usavisa

About Richard Hanus

Click here for more information about Richard Hanus. See areas of practice, bar admissions, education, professional associations/memberships, recent federal court litigation, and more.
8 04, 2024

The Truth About Sanctuary Cities

By |2024-04-10T08:40:26-05:00April 8th, 2024|Categories: DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)|

By: Richard Hanus, Esq. April 6, 2024 Most Americans have heard about sanctuary cities, but few really understand what they truly are. I come to this conclusion based on the way this term, along with “open borders”, is thrown around in various media outlets and by certain politicians to strategically rev up emotion among their audience. In today’s world, a 2 sentence tweet carries the same weight as a multi page newspaper article of the pre-social media age, and references to sanctuary cities tend to convey an outsized, inaccurate, message. Toward understanding what a Sanctuary City is, let's start with what [...]

17 03, 2024

California Green Card Marriage Fraud Ring: A Story of Profit and Prison Sentences

By |2024-03-19T06:38:33-05:00March 17th, 2024|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, Green Cards|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. March 14, 2023 As access to our legal immigration system continues to be plagued by obstacles and exceptionally limited options, illegal avenues to life in the U.S. continue to make for profitable business for ambitious, unscrupulous entrepreneurs.  One recent example involves an enterprise with 600 immigrant customers being charged $20,000 to $35,000 each to be set up in fake marriages in order to obtain U.S. resident (Green Card) status.  In the past week, the chief architects and operators of this enterprise received prison sentences of 1 to 2 years along with other penalties following an extensive federal [...]

18 02, 2024

Update: Imperfect Voter Registration Initiatives and the Dangers Faced By Noncitizens

By |2024-02-18T14:19:48-06:00February 18th, 2024|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. February 17, 2024 Far too often, highly imperfect voter registration processes create moments of government assisted immigration suicide, whether it leads to a denied application for lawful permanent resident status ("Green Card") or U.S. citizenship or even the commencement of removal proceedings aka deportation proceedings.  The good news is that in many cases, all is not lost and a solution for non-citizens facing a seeming immigration dead-end may be available. The doom a noncitizen may face in this context is rooted in the coming together of two realities at play in our society: 1) federal legislation imposing [...]

31 01, 2024

Everyone’s Talking About H-1B Visas, Lottery Registration and US CIS Filing Fee Increases

By |2024-01-31T18:32:16-06:00January 31st, 2024|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)|

By: Richard Hanus, Esq. January 31, 2024 It’s always around Thanksgiving when chatter starts swirling about when the next chance to obtain an H-1B work visa will happen.  A couple months later employers and their prospective H-1B workers get news that the H-1B visa lottery registration is a few weeks away and that parties need to put the pieces in place to avail of the process.  With this week’s announcement of the upcoming H-1B visa lottery registration, we are officially at “put the pieces in place” time.   Specifically, starting on March 6, 2024 at noon EST and through March 22, 2024 [...]

11 01, 2024

3 Big Immigration Stories: Texas Seeks to Enforce US Immigration Laws, Legal Pot Seller Denied U.S. Citizenship and Massive Immigration Fee Hike Ahead

By |2024-01-13T11:04:18-06:00January 11th, 2024|Categories: DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. January 11, 2024 Federal lawsuit alleges state overreach as Texas enacts its own immigration enforcement statute Per the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent, it is well established that U.S. immigration law, from the enactment of legislation to the enforcement of such measures, is a function falling exclusively within authority of the federal government.  But what happens when an individual state finds federal government immigration enforcement initiatives so lacking that it deems it necessary to enact their own immigration enforcement provisions and authorizes its own officials to arrest and criminally prosecute offenders?   This very scenario is [...]

31 12, 2023

Importance of Having an Experienced Chicago Immigration Attorney on Your Side

By |2024-04-11T16:58:14-05:00December 31st, 2023|Categories: U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Imagine moving to an entirely new country only to find yourself in legal trouble. In recent years, Chicago has served as a major hotspot for immigrants in the United States. Unfortunately, this has led to a crisis where the city can't fully accommodate everyone who arrives. Migrant arrests, convictions, and deportations have skyrocketed as a result. It's crucial to have the right Chicago immigration attorney on your side if you're in legal peril, including if you are facing removal from the U.S. or being accused of a crime. This could dictate whether you encounter additional legal complications. Let's explore the benefits [...]

21 12, 2023

My Marriage is Broken and My Green Card Application Failed – Now What?

By |2023-12-22T11:12:54-06:00December 21st, 2023|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage|

By: Richard Hanus, Esq. December 19, 2023 Marriage to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident is one of the more popular avenues through which foreign nationals apply for U.S. lawful permanent resident status, also known as a “Green Card”.   There are a variety of reasons a foreign national’s efforts at obtaining a Green Card can fail in this context, and below is a discussion of some of the more common ones, along with possible remedies and recently issued guidance for certain denied applicants. Obtaining the initial Green Card:  Marriage based applicants are typically issued a 2 year, conditional Green Card [...]

27 11, 2023

Being LGBTQ and Seeking Protection Under U.S. Asylum Law:  What are the Requirements?

By |2023-12-13T09:36:45-06:00November 27th, 2023|Categories: Asylum in the United States|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. November 27, 2023 When it comes to LGBTQ foreign nationals who are present in the United States and seeking the protection of our asylum laws, I have noticed 2 important trends in recent years.  First, it appears more nations across the globe are becoming increasingly inhospitable, to say the least, to members of its LGBTQ population.  Second, the United States of America continues to be among the most welcoming destinations for LGBTQ foreign nationals seeking to live openly and escape threats to their life and liberty in their home countries. In general, to be protected under U.S. [...]

23 11, 2023

How to Comply With Business Immigration Law

By |2023-11-23T08:28:02-06:00November 23rd, 2023|Categories: General|

The federal government estimates that there are over 11.4 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States. There's fear that many of these immigrants are not paying their taxes and are receiving a living wage illegally. As such, any and all immigrant workers are put under a magnifying glass to ensure their legality. If your business has hired immigrants, then it's important to know how to protect yourself and your employees. Business immigration law is complicated and ever-changing, which means your team has to stay on top of it. Here are some ways your business can focus on immigration compliance. Understand the Different Types [...]

10 11, 2023

R.N.’s and Green Cards; A Bipartisan Legislative Proposal May Speed Up Processing 

By |2023-11-10T17:25:30-06:00November 10th, 2023|Categories: Immigrant Health Care Workers in the U.S.|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. November 10, 2023 What is the best way to get a Green Card so I can live and work in the U.S.?  This is a question I am asked dozens of time each month, and my answer is invariably the same.  1) Fall in love and enter into a bona fide, genuine marriage with a U.S. citizen (or in some cases a lawful permanent resident) or 2) Become a registered nurse and find an interested U.S. employer to petition you.    For certain, each of these options comes with its share of headaches, both legally and practically.  New [...]

Go to Top