Despite law enforcement agencies and community organizations making advances in their response to domestic violence, the issue continues to plague the immigrant community. Often times financial dependence, fear of deportation, limited English-lan ...
Past criminal convictions and prior deportation or removal orders can haunt a person seeking to immigrate to the United States. An intending immigrant can face permanent bars on the basis of a prior criminal conviction, a prior unlawful entry, o ...
Subject to narrow exceptions, an applicant for adjustment of status to permanent residency (or, “green card” applicant) must demonstrate that he or she was lawfully admitted or paroled into the United States. Admission or parole happ ...
Last week's news that certain immigrants would be able to apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers while in the United States was welcomed by many. The question now being asked is, “who can avail of this provisional waiver?” The provisional ...
The holidays are a time for being with family. I was reminded of that recently. I was standing in the hallway outside of the Immigration courtroom where my client had just been granted a waiver for misrepresentation and lawful permanent status. I was expla ...
By Attorneys Robert L. Reeves and Devin M. Connolly
The year 2011 is nearly over and it is time to make New Year’s resolutions. Will 2012 be the year to stop avoiding immigration concerns? Will 2012 be the year you consult an experienced and knowledgeable immigration attorney about your immigra ...
The holidays and the coming of the New Year should be a time for togetherness, reflection, hope, and dreams for a better future. For many immigrant families, this is a time to celebrate hardships overcome and unity finally accomplished. Sadly, thoug ...
In a unanimous decision issued December 12, 2011, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) did away with the “comparable grounds rule” used by the Board of Immigration Appeals to determine whether the charged deportation ground was sufficiently si ...
One would think that a law that has been in effect since April 1, 1997 would be well settled and no longer subject to interpretation. But one who thought that would be wrong. In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re ...
As we mentioned last week, immigrants have been quick to show love and gratitude to their new homeland by volunteering to serve in the military. Immigrants have served as infantry soldiers, medics, foreign-language translators and every other job opened ...
Have you ever considered that the United States of America’s (U.S.) most famous icon is an immigrant? That’s right. The Statue of Liberty was “born” in France and brought to the U.S. by ship. The quintessential sym ...
In the ideal situation, an alien who enters the United States and becomes eligible for lawful permanent residence can get their green card through adjustment of status and not have to leave the United States to complete the process. However, situation ...
It’s ironic! People can be so desperate to come to the United States that they commit acts that are completely out of character. They use someone else’s name. They misrepresent their marital status. Sometimes, they pay huge amounts of mone ...
In one of the only bipartisan measures to come out of the 112th Congress, the House Judiciary Committee voted to eliminate per-country numerical limitations for employment-based green cards. The bill, which is called the Fairness for High Skilled Immigr ...
On October 20, 2011, Senators Schumer and Lee introduced an exciting new immigration bill intended to promote investment and immigration in the United States. The bill proposes a new three-year residential visa for foreigners who invest at least $5 ...
By Attorneys Robert L. Reeves and Devin M. Connolly
For millions of non-U.S. citizens, simply hearing the word “deportation” evokes fear. They may not know how or why a person gets deported, but they do know they want to continue living in the United States with their family enjoyin ...
In order to receive permanent residence status in the United States (i.e., a “green card”), an applicant must establish that he or she is “admissible.” In order to demonstrate admissibility, the applicant must show that n ...
Aliens in removal proceedings are faced with the very real possibility of being deported from the United States. During the course of those proceedings, the non-citizen may request relief in the form of adjustment of status, cancellation of removal, asylu ...
By Attorneys Robert L. Reeves and Lorena Larios-Shah
The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) grants conditional permanent resident status to spouses of U.S. citizens who have been married for less than two years on the date the application for adjustment of status is approved, or in c ...
An adult beneficiary of a petition filed by a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident parent has to wait many years for his petition to become current. However, it is difficult to place a life on hold for a decade or more.&n ...
