Category: Immigration Columnists

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 priority…

Many people believe the only way to bring a family member to the U.S. is through a family petition. Auntie Eva started as a caregiver when she first set foot…

ON December 13, 2021 the Department of State (DOS) published a temporary final rule (TFR) allowing consular officers the flexibility or discretion to waive the personal appearance (or interview) of…

THE Department of State (DOS) recently announced a change in policy concerning scheduling of immigrant visa interviews. Previously, immigrant visa interviews were scheduled using a tiered approach to triage immigrant…

MOST people, with family members or employees stranded overseas waiting for their immigrant visa interviews, will find some ray of hope with the news and updates coming from the Department…

Cathlene (left) and Corinne (2nd from left) were petitioned by their U.S. citizen father while he was living in the Philippines in 2017. By law, a petitioner must be “domiciled”…

THANKSGIVING is again being celebrated differently this year. Thankfully, although we are still in the midst of a pandemic, we may finally be able to have a gathering of loved…

THE November priority dates are typically the start of the new “fiscal year” for visas, where a new annual supply of visas is made available.  Usually, with a new supply…

Mother Cece (center) petitioned her son Vince in 2001. Because he was out-of-status, and had no section 245(i), he was not eligible to adjust status (apply for his green card)…

DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: I have been a green card holder for over 5 years, paid my taxes, committed no crimes, and am eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship. However, my…

RONALD was petitioned as Joyce’s fiancé in 2006. While the K-1 petition was approved, his visa was denied after Ronald admitted to the doctors at St. Luke’s that he tried…

IT can be extremely frustrating about how long USCIS takes to process petitions, extensions, work authorizations, adjustment of status, and applications.  For example, at the California Service Center: It can…

Many people believe the only way to bring relatives to the U.S. is through a family petition. This is not true. Family can petition other family members through an employment-based…

FOR anyone with a pending petition or application, the delays in processing their case at USCIS can be frustrating and can cause tremendous disruption, and unnecessary separation of family members….

After consulting with leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (right), she was advised to wait for her son to first legalize his status and become a U.S. citizen. Only…

MOST people think they can only file family petitions for relatives. Actually, they can also petition their family member for a green card through employment. In this brand-new episode, viewers…

The November priority dates are typically the start of the new “fiscal year” for visas, where a new annual supply of visas is made available.  Usually, with a new supply…

FOR anyone who is out of status, one of their biggest fears is an immigration raid at their workplace. We have all seen news reports of immigration raids at carwashes,…

Marjun (right) missed the opportunity to join his father, Marcelo Sr. (left), and siblings in the U.S. in 1996 because his name was missing from the list of accompanying family…

IN what has been described as “…a dramatic shift in U.S. immigration enforcement policy that will likely spare most undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for years…,” on…

TO petition one’s family members to come to the U.S., the petitioner must prove they are living (or domiciled) in the U.S. In this episode, U.S. citizen father, Cesar, petitioned…

The family consulted with several attorneys. One filed for political asylum for Vince, and when the expanded provisional waiver regulations came out in 2016, another attorney obtained an approved provisional…