DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Archives - Page 21 of 29

30 07, 2009

My Marriage is Falling Apart, and Our I-751 Joint Petition to Remove the Conditional Basis on My Resident Status is Still Pending — What Do I Do?

By Richard Hanus|2009-07-30T15:21:58-05:00July 30th, 2009|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

My Marriage is Falling Apart, and Our I-751 Joint Petition to Remove the Conditional Basis on My Resident Status is Still Pending — What Do I Do? Published: July 30, 2009 When a foreign national is granted U.S. residence as a result of his marriage to a U.S. citizen, the permanent resident card (green card) is usually issued on a conditional basis, and valid for only two years. In other cases, where the marriage at issue has already reached its second anniversary by the time the foreign national is first approved for adjustment of status, or enters the U.S. on their […]

7 07, 2009

Break Neck Speed: The State of Permanent Resident and Citizenship Processing

By Richard Hanus|2009-07-07T07:27:54-05:00July 7th, 2009|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

Break Neck Speed: The State of Permanent Resident and Citizenship Processing Published: July 7, 2009 Foreign nationals in the U.S. who are applying for U.S. permanent resident status (including conditional permanent resident status) aka “adjustment of status,” based on marriage to a U.S. citizen, or another type of family-based petition with current visa availability, are seeing their applications being processed efficiently and speedily. So are applicants for U.S. citizenship. Immigration interviews, at least through CIS Chicago, are being scheduled with lightning speed, and card production for approvable permanent resident applicants, and oath ceremonies for approvable U.S. citizenship applicants follow within just […]

26 06, 2009

Expedited Processing Back On for I-140, Immigrant Petitions for Alien Workers; Visa Availability Still an Obstacle

By Richard Hanus|2009-06-26T18:03:19-05:00June 26th, 2009|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Health Care Workers in the U.S., Immigration and PERM / Labor Certification, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

Expedited Processing Back On for I-140, Immigrant Petitions for Alien Workers; Visa Availability Still an Obstacle Published: June 26, 2009 Expedited processing, or “Premium Processing,” allows for processing of certain immigration petitions in 15 calendar days or less with the payment of an additional filing fee of $1000. In the past, Premium Processing had been available for most types of I-140 immigrant worker petitions, but eventually Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) discontinued the program for I-140’s for a variety of logistical reasons. Effective June 29, 2009, however, Premium Processing for most I-140 petitions is back on again. Who files an I-140 […]

11 06, 2009

Help for Widows and Widowers of U.S. Citizens Seeking to Remain in the U.S.

By Richard Hanus|2009-06-11T19:01:07-05:00June 11th, 2009|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Help for Widows and Widowers of U.S. Citizens Seeking to Remain in the U.S. Published: June 11, 2009 The way current legislation reads, widows and widowers of U.S. citizens who are married less than two years at the time their U.S. citizen spouse passes away are not eligible for U.S. permanent residence. That is, foreign nationals living in the U.S. and awaiting processing of their applications for permanent residence are left with no legal right to stay if their spouse dies before the marriage reaches its second anniversary. As one could imagine, such a rule has yielded numerous stories of family […]

4 06, 2009

The New Attorney General Reverses Field on Legal Representation in Removal Proceedings

By Richard Hanus|2009-06-04T18:58:39-05:00June 4th, 2009|Categories: Asylum in the United States, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings|

The New Attorney General Reverses Field on Legal Representation in Removal Proceedings Published: June 4, 2009 Just over 4 months after the outgoing Attorney General declared that foreign nationals do not have the right to effective representation in removal proceedings, the Obama Administration’s new Attorney General, Eric Holder, has undone that act. Attorney General Holder’s action to vacate the earlier decisions in the cases of Matter of Compean, Matter of Bangaly and Matter of J-E-C, restores more than a decade of jurisprudence establishing that foreign nationals are constitutionally entitled to “effective assistance of counsel,” and that a claim of ineffective counsel […]

29 04, 2009

New Filing Instructions for Residents Seeking to Renew Resident Cards

By Richard Hanus|2009-04-29T10:46:25-05:00April 29th, 2009|Categories: Asylum in the United States, Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Foreign Exchange Student Visas to the U.S., Green Cards, Immigrant Health Care Workers in the U.S., Immigration and PERM / Labor Certification, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

New Filing Instructions for Residents Seeking to Renew Resident Cards Published: April 29, 2009 US lawful permanent residents renewing their Permanent Resident Cards by way of direct mailing of Form I-90 (as opposed to online filing) should pay attention to two important changes. Firstly, I-90 applicants are now instructed to file their supporting documentation when submitting their application, as opposed to only presenting it when appearing for their post-filing biometrics appointment – as was the procedure previously in place. Second, all I-90 applications are now to be filed with the following US CIS lockbox: USCIS P.O. Box 21262 Phoenix , AZ […]

15 04, 2009

Significantly Less Demand for H-1B Visas

By Richard Hanus|2009-04-15T21:31:30-05:00April 15th, 2009|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

Significantly Less Demand for H-1B Visas Published: April 15, 2009 In years past, the annual supply of 65,000 H-1B work visas was exhausted within the first week of availability. However, according to a news release issued last week by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Service, less than 33,000 petitions were received during this same period this year. No doubt, our economic slowdown and reduced job market are at the root of this condition. This means that those employers who are still considering filing H-1B petitions for foreign professional workers actually have a window to proceed … for now. […]

10 04, 2009

Immigrant Visas Unavailable for EB-3 Professionals, Skilled Workers and Unskilled Workers

By Richard Hanus|2009-04-10T21:36:28-05:00April 10th, 2009|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Immigrant Visas Unavailable for EB-3 Professionals, Skilled Workers and Unskilled Workers Published: April 10, 2009 The State Department’s recently issued visa bulletin for May 2009 features bad news for all foreign workers in the Employment-Based 3rd Preference Category, which includes certain professionals, skilled workers and unskilled workers. For the remainder of the fiscal year – which runs through September 30, 2009 – immigrant visas for these workers will be unavailable. Apparently, the annual allotment for this immigrant visa category was used up earlier in the year due to CIS adjudication of large numbers of long-pending employment-based Adjustment of Status (AOS) cases […]

15 03, 2009

New Poverty Guidelines In Effect For Sponsors Completing Affidavits Of Support

By Richard Hanus|2009-03-15T06:44:13-05:00March 15th, 2009|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

New Poverty Guidelines In Effect For Sponsors Completing Affidavits Of Support Published: March 15, 2009 Before intending family-based immigrants are issued their visa, or approved for adjustment of status, the petitioning U.S. family member or their joint co-sponsor will have to submit an I-864 Affidavit of Support (or acceptable I-864 variation) and most of the time, satisfy certain income requirements. The most common exception is the option for a petitioner to prove their financial health by way of ownership of sizable liquid assets as evidenced by bank/brokerage account statements or real property appraisals. The income requirement applicable to most petitioners is […]

6 01, 2009

Amidst Fear of Terrorism, US CIS Sets Goals for Screening Fraudulent Green Card Applications

By Richard Hanus|2009-01-06T07:51:04-06:00January 6th, 2009|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

Amidst Fear of Terrorism, US CIS Sets Goals for Screening Fraudulent Green Card Applications Published January 6, 2009 Recently, the U.S. Congressional Committee on Homeland Security commissioned a study of fraud among immigrant Adjustment of Status applications, after a 2004 warning from the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission) that members of terrorist organizations could easily “embed” themselves in the U.S. by becoming Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs). Last month, the findings were presented to the Congressional Committee, along with recommendations of ways that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) might apply more scrutiny to each […]

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