Covering the week’s most noteworthy immigration news impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
CHANGES in adjudications of H-1B renewal petitions. On October 23, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that under updated policy guidance USCIS is instructing its officers to apply…
IN a divorce proceeding, people sometimes have a misconception that the only assets or properties that have to disclose assets and properties situated in California. Even worst, sometimes parties even…
QUESTION: I have a friend that was ‘visited’ by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. They told him that he had no rights and that he was going to detention…
DEAR Attorney Gurfinkel: I have been out of status in the U.S. since 2010. I’ve been separated from my husband since 2003, and he already has another family in the…
“ Instead of marrying the biological parent, the U.S. citizen petitioner can just file a fiancé petition for the biological parent.” A STEPPARENT may file an immigrant petition for a stepchild even…
IN a divorce proceeding, people sometimes have a misconception that the only assets or properties that have to disclose assets and properties situated in California. Even worst, sometimes parties even…
SINCE about 2004, USCIS had a policy that if an initial H-1B petition was approved, and the alien later applied for an extension, the officer adjudicating the extension was to…
IN the past few months, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, beginning October 1, 2017, it will expand in-person interviews for employment-based adjustment of status (“AOS”…
ON October 12, 2017, several passengers aboard a domestic Delta flight from San Francisco to New York, filed a lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), alleging a violation…
THINKING about one’s demise is not something people want to spend time thinking about. However reality is that we all have to face this one day. It is just a…
IN ur prior article, it was pointed out that an application for an immigrant visa and certain non-immigrant visas may be denied due to certain criminal grounds of inadmissibility. In some…
IN the absence of a premarital agreement, the general community property presumption under California family code section 760 controls which provides “ ….all property, real or personal, wherever situated, acquired…
QUESTION: I have won asylum as of about two years ago. Is there anything I need to do? Answer: If you have come to the U.S. as a refugee or…
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…
ORDINARILY, there is no appeal process for visa refusals at the Embassy. Under the doctrine of “consular non-reviewability,” a person cannot even sue the embassy or appeal their visa refusals…
A STEPPARENT may file an immigrant petition for a stepchild even without the stepparent having to legally adopt the stepchild. However, before a stepparent may be able to file an…
QUESTION:: I entered the United States a couple of months ago as a visitor and would now like to work in the United States. I have a degree in Business…
RECENTLY, he merican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the ACLU of Massachusetts, on behalf of 10 U.S. citizens and a permanent resident, sued the Department of Homeland Security…
THE date of separation is one of the most important facts to determine in a divorce case because it defines when the community interest ends and when separate property interest…
A POPULAR segment on my weekly immigration television show, “Citizen Pinoy”, is “Your Tanong, My Sagot”, where people ask immigration questions on a variety of subjects, and I offer my…
WHAT makes a non-citizen deportable? An alien or non-citizen, including a lawful permanent resident (“green card” holder) is deportable for having a conviction relating to controlled substances. Title 8 U.S.C….
IN the absence of a premarital agreement, the general community property presumption under California family code section 760 controls which provides “ ….all property, real or personal, wherever situated, acquired…
Generally, in California, property acquired by a spouse prior to marriage is considered separate property under family code section 770 while those acquired after marriage are considered community assets under…
Question: I entered a couple of months ago to the U.S. I want to get married and file my adjustment application. Do you see any problems with that? Answer: Yes,…
(Part 2) In a previous article, a reader, who was scheduled for his visa interview, asked about some of the things which could trigger suspicions or investigations by the Embassy,…
QUESTION: My DACA expires in about seven months. However, what will happen after that? Do I have any other options? Answer: You do have options, many of which you will…
One of the most technical rules on visa fraud focuses on a person misrepresenting his or her intent when applying for certain nonimmigrant visas or when entering the United States….
THE Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued additional guidance on the DACA phase-out. On September 5, 2017 DHS initiated the orderly phase out of the…
THERE is a natural tendency among divorcing parties to hide their assets from their spouse and understate income. This is a common problem that I have observed from practicing law…
SOME debtors contemplating filing bankruptcy have expressed their personal preference of filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy, instead of Chapter 13, for various reasons such as a shorter time frame to get…
