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Family-Based Immigration Law

13 05, 2020

Large Scale H-1B Visa Lawsuit Settled; The Latest on Immigration Office and Court Operations

By |2020-11-14T12:44:00-06:00May 13th, 2020|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, Green Cards, Immigrant Health Care Workers in the U.S., Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, United States Embassies Abroad|

Published May 13, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. Update:  One Year and a Federal Lawsuit Later, DHS Finally Approves 150 Pending H-1B Filings for Lab Technologists I cannot recall a time when so many federal lawsuits to compel or correct decisions by the Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/CIS) have been filed.  One recent example is the lawsuit filed by Management Healthcare Systems LLC (doing business as MedPro Staffing) in the District of Columbia 3 months ago to compel DHS/CIS to finally decide over 150 visa petitions for foreign medical lab technologists. At the time of filing in February, 2020, [...]

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23 04, 2020

The New Executive Order on Immigration: 6 Essential Insights

By |2020-11-14T12:44:58-06:00April 23rd, 2020|Categories: Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 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., Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, United States Embassies Abroad|

Published April 22, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. 1. It was the evening of April 20, 2020 and President Trump tweeted an ominous new policy on immigration - a measure as sweeping and extreme as it gets: “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!”  To “temporarily suspend immigration” is no small undertaking, and the news came as a big surprise, including for many top governmental officials working in the immigration [...]

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1 04, 2020

Covid-19 and the Latest on Immigration-Related Government Office Operations and Policies

By |2020-11-14T12:45:57-06:00April 1st, 2020|Categories: Asylum in the United States, Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings|

Published April 1, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. I will start with the most recent events.  The first concerns removal/deportation proceedings against detained (in custody) immigrants.   Just yesterday, a variety of immigration lawyer advocacy groups, on behalf of several detained foreign nationals, filed suit against the U.S. Department of Justice and the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) to put a halt to the policy of requiring attorneys and their detained clients appear in person for removal proceedings.  According to the lawsuit, the dangers associated with the outbreak of the Covid-19, especially at detention facilities and immigration court locations, put the health of [...]

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19 03, 2020

U.S. Immigration Offices and Courts – Confusion, Delay and Finally Some Definite News

By |2020-11-14T12:46:22-06:00March 19th, 2020|Categories: Asylum in the United States, Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings|

Published March 19, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, even a hailstorm, of information, misinformation, panic and confusion. On the most basic level, the lack of definite information about the extent of the coronavirus in general has been alarming. Of course there was and is so much we do not and could not know. On the other hand, the amount of knowable, concrete information that was not disseminated or acted upon when this crisis started to unfold was far from insignificant. Consistent with this state of affairs, the manner with which our federal government [...]

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8 02, 2020

The New Public Charge Rule

By |2020-11-14T12:48:28-06:00February 8th, 2020|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Published February 8, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. With the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent green light, U.S. immigration authorities have announced it will start applying new “public charge” restrictions on February 24, 2020.  The new set of public charge rules expand the discretionary authority of agency officials to deny green card applications and allow for more factors to be considered in determining whether an applicant is likely to be become dependent on welfare benefits and thus have their application denied. The new set of restrictions were initially set to be implemented on October 15, 2019 but various lawsuits and federal court [...]

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16 01, 2020

California Immigration Lawyer Goes to Prison

By |2020-11-14T12:49:12-06:00January 16th, 2020|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Immigration and PERM / Labor Certification, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

Published January 16, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. A California immigration lawyer was recently sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay back taxes for her participation in an extensive and highly profitable visa fraud scheme. The scheme involved the preparation and filing of hundreds of fraudulent work visa applications and failure to pay income tax over a 17 year period.  Mihae Park, a 54 year old attorney practicing in Laguna Beach, is due to return to court in the coming month to learn the amount of restitution she will be required to pay. From 2000 to 2017, [...]

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8 12, 2019

Trump Administration Seeking Massive Increases in Immigration Filing Fees

By |2020-05-01T13:56:14-05:00December 8th, 2019|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

Published December 8, 2019 Many prospective applicants for immigration related benefits are looking to stay a step ahead and submit their filings before a massive increase in application fees may be taking effect in coming months. More specifically, an increase in filing fees has been proposed for a wide array of applications submitted for consideration by U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services or “USCIS” (DHS’ immigration benefits division), including N-400 Application for Naturalization as well as for continued protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. According to Acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli, increases are required [...]

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29 10, 2019

Federal Court Injunctions Put a Halt to New Public Charge Rules

By |2020-05-01T14:05:24-05:00October 29th, 2019|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|

Published October 29, 2019 Conversations involving the hot topics of public benefits and immigration have turned scary these days.  That is because these are two of the biggest go-to issues for the Trump administration when it comes to political messaging and rousing up supporters.  However, in just the past week 5 federal judges, presiding over 5 separate legal challenges, have ruled against the Trump administration.  The rulings put a halt to the Administration’s initiative to greatly expand upon bases to deny green cards to prospective applicants due to suspicions they may become a public charge. To be sure, concerns about new [...]

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22 09, 2019

Appeals Filing Fee May Skyrocket; Processing Times for Chicago Area Applicants

By |2020-05-01T14:13:41-05:00September 22nd, 2019|Categories: 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, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings|

Published September 22, 2019   Administration Aims to Dramatically Increase Filing Fees for Appeals In an effort that will effectively deter appeals of certain immigration decisions within the deportation court system, the Trump administration is reportedly advancing a regulation to dramatically increase the filing fees associated with such appeals. The regulatory proposal being considered would increase the current filing fee of $110.00 by 900% to a total of $975.00 in most cases. If imposed, the new filing fee will create a severe financial obstacle for a significant portion of the impacted population, a mostly vulnerable population seeking to advance their right [...]

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31 08, 2019

The New, Sharper Teeth of Existing Public Charge Provisions

By |2020-05-01T14:18:49-05:00August 31st, 2019|Categories: 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., U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S., United States Embassies Abroad|

Published August 31, 2019 Concerns about new immigrants becoming a “public charge” and dependent on U.S. government resources, have pretty much always been a part of our immigration related legal landscape.  Form I-864 Affidavit of Support – a document required for the final stages of nearly all family based immigration filings - is the most well known representation of this concern.  Typically U.S. based petitioning family members are required to personally guarantee that their incoming immigrant family member will not become dependent on government aid.  Notwithstanding the extent to which immigrants becoming burdens on U.S. society is an actual problem, the [...]

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