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Asylum in the United States

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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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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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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25 07, 2019

Expedited Deportation for Undocumented Recent Arrivals

By |2020-05-01T14:26:47-05:00July 25th, 2019|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Asylum in the United States, Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), General, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, immigration reform, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published July 24, 2019 The number of foreign nationals living in the U.S. in violation of our immigration laws is estimated to be in the area of 12 million. Whether they overstayed their visa status or entered without any visa or inspection at all, these are the individuals our society deems “undocumented”, or in some circles, “illegal aliens”.  No matter the label, the vast majority of these individuals have a right to a hearing before a judge where a variety of defenses can be considered, including cancellation of removal (for longtime undocumented residents with qualifying U.S. family) and asylum. Among the [...]

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19 05, 2019

Making U.S. Immigration Great Again

By |2020-05-01T15:02:45-05:00May 19th, 2019|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Asylum in the United States, Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Published May 19, 2019   I started practicing immigration law in the decade that followed the Reagan era’s 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, the last large scale immigration amnesty in the U.S. Through this legislation, roughly 3 million undocumented, but otherwise law abiding, individuals were able to come out of the shadows and officially start their lives as U.S. lawful permanent residents. Eventually, the vast majority eventually went on to become U.S. citizens. Existing statutory avenues toward U.S. residence have allowed for approximately 1 million new permanent residents to the U.S. per year. In addition to these avenues to legal [...]

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22 04, 2019

Increased Powers to BIA Judges; H-1B Visa Denials Skyrocket

By |2020-05-01T15:36:59-05:00April 22nd, 2019|Categories: Asylum in the United States, Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

  Published April 22, 2019 Department of Justice Aiming to Expand Powers of Appellate Immigration Judges The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is the appellate body where a party can seek review of an Immigration Judge’s decision in an initial removal (deportation) proceeding.  The agencies overseeing the initial removal proceedings court as well as the appellate court are under the jurisdiction of the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which itself is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.    In recent days, it has been reported that the Trump administration is considering implementation of a plan to expand the power of […]

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