In the latest of numerous small battles over the rights and future of the Dreamers, the Nebraska legislature has voted 34-10 to pass legislation granting DACA recipients the opportunity to obtain driver’s licenses. This new law, LB 623, corrects an unusual situation. Nebraska was the only state denying DACA recipients the right to obtain a […]
The State Department is reporting technical problems with their visa and passport systems. They are reporting that this is different from the problems it experienced last year. We have included a copy of the State Department’s FAQ and a link to their website. One note of importance is that if you are scheduled to be […]
The news since last year has been inundated with stories about children crossing the US/Mexico border unaccompanied. This surge, as it has been called, created a need for places to house the children and lawyers to defend them. So how many of those children have actually been allowed to stay in America? And what factors […]
The Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently established a new program to provide a safe and legal route for children living in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to travel to the United States. Through the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee/Parole Program, qualifying parents who are lawfully present in the United […]
In Husic v. Holder, issued January 8, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that an alien who adjusted to legal permanent resident (“LPR”) status after being admitted to the United States is eligible to seek an inadmissibility waiver from the Attorney General under Section 212(h) of the Immigration and […]
In November 2014, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced two new memorandum clarifying priorities on prosecutorial discretion and enforcement priorities. These policies are to be implemented by all DHS agencies, including USCIS, when deciding which aliens to arrest, detain, and remove from the US and when and how to exercise prosecutorial discretion. What follows is […]
Do you have a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent? Will you be working in a specialty occupation? Will you be earning a wage? The H-1B visa has an annual numerical limit, or cap, of 65,000 visas each fiscal year. Cap numbers are often used up very quickly, so it is important to plan in advance […]
On January 14th, the House of Representatives voted to try and block President Obama’s Executive Order relating to Immigration announced last November. In a 236-191 vote, the House of Representatives passed a spending bill aimed to defund major parts of President’ Obama’s plan. The vote triggers negotiations with the House and the Senate over the funding […]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has already approved the statutory maximum of 10,000 petitions for U-1 Nonimmigrant Status (U-Visas) for the 2015 fiscal year that began on October 1, 2014. The cap was reached almost immediately due to the applicants who were on the wait list from the 2014 fiscal year. Unfortunately, this means […]
On November 12, 2014, the National Visa Center, a U.S. Department of State agency, stopped collecting original civil documents in support of immigrant visa applications. Applicants will now be required to submit photocopies of documents to support their applications. However, applicants may upon request be required to bring original documents to their scheduled interviews for […]
