Covering the week’s most noteworthy immigration news impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
LAWFUL Permanent Resident (LPR) status in the US is a privilege, and the status can be abandoned, even involuntarily. Abandonment of permanent residence (also known as the “green card”) occurs…
AS the US Congress continues to mire itself in a tiresome partisan war over every issue that crosses its path, States have begun to answer the call and do the…
Dear Atty. Gurfinkel: Years ago, I was petitioned by my US citizen father. The priority date is current, but our family has not received any papers in connection with processing…
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 –…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
