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5 02, 2023

Recent Immigration Policy: A Painful Acknowledgement of How Bad the Delays Have Gotten

By |2023-02-06T07:24:28-06:00February 5th, 2023|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published – February 5, 2023 If you are a foreign national living in the U.S. trying to renew your Permanent Resident Card (aka “Green Card”) or Employment Authorization Document (EAD), chances are you are all too familiar with the extreme processing delays now plaguing our nation’s immigration system.  Even sadder is that in so many ways, these delays were avoidable given that the rules governing eligibility and the processes at issue are not that complicated.  The 1-2 year delays that have built up are the outgrowth of the COVID pandemic as well as the previous administration’s neglect of [...]

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23 01, 2023

U.S. Asylum and Dishonest Lawyers

By |2023-01-24T06:38:31-06:00January 23rd, 2023|Categories: Asylum in the United States|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published - January 23, 2023 People fleeing persecution in their homeland because of threats to their life or liberty and on account of their political belief, social group, race, religion or the like are eligible to seek protection in the U.S. by way of our asylum laws.  The legal standards are stringent, and most of the time, that is just half the battle.  Getting to the U.S. and having an opportunity to be heard and processed is the next challenge.  Further, once in the U.S., finding competent, honest counsel to provide legal representation is yet another hoop [...]

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26 12, 2022

Richard’s Immigration Wish List for 2023

By |2022-12-27T08:06:52-06:00December 26th, 2022|Categories: immigration reform|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published December 26, 2022 Here are just a few of my hopes and dreams for our nation’s immigration system in the coming year.   The wind is blowing against us on many of these, but that doesn’t mean we should not articulate the issues and try to advocate for change.  This list, to be sure, is just a start. To U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/CIS) management - let’s continue to find ways to immediately reduce the 6-18 month processing times for routine applications such as for employment authorization and advance parole travel documents.  While we are at [...]

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8 12, 2022

Must We Really Deport All of Our Undocumented?  The U.S. Supreme Court Is About to Weigh In

By |2022-12-10T17:27:41-06:00December 8th, 2022|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published December 6, 2022 Homeowners are a lot like governments.  Both must give attention to the imperfections before them.  In a house it might be broken windows, chipped paint, or even termites.   In a government, it might involve a nation facing excessive corruption, broken highways, or even broken borders.  Time and money, among other factors, will typically limit a homeowner or government’s ability to fix every problem it faces.  Thus the only practical way forward in either situation, is to prioritize, with some imperfections being tolerable for a period of months or perhaps eternity, and others requiring immediate attention. In recent days [...]

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24 11, 2022

Immigration Lawyers Association Honors Richard Hanus with the Beacon of Light Award

By |2022-11-25T09:05:10-06:00November 24th, 2022|Categories: Uncategorized|

The Law Offices of Richard Hanus is proud to announce that the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Chicago Chapter honored Richard Hanus, on June 14, 2022, by presenting him with the “Minsky Beacon of Light Award.” The Beacon of Light Award is presented annually to an attorney who stands out in their dedication to the advancement of the field of immigration law and as an outstanding mentor to fellow immigration lawyers. AILA chose Richard Hanus for the honor for his leadership as a mentor and advocate as well as for his roles heading up AILA governmental liaison committees, including with the [...]

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14 11, 2022

When the Worlds of Marijuana, State Law and U.S. Immigration Meet: Yes Means No

By |2022-11-20T13:31:43-06:00November 14th, 2022|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, General, Green Cards, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published November 14, 2022 Mixed signals.  This is the best way to describe our society’s stance when it comes to marijuana use and U.S. immigration law.  Our state laws send one message, such as in Illinois where marijuana use and distribution is now legal.   Our federal laws though send a completely opposite message, prohibiting these very same activities. When it comes to applying for a Green Card or U.S. citizenship – immigration benefits rooted in federal law – an admission you smoked or distributed weed, including pursuant to authority under state law, can crazily lead to application denial.  Even worse, you might [...]

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30 10, 2022

Citizenship Filings Processed at Lightning Speed and Other Immigration Law News

By |2022-10-30T16:33:36-05:00October 30th, 2022|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published October 30, 2022 Processing times for N-400 applications Lawful permanent residents living in the Chicago area and across the U.S. are seeing their applications for U.S. citizenship processed at record pace.  For my clients across Illinois and Northwest Indiana filing N-400 Applications for Naturalization, we are seeing a total processing time of just 4-5 months – with applicants waiting 90 -120 days for interview scheduling and another 30 days or so for the scheduling of citizenship oath ceremonies. It is anyone’s guess as to why U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) is making citizenship processing a priority, [...]

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12 10, 2022

COVID and the Curveballs It Throws at Immigrants

By |2022-10-13T09:22:53-05:00October 12th, 2022|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S.|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published October 12, 2022 The COVID pandemic continues to be one giant curveball for societies across the globe.  The way we interact with one another, whether socially or for business, may never be the same.  The pandemic has also led to significant changes in our legal systems and processes, including here in the U.S. and the way our immigration system functions.   Extensive delays define the way many aspects of our system operates, a state of affairs rooted in both pandemic related factors as well as the previous  administration’s overall neglect of our legal immigration infrastructure.     To this day, many aspects of our [...]

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2 10, 2022

How Do You Petition a Family Member for a Visa? Ask a Chicago Immigration Attorney

By |2022-10-02T09:16:59-05:00October 2nd, 2022|Categories: Family-Based Immigration Law|

Family-based immigration accounts for nearly 65% of annual lawful immigration to the U.S. In recent years, this number has been as high as 85%. Family reunification continues to be the backbone of the immigration system, and despite long backlogs of applications, it's still one of the best ways to immigrate to the U.S. So read on to learn from a Chicago immigration attorney about how to petition a family member for lawful immigration to the U.S. (aka Green Card status) Types of Family-Based Visas Family reunification visas are for relatives of U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs). There are two classes of [...]

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21 09, 2022

Foreign Nurses, Green Cards and Employment Contracts:  What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

By |2022-09-22T07:16:13-05:00September 21st, 2022|Categories: Immigrant Health Care Workers in the U.S.|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published September 21, 2022 A typical work visa holder in the U.S. often wonders where the grass might be greener as far as work environment is concerned.  That is usually because their aunt has a friend…. who has a cousin…. who knows someone…. who enjoys better pay and conditions working a similar job.  On the other hand, a typical U.S. work visa employer will often wonder how they can best exploit the foreign worker and get maximum productivity from an individual who in many ways is tied to them for a period of years. The tension this creates [...]

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