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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.
25 04, 2023

How the U.S. Immigration System Fails Desperate Healthcare Facilities and Foreign R.N.’s

By |2023-04-26T06:43:55-05:00April 25th, 2023|Categories: Immigrant Health Care Workers in the U.S.|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. April 23, 2023 News from the U.S. Department of State earlier this month paints a picture of an increasingly frustrating immigrant visa line foreign workers, like registered nurses, are forced to wait in before arriving in the U.S.   The picture and long waits are ugly enough for foreign nurses and their petitioning employers to cut bait on all immigration efforts, or at least yearn for the old days. Back in the 1990’s when registered nursing had already been deemed to be a shortage profession, a healthcare facility looking to recruit foreign R.N.’s had the H-1A visa at [...]

4 04, 2023

After Finally Getting Your Green Card, There’s No Place Like “Home”

By |2023-04-05T12:36:13-05:00April 4th, 2023|Categories: Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S.|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. April 4, 2023 Being issued a Green Card, aka lawful permanent resident status, can be a huge game changer and bring a sense of relief for foreign nationals.  An undocumented immigrant living in the U.S. for many years without lawful status who finally obtains a Green Card, for example, now has the freedom to travel back to their home country for the first time in perhaps decades.   A foreign national entering the U.S. for the first time on their immigrant visa (Green Card) now has access to a world of educational, professional and economic opportunities previously unavailable [...]

29 03, 2023

8 Tips for Choosing an Immigration Law Office in Chicago, IL

By |2023-03-29T08:44:42-05:00March 29th, 2023|Categories: U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

The immigration process can be complex and overwhelming when handled without a lawyer. It is highly recommended that you partner with a qualified and experienced immigration lawyer to help you navigate the process. It ensures that you begin the process on the right foot and avoid making errors that will set your application back. If you are choosing an immigration law office in Chicago, IL, this blog post is for you. Here, we will highlight 8 practical tips to help you when hiring a lawyer for your immigration case. This includes getting a trusted referral, considering their experience, confirming their credentials, [...]

19 03, 2023

Immigrants Have One Less Reason To Visit a CIS Office

By |2023-03-19T16:49:48-05:00March 19th, 2023|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. March 19, 2023 Ask any user of the U.S. immigration system and they will tell you that there are not many things more frustrating than trying to obtain case status or general information by way of a call to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (CIS) 1-800 Customer Service line. The challenging user experience is made even worse when you seek to arrange an in-person appointment at a local US CIS Field Office - also known as INFOPASS appointment. This week, CIS announced implementation of a new policy to make life easier for U.S. permanent residents seeking proof [...]

8 03, 2023

Marriage Fraud & Conditional Green Cards:  If We Don’t Get You in the Wash, We’ll Get You in the Rinse    

By |2023-03-08T16:07:21-06:00March 8th, 2023|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage|

By: Richard Hanus, Esq. March 8, 2023 There are some moments in our lifetimes where we look back and vividly remember the exact sights and sounds, and no matter how far in the past or unsensational the moment.  One of my favorite unforgettable immigration lawyer moments, was a simple, non-confrontational interaction with a veteran immigration officer at the then Immigration and Naturalization Service’s (INS) Chicago Field Office.  It was the conclusion of a marriage-based adjustment of status interview of a foreign national and his U.S. citizen wife, and just after the officer announced she was going to approve the case and [...]

28 02, 2023

Green Card vs Citizenship: 5 Key Differences to Know About

By |2023-02-28T20:17:10-06:00February 28th, 2023|Categories: Green Cards|

Believe it or not, the U.S. accepts more immigrants than nearly any country in the world by a large margin. Every year, the U.S. grants over 140,000 new green cards every year, and welcomed over 800,000 new citizens after the pandemic backup in 2021! If you're considering moving to the United States, you have several options to choose from. Let's talk compare green card vs citizenship to see which route is best for your needs! What Is a Green Card? Holders of a green card, also known as permanent resident card, are permanent residents of the United States. They are neither [...]

20 02, 2023

The Return of a Simpler Visa Stamp Renewal Program for Foreign Workers

By |2023-02-20T08:31:40-06:00February 20th, 2023|Categories: Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. Published – February 20, 2023 There used to be a time when a foreign national worker in the U.S. did not need to depart the country and appear at a U.S. consular post to renew their U.S. work visa stamp.   Instead, that worker could send their foreign passport containing their expired work visa to a domestic U.S. Department of State office and within a period of weeks, the worker would receive back their passport with a renewed visa stamp.  The U.S. Department of State recently announced a plan to reinstitute this program in the very near future. [...]

12 02, 2023

6 Ways a Chicago Immigration Lawyer Can Help You

By |2023-02-20T08:34:15-06:00February 12th, 2023|Categories: General|

The United States of America is a country built on immigration. Even today, the country attracts more immigrants than anywhere else in the world. More than one million people come from other countries to the US each year. But immigration can be a tricky issue. There are all kinds of hurdles that need to be clear and these can be highly confusing to the average Joe. That's why it's a good idea to hire a Chicago immigration attorney if you're looking to navigate the process successfully. Want to find out more about the way an immigration law firm in Chicago can help? [...]

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 [...]

29 01, 2023

8 Things to Know About Family Sponsorship in the US

By |2023-02-20T08:35:02-06:00January 29th, 2023|Categories: Family-Based Immigration Law|

Immigrating to the US is a big commitment for those that choose to go through with the process, including for the U.S. petitioning family member. As of 2022, there are about 13 million people in the United States holding green cards. Unfortunately, this is not always a simple process. Obtaining a green card to reside permanently in the U.S. without a qualifying family member to petition you, or without particular job skills and a petitioning employer, can prove to be more than a little challenging. In the realm of family based immigration, if you are a United States citizen or a [...]

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