Family-Based Immigration

What you need to know about the E-2 Visa

One way to live and work in the United States is to apply for the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa. This type of visa allows a national of a treaty country to be admitted to the U.S. by investing a substantial amount of capital in a new business or in an existing business in the U.S.,…

Path To Citizenship

Your lawful permanent residence is a path to U.S. Citizenship. Generally, you may be able to apply for naturalization after 5 years of permanent residence, or after 3 years, if you are married to and living with a U.S. Citizen. Besides that, there are some general requirements for naturalization: continuous residence and physical presence in…

Maintaining Permanent Residence

Now that you have the privilege to be a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), you also have new rights, such as live permanently and work in the U.S., attend public school, apply to become a U.S. citizen once you are eligible, leave and return to the U.S. under some conditions, etc. On the other hand, you…

What does Unlawful Presence for F, J, and M nonimmigrant visas mean for YOUR Future?

On August, 9, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a policy memorandum that has a great impact on many students that are currently attending classes or working on OPT. We suspect that it may also affect employers’ decision to explore new visa options to avoid losing their valuable employees due to the accrual of unlawful…

How Will the New Public Charge Rules affect My Green Card Application?

On October, 10, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a policy change related to the public charge issue under INA §212(a)(4). This new policy is now in its public comments period. After the 60 days commenting period, it will go into effect. What is public charge? Someone who is likely to become “dependent…

L Visa and EB-1 for Intra-Company Managers and Executives

You might qualify for the L Visa if you are a manager or executive for a company in another country and worked for the company within the last three years for at least one year, and you are coming here to the US to work as a manager or executive for a parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or…

J-1 Visa: Foreign Residency Requirement, No Objection Statement (China) and Exceptional Hardship Waiver

We recently worked on a J-1 Visa case where the young lady came here from China on a J-1 Visa, married a U.S. Citizen, and is now seeking a waiver for her foreign residency requirement. The wonderful thing is that J-1 Visas are a good substitute for the overused H-1B, as long as the employer…

Sponsoring Your Relative as an Employee: Importance of Good Faith Efforts in PERM Recruitment

Our immigration law firm represents many small business employers, many of whom, for many legitimate reasons prefer to hire their family members to assume important functions in their businesses. On October 21, 2016, BALCA released decisions on two cases dealing with PERM labor certification and audits for hiring relatives, Tyrrell Limited on behalf of Espino,…

Can Employers Sponsor Relatives For Employment-Based Immigration? Understanding The PERM Process Through A Recent Case.

The short answer to that question is yes. However, as shown by the recent case released by the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA),Matter of Palm Café Restaurant,the answer is not that simple.  AILA Doc. No. 16061303 (June 7, 2016). In adjudicating the appeal of a denial of PERM labor certification, BALCA has determined what…

L-1A Intracompany Transfers: What is Managerial Capacity or Executive Capacity?

The L-1A petition allows U.S. employers to apply for non-immigrant temporary employment visas for those employees that have been serving in a managerial capacity or an executive capacity for at least one consecutive year within the last three years in a foreign branch, parent, subsidiary, or affiliated company.  These visas last only one year.  However,…