Richard’s Blog

21 02, 2018

The Bad Lawyer and the Fake Lawyer

By |2020-05-01T16:57:14-05:00February 21st, 2018|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), General, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Uncategorized, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published February 21, 2018   In my 25+ years as an immigration lawyer, I have seen many versions of both the bad lawyer and the fake lawyer.    Each is poisonous in that they erode trust in the legal profession and [...]

7 02, 2018

The Forecast Calls For No Government Shut Down and No DACA

By |2018-02-07T12:09:00-06:00February 7th, 2018|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), General, immigration reform, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published February 7, 2018   As of Wednesday afternoon, the stars seem to have lined up for our nation to avert a government shutdown.   It appears a bipartisan consensus has been reached so that funding for our government operations can [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 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 [...]

12 12, 2017

Recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Operations

By |2020-05-01T17:19:08-05:00December 12th, 2017|Categories: DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published December 12, 2017   Consistent with policies of previous administrations, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division has been focusing their enforcement operations arresting noncitizens with criminal convictions, or previous deportation orders. Below are highlights [...]

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. [...]

15 11, 2017

Beware Immigrants: Automatic Voter Registration

By |2020-05-01T17:25:53-05:00November 15th, 2017|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, General, Green Cards, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Published November 15, 2017   On the topic of well-intended laws and unintended consequences, one of the first things that come to my mind is the law requiring local Department of Motor Vehicle facilities to ask all driver’s license applicants [...]

1 11, 2017

In the Trump Era, DHS/CIS Looks For More Ways to Deny Work Visa Petitions

By |2020-05-01T17:30:20-05:00November 1st, 2017|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment-Based Immigration Law, 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.|

Published November 1, 2017   I am often asked why and how there are so many undocumented people living in the U.S.   The complete answer has many facets.  One of those facets is that our immigration laws make it extraordinarily [...]

Go to Top