Category: Immigration Columnists

IN January of this year, we first wrote about this exciting topic, which was based on the January 6, 2012 announcement by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  In the announcement, USCIS indicated its intent to amend the regulations pertaining to waivers for certain immediate relatives of United States citizens who are applying for visas…

Thanksgiving is when people take a step back and reflect on all of the wonderful things and events to be grateful for, and to give thanks to those people who played such a key role in helping us achieve them. At this Thanksgiving, I would like to once again give thanks to all of the…

THE Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program was introduced in June 2012 and was implemented August 15, 2012. Within just one month of the program’s start date, the USCIS had reported that it had received more than 75,000 applications for deferred action status (DAS) and work authorization under DACA.  Although experts had predicted that…

Under the basic labor certification process, the employer may file an application only after conducting efforts to recruit US workers by means of the following mandatory steps: (1) placing an advertisement on 2 different Sundays in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of intended employment; (2) placing a 30-day job order with the…

BY APPROVAL Notice dated October 19, 2012, the Nebraska Service Center granted deferred action on Form I-812D and the corresponding employment authorization on Form I-765, valid from October 17, 2012 to October 16, 2014, both filed by a Filipino student on August 21, 2012. And by Approval Notice dated October 25, 2012, the California Service…

On June 15, 2012, the Obama Administration announced a new policy of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is now being referred to as “DACA.” Under this program, the government will defer, or not seek to deport/remove, (and grant work authorization to) certain individuals who were brought to the US at a young age. Although…

The twin cases of De Osorio v. Mukasey and Costelo v. Napolitano, both decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on September 26, 2012 now allows many children who were included in their parents’ petitions as derivative beneficiaries, but who “aged-out” or turned 21 before immigrant visas became available to them, to “recapture” the…

IN 1988, Maria, a US citizen, petitioned her brother, Edgar from the Philippines.  Although the petition was approved, the priority date was not current.  In fact the priority date did not become current until 2011. When it came time for Edgar to process his immigrant visa, his son, who was 2 at the time of…

ALTHOUGH the volume of newly-filed applications for benefits is down at the USCIS, the processing times for some applications pending at the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) are longer than ever before. The USCIS holds a monopoly over all immigrants applying for green cards, citizenship and other applications, since the USCIS is the only…

AN 18-year old Filipino male was granted lawful permanent resident status on or about June 3, 2010. He has been residing with his parents in Glendale, California, since May 23, 2003. On October 12, 2011, he was arrested by the Glendale Police Department for allegedly possessing a controlled substance, meth, in violation of Health &…

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 date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning that immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority…

Jon and Kate own and operate a successful real estate business in California. In addition to owning a beautiful home, they had acquired several homes and apartment buildings which they rented out. In 2008, when the US economy was struggling and the real estate business was sluggish, Jon and Kate decided to take a long…

ON October 18, 2012, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York declared that the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) was unconstitutional, to the extent the law attempted to ban (or refuse to recognize) same-sex marriages. Although the decision may still be appealed to the US Supreme Court, this could be great news (and…

Question: My auntie petitioned my mother when I was 3 years old. However, the visa process is so slow that it took 22 years for the visa number to become current. I was over 21 when my mother got her Green Card and the U.S. Embassy said that I aged out and could not come….

Recently, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that, under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), children who “aged–out” from under their parent’s petition, may retain/recycle/reuse their parent’s priority date, such that the child does not need to go to the “back of the line,” and wait several additional years before being able to join…

LAST month, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit last week joined the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit  and reversed its previous decision in De Osorio et. al v. Holder (De Osorio I), which had held that an “aged out” derivative beneficiary of a family or employment-based petition for immigrant status…

YES, under certain humanitarian exceptions, an inadmissible arriving alien can be granted parole by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), even though the Immigration Judge is precluded by the DHS regulations from considering release on bond for arriving aliens. Indeed, if an arriving alien is inadmissible…

(Part 1) Dear Atty. Gurfinkel: I am single and under petition. I have a common-law spouse, whom I would like to marry, but I am receiving conflicting advice and information about whether it’s OK to marry, and the effect that marriage would have on my petition. When would marriage affect the validity of a person’s…

QUESTION: I heard that there is a type of visa whereby I don’t need to invest $1,000,000 to get the Green Card, but rather can use my business knowledge and business. Is this true? Answer: Yes, it is the much less known Multinational Manager Visa. This is where you have 2 companies in 2 different…

RECENTLY,  I was approached by a lawyer who inquired if I was advising eligible applicants to file for Deferred Action. When I responded yes, of course, this same lawyer told me that she is doing the opposite. That she is advising clients not to file because of concern with a potential change of administration. Meaning: If…

In June 2011, John Morton, the Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a memo on “prosecutorial discretion”, whereby ICE would refrain from going after, or removing\deporting, certain people who did not really pose a risk or threat to the US, even if they were here illegally. This policy applied to people who were…

THE US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit last week joined the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit  and reversed its previous decision in De Osorio et. al v. Holder (De Osorio I), which had held that an “aged out” derivative beneficiary of a family or employment-based petition for immigrant status cannot…

Many people, desiring to save money, try to handle their immigration matters on their own. They may have a relative in the Philippines being processed for an immigrant visa, and when they have any questions, they call or email the National Visa Center (NVC) for advice and guidance on what to do and how to…

EACH year, I consult with hundreds of individuals who have been ordered to leave the US by Immigration Judges. In the vast majority of these cases, the person had applied for some form of relief from removal, such as asylum, and the Immigration Judge denied the claim and either granted the person voluntary departure or…

JUST one month into the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) more than 75,000 applications for deferred action and work authorization have been submitted to the USCIS. As of last week, the USCIS began granting approvals on may of the earliest filed applications. Experts predict that USCIS will have received over 200,000…

On February 19, 2012 and May 26, 2012, respectively, two males of Filipino descent committed driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) as first offenders in Glendale, California. The Mercedez Benz of the first Filipino driver was subjected to enforcement stop by the Glendale Police Department for swerving within its lane. The Honda of the…