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2 12, 2021

Asylum Claim of Gay Man from Mexico Rejected By U.S. Court of Appeals

By |2021-12-02T20:58:09-06:00December 2nd, 2021|Categories: Asylum in the United States, General|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published December 2, 2021 Under U.S. immigration law, foreign nationals fearing return to their home country due to persecution by their home government on account of their race, religion, political belief or social group are eligible for asylum in the U.S.  In such cases it must be the home country government doing the persecuting, or a group the government is unwilling or unable to control.  If these conditions are in place, the foreign national can be granted asylum in the U.S. and placed on a path to obtain lawful permanent residence (green card) and eventually even U.S. citizenship. [...]

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6 04, 2021

Putting an End to Visa Bans and Blank Space Rejections

By |2021-04-06T09:53:48-05:00April 6th, 2021|Categories: Asylum in the United States, General, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

Published April 6, 2021 By Richard Hanus, Esq. Visa Bans:  On April 20, 2020, as it became obvious the pandemic was neither a hoax nor a societal challenge that would simply “disappear”, President Trump tweeted:  “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!”   Well, immigration, in its entirety was not suspended, although the tweet was geared to present that very message to specific segments of his base.  In a set of tweets in [...]

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22 02, 2021

Biden Reaches For the Stars and Starts an Important Immigration Conversation

By |2021-02-22T17:44:49-06:00February 22nd, 2021|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Asylum in the United States, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, General, immigration reform, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published February 22, 2021 By Richard Hanus, Esq. It’s been more than 20 years since our nation has enacted any significant legislation to allow our nation’s undocumented population an avenue to legalize their status.  The most recent provision,  Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, was neither simple nor straightforward.  It was potent, though, affording hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of otherwise law abiding foreign nationals without immigration status a path to permanent residence (green card).  Its primary requirements included having a qualifying family member or employer to petition them along with the payment of a financial penalty for violating their status. Fast [...]

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26 01, 2021

6 Big Immigration Happenings Under President Biden

By |2021-01-26T16:11:29-06:00January 26th, 2021|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Asylum in the United States, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., General, Green Cards, immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published January 26, 2021 By Richard Hanus, Esq. Even before President Biden took office, the nonstop flow of news relating to immigration law began.  How will things be different with President Biden when it comes to immigration law and policy, especially after 4 years of the Trump administration’s harsh tone and policies?  In the past 10 days, the Biden administration has announced dozens of important immigration initiatives, some being Executive Orders taking effect immediately and without Congressional approval and others like proposed legislation, requiring Congressional approval and having no immediate impact.   Below are the 6 most far reaching of these orders [...]

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14 11, 2020

The Top 5 Ways It’s a New Day for U.S. Immigration Under A Biden Administration

By |2020-11-23T10:54:57-06:00November 14th, 2020|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Asylum in the United States, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Published November 14, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. In recent memory there has not been an administration as singularly focused on immigration law as President Trump's. Donald Trump ascended into office because of loud immigration rhetoric, and while in the White House, dedicated a massive effort at transforming our nation’s immigration policies impacting both illegal and legal immigration.  As to curtailing illegal immigration, although he failed to round up and deport millions of undocumented as promised, many would say his actions were largely consistent with his lofty promises and no matter their utility.  On the legal immigration side, Trump’s initiatives included [...]

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9 10, 2020

In Home Stretch of Re-election Campaign, Trump Pumps Up the Volume on Deportations and H-1B Visa Restrictions

By |2020-11-14T12:37:48-06:00October 9th, 2020|Categories: Asylum in the United States, DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published October 9, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. Pecking Away At H-1B Visas:  Over the past 7 months, the Trump Administration has unleashed a deluge of measures impacting our legal immigration process, both for family based, and job based filings.   In the workplace context, it’s become significantly more complicated for employers to hire and retain foreign nationals or otherwise comply with our immigration laws.  Not only is the Administration not creating more “merit based” avenues for legal immigration as promised, it is placing unprecedented hurdles for companies and our nation to benefit from the contributions of talented and ambitious foreign national professionals.   These initiatives have [...]

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24 09, 2020

How Do I Apply for a Green Card ?

By |2020-11-14T12:37:16-06:00September 24th, 2020|Categories: Asylum in the United States, Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 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, Immigration and PERM / Labor Certification, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings|

Published September 23, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq.   How do I get a green card in the U.S.?  It’s one of the more common questions an immigration lawyer gets asked.    The answer is many layered and involves dozens of variables, but in the end there are some basic principles that the asker of this question will want to know about, and here they are.   First, what is a green card?   It’s a document evidencing a foreign national’s lawful permanent resident status in the U.S., a status allowing for pretty much unfettered lifetime of freedom to live and work in [...]

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26 08, 2020

With Filing Fees Skyrocketing in October, Now Might be the Perfect Time to Apply to Become a U.S. Citizen

By |2020-11-14T12:39:37-06:00August 26th, 2020|Categories: Asylum in the United States, Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Published August 26, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. As of October 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s immigration benefits arm – Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) - is set to increase filing fees on a variety of applications.  Most notably, the filing fee to submit an N-400 Application for Naturalization, currently totaling $725.00, is scheduled to skyrocket to $1,170.00 when the new fee schedule takes effect. Other filing fee increases include petitions for most work visas, including for H-1B and L-1 visas, ranging from 21% to 75%, making it even more expensive for companies and foreign workers to avail of the [...]

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16 07, 2020

10 Years Just Happened in 3 Months – An Unprecedented Volume of Immigration Law Events

By |2020-11-14T12:40:40-06:00July 16th, 2020|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Asylum in the United States, 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, Foreign Exchange Student Visas to the U.S., Immigrant Health Care Workers in the U.S., Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Immigration and PERM / Labor Certification, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S., United States Embassies Abroad|

Published July 16, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. In my 25+ years as an immigration lawyer, my area of practice has never been as important or relevant as it is today.  This Administration has made it this way, bringing U.S. immigration law into the spotlight as one of the bedrock issues of its campaign and presidency.   Whether it really merits this level of attention is questionable, given other more pressing problems plaguing this nation.  Loud, news attracting immigration policies are released every other day, and whether their legality is held up in court seems to be beside the point.   The policies touch on illegal immigration [...]

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11 06, 2020

Immigration Related Government Offices Inching Their Way Back To Normalcy

By |2020-11-14T12:42:38-06:00June 11th, 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), Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings|

Published June 11, 2020 By: Richard Hanus, Esq. U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Citizenship and Immigration Service local offices (US DHS/CIS): In the past week, the public has seen the first signs of normal operations at US DHS/CIS offices across the U.S., including the Chicago Field Office.   Approved applicants for U.S. citizenship who have been waiting to be scheduled for a ceremony to be sworn in as U.S. citizens are finally starting to receive notifications to appear.  The new dates are for mid-June, and due to social distancing requirements the number of applicants scheduled have been significantly reduced compared to previous practice. Further, [...]

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