On March 4, 2013, the Final Rule on Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers for Certain Immediate Relatives took effect. The new law provided a significant benefit to spouses, children and parents of US citizens by allowing them to apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. This process allows individuals, who only…
The substitute sponsors include spouse, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother or sister, child, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, or legal guardian. Family based petitions and some employment-based petitions (where a relative owns a 5% interest in the petitioning company) require the petitioner to submit an affidavit of support (Form I – 864) in order for…
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) allows an applicant for immigration benefit under a preference category, either as a direct or a derivative beneficiary, to retain his classification as a “child” even if he has reached the age of 21 by means of the following formula. First, determine the child’s age on the date his…
ON July 8, 2014, the Hon. Brian C. Yep, presiding Judge of Department A-10 of the Lancaster Superior Court, ruled that premises liability in Plaintiff’s second amended complaint is included in the general negligence cause of action and sustained the demurrer thereon of the defendant-licensee of a residential facility for elderly/dependent adult. The Author represents…
ON March 4, 2013, the Final Rule on Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers for Certain Immediate Relatives took effect. The new law provided a significant benefit to spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens by allowing them to apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. This process allows individuals, who only…
WITH the USICE Prosecutorial Discretion program under way, thousands of cases pending before the US Immigration Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) are ripe for review to determine whether such cases should be terminated or administratively closed and the Respondents in those proceedings should be allowed to stay and work legally in the US….
About a year ago, we discussed inadmissibility under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i), which bars an alien from receiving a visa or admission into the U.S. if this alien has previously obtained or attempted to obtain a visa, other documentation, admission or other benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), by means of fraud or by willfully…
Not a week goes by that our office receives inquiries as to whether a comprehensive immigration reform, or any type of immigration reform, is likely to happen soon. As immigration attorneys, we are hopeful that the government will come up with a workable solution for many concerned and hardworking aliens. But until such solution takes…
Employment based EB-3 and OW also advances The August 2014 Visa Bulletin provides great news for Filipinos petitioned as single children of US citizens (F-1), as the priority date move forward from January 1, 2003 to June 1, 2004. Workers petitioned in the third preference (professional/skilled worker) and other (unskilled) worker categories, also had a…
INA 237(a)(1)(H), commonly known as the fraud waiver, provides relief to lawful permanent residents (LPR) and battered spouse self-petitioners in removal proceedings. To understand this waiver, we must first examine some related provisions. Under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i), an alien is inadmissible if he has previously obtained or attempted to obtain a visa, other documentation, admission or…
IN accordance with the US Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Judulang v. Holder, the BIA issued a decision on February 28, 2014 that makes Section 212(c) relief available to thousands or immigrants who were ordered deported or are presently deportable for criminal convictions. The decision, Matter of Abdelghany, abolishes the so-called “comparable grounds” rule that…
On June 27, 2014, the USCIS published a Policy Memorandum (PM) which could provide new hope for children who may have been eligible for benefits under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), but missed the one-year “sought to acquire” deadline for pursuing a visa. If the child missed that filing deadline due to “extraordinary circumstances,”…
FOR most professional immigrants that seek long term immigration status in the US, the key to success is finding an employer who would petition them for an H-1b visa. The problem recently though is the reduction in the visa numbers for this classification that makes this visa unavailable most of the year after the cap…
LAST week, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Jeh Johnson announced that the USCIS is ready for the first round of applications for extensions of deferred action and work authorization under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Effective immediately, USCIS will begin accepting renewal requests. USCIS will also continue to accept…
Individuals entering the United States on a crewman’s visa face several prohibitions on making their status legal that other non-immigrant entrants to the US are not affected by. Crewmen cannot generally adjust status to that of lawful permanent resident and they are precluded from seeking Cancellation of Removal relief in Immigration Court. Even if a…
FOR most professional immigrants that seek long term immigration status in the US, the key to success is finding an employer that would Petition them for an H-1b visa. The problem recently though is the reduction in the visa numbers for this classification that makes this visa unavailable most of the year after the cap…
It is hard to believe that it is already time for many young people to renew their eligibility under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which grants relief from deportation/removal and work authorization in two-year increments. Hundreds of thousands of young people took advantage of this marvelous program when it was first introduced in August…
WITH House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s loss in a Virginia primary election last week to “Tea Party” challenger David Brat, the US House of Representatives looks even less likely to act on any immigration reform bills in 2014. The Senate’s Comprehensive Reform Bill, S. 744, passed last year, will likely remain stagnant as ideological retrenchment…
The economic crisis of the past few years and changes in immigration legislation has made it more difficult to pursue certain traditional paths to obtaining permanent residency in the United States. Employment based immigration has been affected by long wait time in priority under the EB3 category. H1-b visas has been affected by the visa…
In a long-awaited decision, the US Supreme Court recently ruled that the only aged-out children who can retain (and convert) their original priority date under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) are those who were petitioned by a lawful permanent resident (LPR) parent in the F-2A category (minor child of LPR), either as a direct…
An applicant for admission or adjustment of status must generally have a qualified sponsor who executes a Form I-864 Affidavit of Support. Otherwise, such alien would be inadmissible under INA 212(a)(4) as one likely to become a public charge. Form I-864 is a contract that binds the sponsor to support the sponsored alien at an…
The July 2014 Visa Bulletin provides great news for Filipinos petitioned in the third preference (professional/skilled worker) and other (unskilled) worker categories, in that the priority date moved forward one year, from January 1, 2008 to January 1, 2009. Therefore, if your employer filed your labor certification case before January 2009, you may be eligible…
Recently, a person came to my office for consultation after her adjustment of status application (based on marriage to a US citizen) was denied due to fraud. She had entered the US on a transit visa (C-1), but was not a crewman. Therefore, she was otherwise eligible to adjust status. The problem is she went…
It is very common for beneficiaries of family based petition to wait many years before their petition’s priority date becomes current. This is usually the case with US Citizen parent petitions to adult son or daughter. This is also common among petition’s between Siblings. What happens when the Petitioner dies? Are all those years of…
LAST week, President Obama urged Speaker of the House John Boehner to bring immigration reform to a vote this summer, or expect more administrative liberalization of Federal immigration policy. It seem like that call has fallen on deaf ears. US House of Representatives has ignored a call to pass immigration reform over the past two…
DUE to demand stemming from aging demographics, the number of foreign-trained physicians practicing in the US continues to grow. According to the American Medical Association, International Medical Graduates (IMGs) comprise approximately one-third the US physician population. The Philippines is second, only to India, in the ranking of country of origin of IMG physicians. In order…
“ Immigrants in these circumstances would be well-advised to consult with an attorney specializing in Immigration & Nationality law to explore their options and determine what course of action is best suited to allow them to benefit from the case.” IN accordance with the US Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Judulang v. Holder, the BIA issued…
Within the first week of the opening of the April 1, 2014 H-1B filing season, USCIS received a sufficient number of H-1B cap-subject petitions to overwhelm the annual H-1B quota—172,500. For the first time in H-1B numerical cap history, losers outnumbered the winners in the annual lottery. Because the cap is currently set at 85,000…
Recently, a woman consulted with me about her brother’s immigration situation. Years ago, their father petitioned both of them while their father was still an immigrant. The father later naturalized, resulting in their petitions being “automatically converted” from single adult child of immigrant (F –2B) to single adult child of US citizen (F – 1)….
A WHITE Caucasian US Marine Corps veteran was granted disability pension benefits with Aid and Attendance effective February 1, 2014, by Rating Decision dated April 28, 2014, of the Department of Veterans Affairs, St. Paul, MN Pension Management Center. He is a veteran of the Vietnam Era, who served in the Marine Corps from September…
