“VA”

When You or Your Loved One Signs to Be Removed from the United States with ICE then Change Your Mind

We often have detained clients who contact our office after signing to be removed from the United States. These clients have often been detained unexpectedly and are tired. Suddenly an ICE Officer appears advising client that their case may be “hopeless”. The ICE officer then provides the option for the client to sign to be removed.

Detained individuals will typically be presented with two different documents when in immigration detention.  An 826 Notice is presented and a 10 page document… Continue reading

I have lost my Immigration Court Case What Now!

The purpose of this brief article is to equip clients in removal and deportation proceedings in the United States with an understanding of their options in the event they lose their case in immigration court. All hope is not lost.

We understand that this is a devastating time for our clients.  We have taken over several cases that were lost be prior attorneys or counsel and taken the next essential steps to give clients another chance to win a meritorious… Continue reading

DOS Announces U.S.-Russian Agreement on Visa Issuance

Exciting News Flash  from Department of State for Russian Citizens:

Excerpted:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today announced an agreement on the issuance of nonimmigrant business, tourist, private and humanitarian visas to the Russian Federation, and for business and tourist visas to the United States, as well as short-term official travel visas to both counties in keeping with the joint statement issued during the meeting of President Obama and President Medvedev in Deauville,… Continue reading

U.S. Citizenship and Good Character- The Case for DWIs

U.S. Citizenship is not an automatic right but requires proof that a Permanent Resident has “good moral character”.  Many of our complex citizenship cases involve client’s who have been charged with multiple DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) while in Permanent Resident Status.  Although this can affect a citizen application and can result in denial, many cases are still approved despite.  The following factors are key in a case being approved although convicted of more than one DWI in a five or… Continue reading

ILLEGAL OR OUT OF STATUS IF YOU ARE A CRIME VICTIM—-U VISA STATUS OPTIONS

If you know someone who is out of status here in the United States and has been the victim of a crime, he or she may be eligible for a U Visa. U visas are available to foreign nationals or aliens who are in the United States  and entered without inspection (“EWI”) or  have overstayed an original visa grant.

U visas have even been considered and granted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) based on the following scenarios.

Helping Our Illegal Children Who are Lost in the System – Special Juvenile Immigrant Visas and Adoption

The sad reality is that we have innocent children lost in our broken immigration system. With the recent blocking of the Dream Act, it is important to know that there are still remedies for children under the age of 18. The purpose of this blog post is to briefly address a couple of ways that we can help minors achieve status in the United States.

Let’s take the case of a U.S. Citizen (USC) who wants to adopt his or… Continue reading

Keeping the L1 Visa Alive for New and Small Companies After the One Year Initial Period

The initial one year period of approval for an L1 Visa in the U.S. is essentially a “trial period.” The purpose of this article is to explain to our clients the importance of establishing a Dun & Bradstreet report (D&B report) within the first year of an L1 Visa approval. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun using an instrument called VIBE (Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises), a web-based tool using commercially available information from an Independent Information Provider… Continue reading

H1B Visa Tips on Getting a Fast Approval From U.S. Immigration

See Important H1B Visa Tips on Getting a Fast Approval from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:

  1. Have a headhunter verify that your job requires the minimum of a bachelor’s degree and put it in writing.
  2. Find job Postings on Monster.com or Career Builder.com that clearly states the minimum of a bachelor’s degree is required for the foreign national employee’s position.
  3. Complete the LCA with the Depart of Labor (DOL) immediately once it is determined that this job is a specialized… Continue reading

Immigration Consequences To Criminal Charges Or Convictions – The BIG Mistake—Don’t Rest Easy!—Removability AND Inadmissibility Immigration Considerations Before Pleading

The purpose of this article is to hopefully reduce the huge mistake that costs U.S. Permanent Residents and Non-Citizens their right to travel back to their home country. Specifically, if a Permanent Resident or Non-Citizen with a brief criminal history travels abroad they are often faced with the surprise of arriving at the airport back in the United States only to be told by Customs Border and Patrol (CBP) that they are “inadmissible”. In other word, they are banned from… Continue reading

Digging Deeper and Deeper How Far Will They Go? When the Non-Citizen is in Deportation Proceedings…Challenging the Government on Removability

Categorical, Modified Categorical, Matter of Silva-Trevino—what does this all mean for someone who has been placed in removal based on past criminal convictions?

This brief article gives a simplified explanation of how someone, who is not a lawyer, may understand a couple critical ways to challenge ICE (“the government”) if they are placed in removal based on past criminal convictions. However, as this is a highly complex area of the law, immigration counsel is an absolute necessity to win… Continue reading