In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses the top 5 reasons a U.S. immigrant may be subject to deportation in the year 2024 and how to avoid falling into these circumstances.
If you would like to know more about this topic, we invite you to watch our video.
Overview
There are several reasons that may lead immigration to start the process of deporting an immigrant from the United States to their country of origin. Removal may occur because of certain actions undertaken by the foreign national that violate the immigration laws of the United States.
One of the most common scenarios is where the foreign national did not have the right to be in the United States in the first place. But this is not the only reason a person may be subject to deportation. Other reasons may include crossing the border illegally or even overstaying a U.S. visa beyond your authorized period of stay.
Here we discuss the top 5 most common reasons that may lead to deportation.
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses a new press release shared by the Department of State which provides insights on the status of visa operations worldwide during fiscal year 2023. The report highlights that from October 2022 through September 2023, DOS issued more than 10 million visas worldwide, with half of U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world issuing more visas than ever before.
In this post, we provide a summary of the agency’s impressive achievements and visa statistics over the past fiscal year.
If you would like to know more about this topic, we invite you to watch our video.
Overview
According to the press release, the Department of State hit a near historic record, issuing more than 10.4 million nonimmigrant visas worldwide in fiscal year 2023.
Nearly 8 million visitor visas were issued for business and tourism – more than in any fiscal year since 2016.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get your U.S. Visa renewed inside of the United States without having to visit a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad?
This may soon become a reality based on a new pilot program announced by the Department of State for certain workers renewing their visas.
Overview
Visa stamping refers to the process of renewing a U.S. visa for foreign nationals working in the United States in certain visa categories. Traditionally, foreign workers must return to their home country and visit their local U.S. Embassy or Consulate to schedule an appointment and renew their U.S. visas. However, the vast majority of U.S. Embassies and Consulates have significant visa interview backlogs which delays the visa renewal process significantly and increases the visa backlog.
To provide relief for visa renewal applicants, the State Department recently announced the launch of a new pilot program that will allow a limited number of H-1B specialty occupation workers the opportunity to renew their visas from inside the United States, effectively decreasing work interruptions and such visa stamping delays.
In this blog post, we discuss an important topic: can you apply for U.S. Citizenship if you are still waiting to receive a decision for a pending Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
We will discuss a client’s hypothetical case for you to consider under what circumstances it may be possible to apply for U.S. Citizenship with a pending I-751 petition.
Overview
As our readers may be aware, the Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence is subject to lengthy processing times, with 80 percent of cases receiving a decision within 20 to 30 months of filing, depending on the USCIS Field Office or Service Center that is processing the petition.
USCIS began implementing this change by providing a 48-month automatic extension on Notices of Action mailed to applicants beginning on January 11, 2023, for Form I-829 applicants, and on January 25, 2023, for Form I-751 applicants.
In this blog post, we will discuss the top five ways that foreign investors can get a green card in the United States. This post will benefit potential investors or foreign nationals who want to maximize their chances of gaining permanent residence in the United States.
Overview
If you are a foreign investor or an entrepreneur there are essentially five ways to self-petition for permanent residence without the requirement of a job offer or employment sponsorship.
Option One: Green Card through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
The first option is the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. This program allows qualifying investors to obtain conditional permanent residence through an EB-5 visa. To qualify, investors must make a capital investment of $800,000 (in a Targeted Employment Area Regional Center Project) or $1,050,000 (in a new commercial enterprise that you create or buy into – also known as direct EB-5 investments). You must also demonstrate that the capital you are investing comes from a lawful source, and that your investment will create at least 10 new jobs for U.S. workers. Additionally, your capital investment must be committed to the project for at least five to seven years.
Once an investor’s EB-5 petition has been approved, he or she will receive a 2-year conditional green card. Before the expiration of the green card, the investor must remove the conditions on his permanent resident status by filing an I-829 petition with USCIS. When removing the conditions on permanent residence, investors must prove that they made the required investment and that all EB-5 requirements were satisfied such as job creation.
Once USCIS approves the I-829 petition, the applicant’s residency status is no longer conditional and the investor will be issued a 10 year green card.
EB-5 Direct Investments
EB-5 direct investments are those where the capital is invested in a new commercial enterprise such as a franchise operation, hotel real estate development projects, large restaurants, IT projects, retail chain operations, and large construction projects.
One of the most important components of the EB-5 application process is that you must be prepared to demonstrate the source/origin of your investment funds through documentary evidence. In other words, your investment funds must be traceable to their originating source.
One of the most common questions that we receive from applicants who are applying for a green card is what happens when your priority date becomes current?
In this video we will discuss what it means for a priority date to become current, and the general steps that you need to take once this happens.
What is a priority date?
First let’s clarify what a “priority date” is. A priority date is a legal term used in immigration law which generally refers to the date when your immigrant petition was filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
A “priority date” is important because it determines your place in line in the visa queue for those preference categories that are subject to annual numerical visa limitations. As we have mentioned in previous videos, the Visa Bulletin is published every month and allows applicants to estimate how long they need to wait in “line” before they are eligible to apply for their green card based on their preference category and country of nationality.
Family Sponsored Preference Categories
If you are applying for a green card under family sponsorship and you are not applying as the spouse, unmarried child (under 21 years of age), or parent of a U.S. Citizen, then you must wait in “line” in the visa queue until a visa becomes available to you before you can apply for a green card, according to your priority date on the Visa Bulletin.
Have you ever wondered how you can apply for a green card renewal while outside of the United States? In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick tells you everything you need to know about this process.
We also discuss how you can travel internationally if your green card has already expired.
If you want to know more about this topic, please keep on watching!
Overview
This topic will be of interest to permanent residents who are overseas and now have an expired green card, as well as those who want to travel abroad but have an expired green card.
When you are issued a green card (Permanent Residence), it essentially means that you have the right to live permanently in the United States for a renewable period of 10 years.
Some of the benefits of being a lawful permanent resident are that you can accept employment without restriction, own property, receive financial assistance at public colleges and universities, and join the Armed Forces. Before the expiration of your permanent resident card, you must apply to renew it by filing Form I-90 with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses different avenues that an employer may wish to take if their employee’s PERM labor certification has been denied by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). For those who are unaware, the PERM labor certification process allows a U.S. employer to sponsor a foreign worker’s green card so that they can live and work permanently in the United States. PERM is the first step the U.S. employer must take before they can file the foreign worker’s immigration petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also known as Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.
But what happens when the employer’s PERM labor certification application is denied by the Department of Labor? We discuss all that and more right here on this video.
Overview
The denial of a PERM labor certification application can be frustrating because employers and foreign workers invest a great deal of time and expense to ensure that the process goes smoothly.
There are generally three steps involved in the process of obtaining permanent residence through an employer:
The U.S. employer must file a labor certification application with the U.S. Department of Labor. This requires the employer to prove that there are not sufficient U.S. workers able, willing, qualified, and available to accept the job being offered in the area of intended employment. This is proven by going through a recruitment process where the employer places multiple advertisements for the position. The employer must also show that employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
Once a permanent labor certification application has been approved by the DOL, the employer will need to file Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker with USCIS on behalf of the foreign worker.
Upon approval of Form I-140, the applicant can proceed with applying for adjustment of status to permanent residence with USCIS. In some instances, the I-140 and I-485 can be filed concurrently.
Are you interested in learning about the green card wait times for family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories subject to the annual limits?
If so, then we invite you to watch this video about the newly released October 2023 Visa Bulletin. This is a Visa Bulletin you won’t want to miss because October is the start of a brand new fiscal year. The Department of State has confirmed that there will be an estimated 165,000 employment-based visa numbers allocated in fiscal year 2024, which ends on September 30, 2024.
USCIS has confirmed that it will accept adjustment of status applications filed in the month of October pursuant to the Dates for Filing chart for both family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories.
The October Visa Bulletin Dates for Filing chart shows advancement from last month for all employment-based categories except EB-3 worldwide, Mexico, and Philippines which will retrogress by 3-4 months; EB-1 India will also retrogress by two months.
The Dates for Filing chart for the family-sponsored categories remains unchanged from last month.
Highlights of the October 2023 Visa Bulletin
Here are some of the highlights of the October 2023 Visa Bulletin which marks the start of the new fiscal year 2024.
Employment Based Categories
Final Action cutoff dates:
EB-1: will advance by five years for India to January 1, 2017, and by two weeks for China to February 15, 2022. All other countries will be current in October.
EB-2: will advance by one year to January 1, 2012, for India, and by almost three months for China to October 1, 2019. All other countries will advance by one week to July 8, 2022, in October.
EB-3: EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker will advance by three years and four months for India, to May 1, 2012, and by four months for China to January 1, 2020. All other countries will advance by one year and seven months to December 1, 2021.
EB-5: For EB-5 Unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5) India will advance by one year and eight months to December 15, 2018, and by three weeks for China to October 1, 2015. All other countries will be current in October. The EB-5 set aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) will also be current in October.
Did you know that if you are going through the green card process based on marriage to a U.S. Citizen in the United States, sometimes an immigration official from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may show up at your home unannounced. How often does this happen and how can you prepare?
We invite you to learn more about this important topic.
Overview
The USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) was established to combat and investigate immigration-related fraud including marriage fraud. The FDNS also operates the Fraud Detection and National Security data system which tracks and manages cases which are under review for potential immigration fraud. Reports are generated by the FDNS data system and distributed to other government agencies for further investigation depending on the severity of the case, such as the Department of State (DOS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Surprise Home Visits: When do they happen and how do they happen?
Part of the responsibilities of the FDNS are to conduct site visits for both employment-based and family-sponsored immigration petitions. Most commonly, site visits are conducted at places of worship as part of the process to petition an R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker. Site visits are also frequently conducted at places of employment for H-1B workers. With respect to family-sponsored cases, the FDNS may conduct home visits in adjustment of status filings where marriage fraud is suspected.
This can happen in several different ways. In the most common scenario, the married couple has already been questioned at their in-person interview before a USCIS officer. In such instance, the immigration officer is not convinced by the responses provided by the couple during the interview and believes the marriage to be fraudulent. In some cases where marriage fraud is suspected, the couple is separated and questioned separately regarding facts about their relationship. At the conclusion of the interview, the officer may call upon FDNS to conduct an unannounced site visit at the couple’s home to confirm whether the information provided at the interview is authentic.
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