Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S.

7 05, 2018

Immigration Services That Seem Too Good To Be True

By |2020-05-01T16:40:43-05:00May 7th, 2018|Categories: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., General, Green Cards, immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Uncategorized, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published May 7, 2018 The Office of the Illinois Attorney General recently filed civil lawsuits against 2 women representing themselves as providers of legitimate immigration services but who, according to the complaints, bilked victims out of thousands of dollars.  According to the lawsuits, the women made false promises to unsuspecting undocumented immigrants who thought they were paying for bona fide services that would lead to the legalization of their immigration status. In the first lawsuit, filed in Cook County, Illinois, the Illinois Attorney General charged Elizabeth Olvera, a volunteer and assistant life coach to members of the Chicago area’s Spanish-speaking community, […]

15 03, 2018

More DACA Drama

By |2020-05-01T16:54:21-05:00March 15th, 2018|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., General, immigration reform, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Published March 15, 2018 The processing of applications for employment authorization documents for hundreds of thousands of young adults under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama era executive initiative, was supposed to come to a halt by now.   But thanks to 2 separate, federal court rulings issued in recent weeks, the program has been given new life, albeit with a most uncertain future. DACA was put into action back in 2012, following Congress’ failure to agree on immigration reform legislation, including a law to establish a path to legalization for our nation’s 11 million undocumented individuals.   The […]

6 02, 2018

Chicago Based Applicants for Green Cards and Citizenship: DHS/CIS Processing Times

By |2020-05-01T17:07:51-05:00February 6th, 2018|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., Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

Published February 6, 2018   Marriage based adjustment of status applicants living in CIS Chicago’s jurisdiction are seeing an approximately 7-8 month wait to be scheduled for an interview.  Applicants for Naturalization (N-400) under CIS Chicago’s jurisdiction are being scheduled within approximately 8-10 months of application filing, and an oath ceremony, for approved cases, usually being scheduled 3 weeks or so following interview. At present the timeline for marriage based I-485 adjustment of status applicants — assuming all applications and supporting documentation are prepared and submitted correctly, is as follows: Dept. of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services receipts are issued within 1 to […]

23 01, 2018

Our Budget Impasse and Immigration

By |2020-05-01T17:11:04-05:00January 23rd, 2018|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Family-Based Immigration Law, immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published January 23, 2018   Our country endured a brief government shut down in recent days, and there is a decent chance for a repeat performance in the coming weeks.    At the core of the debate is our nation’s budget as well as major immigration law issues, including border wall funding, DACA and fundamental changes to our family based immigration system.     The political stakes are enormous, with our nation and elected officials deeply divided on sensitive issues such as who is shielded from deportation and who gets to come to live in the U.S. in the future.   First, we must take […]

9 01, 2018

The H-1B Visa Rush Is On – Start Preparing Now

By |2020-05-01T17:14:17-05:00January 9th, 2018|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Foreign Exchange Student Visas to the U.S., General, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Uncategorized|

Published January 9, 2018   Starting April 1, 2018, employers and their foreign worker employees will get a chance at one or more of the 85,000 H-1B visas available each fiscal year, with the new fiscal year starting on October 1, 2018.    The time to start preparing is now, as the supply of available visas is usually exhausted almost immediately, and with special attention and planning needed to combat the obstacles the Trump administration’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative presents. For an employer or a prospective foreign worker to have a chance at one of these H-1B visas, the parties must […]

1 01, 2018

The Unknown Future of DACA

By |2020-05-01T17:17:45-05:00January 1st, 2018|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., General, immigration reform, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published January 1, 2018   The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals measure implemented by President Obama has come to represent an issue bigger than just the undocumented young adults it protects and benefits.  Instead, it reflects on who we are as a nation and how we want to treat a population of individuals who arrived in the U.S. as children and through no choice of their own and who now have come to call the U.S. their home, their only home.  With President Trump’s decision to wind down DACA, confusion, panic and fear have set in for the 800,000 young adults […]

28 11, 2017

Update: Green Card Interviews for Marriage Based Applicants, Including for Same Sex Partners

By |2020-05-01T17:22:18-05:00November 28th, 2017|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published November 28, 2017     A foreign national applying for permanent resident status by way of marriage to a U.S. citizen, continues to enjoy a mostly efficient and streamlined process, especially if they undergo all steps in the U.S. as an “adjustment of status” applicant.  For most eligible foreign nationals present in the U.S., whether in legal status or not, adjustment of status processing for permanent resident status at their local Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services office (DHS/CIS) is usually preferable to overseas immigrant visa processing at a U.S. consular post.  For various reasons though, not all individuals […]

3 10, 2017

New Policy: All Employment Based Green Card Applicants In The U.S. Will Be Interviewed

By |2020-05-01T17:38:35-05:00October 3rd, 2017|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., Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

Published October 3, 2017   Foreign nationals residing in the U.S. who are applying to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident (green card via Form I-485) based on an offer of employment will now, without exception, be required to attend an interview at their local Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/CIS) office.  This is a new Trump administration policy aimed at, according to government officials,  heightening the scrutiny of these types of filings, combatting fraud and to ensure only legally qualified applicants are approved.    Employment based green card applicants undergoing the consular processing of their immigrant visas overseas […]

6 09, 2017

The Winding Down of DACA

By |2020-05-01T17:45:48-05:00September 6th, 2017|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., 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 September 6, 2017   In 2012 President Obama implemented an Executive Order known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which led to the issuance of 2 year work permits and a shield against deportation for hundreds of thousands of undocumented young adults brought to the U.S. as children.    President Obama’s action was a direct response to Republican congressional leadership’s refusal to call a vote on a promising bipartisan immigration reform bill that would have put in place a path to legalization for most of our country’s undocumented population.    Now, following up on one of his campaign promises, President Trump […]

9 07, 2017

Certain EAD Holders with Pending Extension Requests Can Continue to Work

By |2020-05-01T18:00:49-05:00July 9th, 2017|Categories: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Uncategorized, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published July 9, 2017   Foreign nationals in the U.S. can qualify to obtain an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) under a variety of circumstances.   There are more than a couple dozen categories of eligibility, although the vast majority of our nation’s undocumented population do not qualify under any of them.    The most common bases of eligibility for an EAD include foreign nationals with pending applications to adjust their status to permanent residence (pending “I-485” green card application), pending asylum applications, and pending applications for cancellation of removal (for certain undocumented foreign nationals fighting removal proceedings).  Most of the time the Employment […]

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