Published: January 12, 2012 It never fails. Whenever a new immigration provision is presented to Congress for consideration, or is proposed by the President or some other official in the Executive Branch, the media takes the ball and runs with it. It’s either presented as something it is not, or simply misunderstood to be something [...] Read more →
Published: January 4, 2012 President Obama has always made it known that he favors the enactment of some form of comprehensive immigration reform to allow for a “path to citizenship” for at least some of the approximately 12 million living in the U.S. without legal immigration status. During his term, it’s been a Republican Congress [...] Read more →
Published: December 14, 2011 The Administrative Appeals Office (“AAO”) is a specially designated unit within the Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Service charged with reviewing appeals of various immigration related petitions and applications. Sometimes the choice of filing an appeal vs. simply re-filing the same... Read more →
Published: November 28, 2011 Watching presidential debates is not one of my favorite things to do, mainly because I have a hard time believing a single word coming out of any of the participants’ mouths. The posturing is so obvious, with each candidate trying their hardest to get their sound bites in, and say the [...] Read more →
Published: November 23, 2011 As of November 22, 2011, the allotment of 85,000 H-1B work visas for Fiscal Year 2012 (which includes 20,000 visas reserved for those receiving advanced degrees in the US) has been exhausted. Thus, any H-1B petitions received by CIS after November 22, 2012 will be rejected, with all paperwork and filing [...] Read more →
Published: November 9, 2011 This column is as much a warning to prospective victims as it is a source of basic immigration law information – especially for the 12- 15 million individuals living in the U.S. without immigration status. Why a warning? Because no matter the intelligence level of the prospective victim, the combination of [...] Read more →
Published: October 23, 2011 For most government agencies, including Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), fiscal year 2012 starts on October 1, 2011. Starting on that date, U.S. employers are able to benefit from a new crop of foreign workers who are issued H-1B work visas. As early as April 1, 2011,... Read more →
Published: October 15, 2011 As in years past, millions of people from all over world will submit entries to have a chance at one of 50,000 diversity immigrant visas and obtain “green card” status in the US. Excluded from eligibility are natives of Bangladesh (new), Brazil, Canada, China (mainland born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El... Read more →
Published: October 7, 2011 U.S. immigration law consumers, whether individuals or businesses, are a particularly vulnerable population when it comes to internet fraud. The “individual” immigration law consumer is usually seeking to facilitate immigration status or entry into the U.S. for a spouse, future spouse, or other family member. ... Read more →