What is the National Visa Center?
Immigrant visa petitions are generally processed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), but depending on where/when you apply for your immigrant visa, the National Visa Center (NVC) may play a vital role in processing your petition. This is especially the case for immigrants planning on using Consular Processing to receive an immigrant visa to…
What Happens After My Asylum Is Approved? A Guide to Life as an Asylee in the United States
When the U.S. government grants your asylum application, it’s a major victory – and the start of an entirely new chapter. Many newly approved asylees ask the same question: “What happens after my asylum is approved?” 1. You Are Immediately Authorized to Work in the United States. Once asylum is approved, you are automatically eligible…
Traffic Tickets and the N-400: What Naturalization Applicants Must Disclose
One of the most frequently asked questions our clients have when preparing to file the N-400 Application for Naturalization is about disclosing driving history. Specifically, clients often ask, “Do I have to disclose my speeding tickets or routine traffic violations?”. The answer is a straightforward “Yes,” and understanding the specific requirements of USCIS disclosure is…
New Public Charge Guidance: How the State Department’s Expanded Health and Financial Review May Affect Visa Applicants
Recent reporting confirms that the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued new internal guidance—via a cable distributed to consular posts worldwide—significantly expanding how consular officers evaluate visa applicants under the public charge ground of inadmissibility (INA §212(a)(4)). Although the statute itself has not changed, this directive reshapes the analysis by placing far heavier weight…
Bringing an Interpreter to Your USCIS Interview: Rules You Should Know
If you have an upcoming interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) — such as for Adjustment of Status (green card) or Naturalization (citizenship) — it’s important to understand who can serve as your interpreter and what the current rules are. You Must Bring Your Own Interpreter USCIS generally requires applicants who need language…
USCIS Introduces New $1,000 Immigration Parole Fee — What You Need to Know
On October 16, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new Immigration Parole Fee following passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Under this law, any person paroled into the United States under INA §212(d)(5)(A) must pay a $1,000 fee, unless a specific statutory exception applies. This new requirement applies to all…
USCIS Interviews: Why Proper Identification and Documentation Matter
In my last round of USCIS Interviews that I attended with clients, there were a few issues that came up during the course of the Interviews that I wanted to cover in a blog post. In short, these issues were all related to individuals who were not able to produce the identification and documentation that…
Dual Citizenship
In the simplest of terms, Dual Citizenship is when you have citizenship in two countries. For those who are planning to immigrate to the United States and eventually naturalize, this would mean retaining citizenship in their home country after naturalization. However not all countries will recognize Dual Citizenship, and some citizens may have to renounce…
Citizenship Series Part 6: Deriving Citizenship When the Child Was Born Out of Wedlock
Naturalization of Mother When Child Was Born Out of Wedlock and Paternity Not Established by Legitimation: While the concept of legitimate or illegitimate children seems very old fashioned, but even in this modern era, legitimation is important in many cases where a child’s parents were not married at the time of their birth. While this…
Citizenship Series Part 5: Deriving Citizenship when Your Parents were Legally Separated
Naturalization of Parent Having Legal Custody Where There Has Been a Legal Separation of the Parents: The USCIS phrase may sound complex, but this path to Derived Citizenship applies to children whose parents were divorced or legally separated. The key factor is “Legal Custody.” In this post, we’ll break down what counts as Legal Custody…
