Special Green Cards for Foreign Diplomats and Employees of International Organizations
Foreign Diplomats Section 13 of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows non-immigrants who entered the United States under diplomatic status to obtain a green card (permanent residence). You may be eligible to receive a green card under Section 13 if you can establish that: You entered the United States as an A-1, A-2, G-1, or…
President Obama Announces New Immigration Policy
On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced changes that he would make to U.S. immigration policy that could help an estimated 4 million undocumented immigrants. In short, the new Immigration Policy may extend benefits to immigrants who: 1. Have a son or daughter who is a U.S citizen or permanent resident (green card); 2. Have…
Summary Removal Procedures
The deportation process has changed significantly over the past two decades, principally as a result of the Summary Removal Procedure that was enacted by Congress as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRAIRA”). Today, over two-thirds of non-citizens who are deported from the U.S. are deported under the Summary…
Nunc Pro Tunc Asylum Procedures
While not used very frequently, the Nunc Pro Tunc Asylum filing procedure is a huge benefit for derivative dependent aliens who are unable to adjust status because they have lost their relationship with their principal, usually inadvertently or through no fault of their own. “Nunc Pro Tunc“ is just a Latin phrase that means “now…
Abandonment of Permanent Resident Status?
Many U.S. permanent residents (LPR’s) operate under the false assumption that they can travel outside of the U.S. but that as long as they return within a certain amount of time that they will not be in danger of losing their status. On this point, most LPRs understand that they should not stay outside of…
Filing an Application for Extension of Stay After your I-94 has Expired
Foreign nationals who enter the U.S. on non-immigrant visas (such as a B2 tourist) often wish to extend their stay beyond the usual 6 month period that they were granted when they arrived in the U.S., as shown on their I-94 arrival/departure record. Normally, this can be done through the filing of an I-539 Application…
Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2014
As an Immigration Lawyer, I am frequently asked the question about what I think of all the talk on Capitol Hill regarding Immigration reform. Having been actively engaged in the practice of Immigration Law since 1995, I have seen many changes and reforms in the law, policy, and the application of both. The last major…
The 30/60 Day Rule
NOTE: As of September 1, 2017, the U.S. Department of State replaced the 30/60 Day Rule with the 90 Day Rule which establishes a presumption of a willful misrepresentation in the event that an alien takes any action within 90 days of entry that is inconsistent with the terms of his or her nonimmigrant status…
Responding to a Request for Evidence
After practicing in the field of Immigration law for more than 18 years, its easy to note the increasing trend of the USCIS in generating Requests for Evidence (RFE’s) in response to nearly every type of application or petition for Immigration benefits that is filed in the U.S. Back in the “old days”, some of…
I-601A Provisional Waiver for Unlawful Presence
I decided to kick off my blog with a post about the new I-601 Provisional Waiver for Unlawful Presence which takes effect today – March 4, 2013. In short, this new provisional waiver allows immigrant visa applicants who are spouses, children and/or parents of U.S. citizens to apply for a waiver BEFORE they leave the…
