EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING

We’ve all heard the saying that “every cloud has a silver lining”. These calming words have been used for decades to help overcome bad days, rough times, poor decisions… or in the world of immigration, a new administration. When it comes to the current immigration climate, it seems as if we are surrounded by clouds […]

To Fear or Not to Fear the RFE….that is the question

As an attorney, receiving the dreaded Request for Evidence (RFE) makes for a frustrating day. RFE’s can be issued for all types of cases including an H-1b, L-1, O-1, I-140, and I-485. The realization that your perfectly presented argument(s) and supporting evidence were not fully convincing to an adjudicator can be disappointing, but there are different […]

Immigration Law – Form Based With a Face

When it comes to immigration law, one thing is constant – you will always work with FORMS.  Lots of forms.  Constantly changing forms.  Hard to understand forms.  FORMS, FORMS & more FORMS!  Moreover, the locations of where to file these forms are constantly changing and not necessarily intuitive. One I-140 is filed at this lock-box, […]

SEC Files Fraud Charges Against Vermont Regional Center

The SEC announced that they filed charges and froze the assets of the various EB-5 projects connected with the Vermont Regional Center and its principals William Stenger and Ariel Quiros. Here is the SEC Press Release, that discusses the matter in more detail. Obviously any investors considering an EB-5 investment in this Regional Center should be […]

Visa Bulletin Revamped

The Department of State and USCIS announced on September 9th, 2015 that they are implementing new procedures to allow people who are stuck in the visa backlogs to start their immigrant visa paperwork. Most notably, there are now two priority dates for each category in the visa bulletin. The first date listed is the final […]

Are You “Extraordinary”? Eres Extraordinaria?

Throughout all my years of immigration, I am partial (and maybe a bit bias) to the EB-1, Alien of Extraordinary Ability category.  Quite simply – I love this category.  I truly believe it is a perfect example of why immigration is so vital to both the U.S. economy, as well as medical research institutions and […]

Lawsuit Puts DACA Expansion On HoldDACA Expansion On Hold

26 states filed a lawsuit over the DACA program. As a result on February 17th, a federal judge granted an preliminary injunction on the expansion of the DACA program and the upcoming DAPA program. This temporarily halts the planned expansion of the program which was supposed to take effect on February 18th. The injunction does […]

FY 2016 H-1b Lottery: Predictions

USCIS will begin to accept H-1b visa applications on April 1st, 2015 for an October 1st 2015 start date. USCIS usually accepts petitions for the entire first week and then counts them to see if an H-1b lottery is needed. If USCIS receives more petitions than there are slots, they will conduct a lottery to see […]

Largest Immigration Detention Center in the U.S. to Open

The Obama administration just announced they are opening a new, permanent detention center in Dilley, Texas (85 miles northeast of Laredo). This facility can hold up to 2,400 individuals, making it the largest immigration detention center in the U.S. by a large margin.  According to the New York Times, the next largest permanent facility can […]

Do I Qualify Under The Expansion of Deferred Action?

In his November 20th announcement President Obama expanded his policy of providing deferred action and work authorization to long-term residents of the US. From the little we know so far, the expansion includes individuals who’ve been residing in the US since 1/1/2010 if they fall into either of two categories: 1. Are the parent of […]