanent resident status after the US citizen files a petition for the spouse. If the spouses have not yet been married…
FAMILY Code 760 provides that all property acquired by the spouse during the marriage is community property. That means each spouse has a half interest on any assets that are…
AS part of President Obama’s continuing executive actions on immigration, the White House issued last July 2015 a report called “Modernizing and Streamlining Our Legal Immigration System for the 21st…
As required by law, US Citizenship and Immigration Services will deny immigration petitions and applications for adjustment of status where they believe that fraud is involved. Marriage-Based Green Card interviews…
DEAR Attorney Gurfinkel: I was petitioned by my US citizen father, and after waiting for over 15 years, I was finally interviewed and just received my immigrant visa, which was…
IT was a crisp October evening and Gilbert went out with his friends for a Halloween pub crawl. They drank, ate candy and cookies, and had an amazing time. The…
BENEFICIARY spouse of marriage based immigrant petition’s where the marriage was less than 2 years old at the time of the immigrant visa or status was approved are issued a…
MANY parents believe that if you are a working parent, then the other non-working parent will get physical custody of the minor children automatically. This is a misperception of the…
UNDER US immigration laws, if a non-citizen commits and/or is later convicted of certain types of crimes that person could be removed/deported. This is the case even if a person…
A COUPLE came to my office for a consultation who was in tears and panic because their “American Dream” was crumbling around them. They are already permanent residents (green card…
While the existing I-601A Provisional Waiver Program is limited to benefitting children and spouses of US citizens, a proposed rule will expand the categories of beneficiaries. The new rule, proposed…
THE Department of State and the USCIS revised the procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for adjustment of status. The revised procedure will be available beginning…
A JUDGMENT of nullity is when the Court deems a voidable marriage or a void marriage as never having taken place for reasons such as a defect in age, unsound…
EDWARD, a 45 year-old married man from Manila came to the United States in 1999. His mom and dad are U.S. citizens and filed a petition for him in December…
LAST September 11, 2015, the incumbent mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Long Beach, and Oakland issued a joint letter addressed to California Senators and Representatives entitled “Opposition…
STARTING in October 2015, the Department of State (DOS) and the USCIS will utilize a new format for priority dates. (I posted those priority dates already on my website).There will…
ON September 9, 2015, the government announced that it will now allow individuals who have been waiting for their priority dates to be current both in the family based and…
Family Code 760 provides that all property acquired by the spouse during the marriage is community property. That means each spouse has a half interest on any assets that are…
A TREMENDOUSLY beneficial change to the Visa Bulletin was announced by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and Department of State (DOS) on Sept. 9, 2015. The change…
THE news from USCIS: In an important departure from the current rules regarding when someone can apply for a Green Card, USCIS has announced that starting October 1, 2015, I-485,…
