USA Green Cards & Visas for Work & Family: 2014

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Think Carefully before Applying for a Temporary U.S. Visa or Renewing a Temporary U.S. Visa and Marrying a U.S. Citizen

Most Non-Immigrant Visas (Temporary) is that the person applying for one has no intention staying in the U.S. and the person plans to return to their country when that person has completed their visit. U.S. Immigration (USCIS), Embassies and Customs all look for anything in your paper work that show that you may not leave the U.S. and return to your home country.

Things in your paper work that may show you may not leave the U.S. after your visit are things like your age, how much money or property you have in your home country and family in your home country. If you have a wife or children living in the U.S. that would usually be enough proof for U.S. Immigration to deny your Temporary Visa Paper work.

You need to be aware of your current Visa Status (when it expires & when to get a new Visa) and how marrying a U.S. Citizen or a Green Card Holder will affect your Temporary Visa at the time of your marriage and in the future.

Please contact a licensed Immigration attorney before you act on your specific situation. Immigration Laws and Federal Regulations are constantly changing and the general information provided can change over time.

Monday, September 1, 2014

You already have a Green Card or You are applying for a Visa or already have a Visa and you going back to your home country. You were arrested for a crime while a in the U.S. and did not get deported & you think everything is fine……………..THINK AGAIN!

If you are here on a Visa or have a Green Card, any time you are arrested for any crime you should get copies of everything (court records, police reports, etc.). Take the documents to an Immigration Attorney as soon as possible to know if you can fix the problem and how. Any time you travel you should have copies of these documents with you.

In regard to your new Visa, depending on the type you may have different way of applying for a new one. In many cases there are 2 steps. The 1^st step is that the Employer (if this a Work Visa) submits a petition for you. After the petition is approved, you submit an Application for a Visa. However, very often, once you leave the country you cannot be admitted because of your crime and the U.S. Government usually does not tell you that when the Employer’s Petition is approved.

You can try to fix the problem while you are in your home country but it is much more difficult if not impossible in many cases. There are ways to address the problem but it is quite difficult and time consuming. It is better, faster and easier in many cases to have the problem fixed while you are here in the U.S. In conclusion, when faced with a crime don’t wait to the last minute and be caught unprepared to address the problem.

You want to marry a U.S. Citizen (or Green Card Holder) and Get a Green Card but your spouse does not make enough money – Learn how to fix the problem.

The U.S. Immigration Laws state that a U.S. Citizen (or an Green Card holder) marrying a person from another country must be able to support their spouse. Your U.S. Citizen Spouse (or Green Card Holder Spouse) must make 125% more than what the U.S. Poverty Guidelines say for the year in question. The more people in the family (minor children or others claimed on their taxes) the higher the amount the U.S. Citizen Spouse (or Green Card Holder Spouse) will have to make.

If the U.S. Citizen Spouse (or Green Card Holder Spouse) does not make enough money they can have any other U.S. Citizen or Green Card Holder apply with Your U.S. Citizen Spouse (or Green Card Holder Spouse). These other people can be friends, immediate family or other relatives and they will have to be making enough money to support you as well as their own family within the poverty guidelines. They will need to supply information about their taxes and sign paper work saying they will be financially responsible for you for a certain period of time under certain conditions.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Your Child’s age & U.S. Citizenship or Step-Child’s age & filing a Visa Petition can cause difficult problems. Timing is everything!!!

Whether a child is under or over 18 years of age is often a key factor for your child in gaining U.S. Citizenship or your step child having a family visa petition approved for the green card process.

If USCIS considers the child less than 18 years of age when a parent naturalizes as a U.S. Citizen or a step parent submits a family petition so the child can get a green card, then your application/petition will be successful. However, if USCIS considers the child over 18 your application/petition will be denied.

We may think these are a very simple situations with no problems but it can be very complicated and difficult to fix. This is especially true when the child is in another part of the world where the time zone and date are different from the time zone and date in the United States.

Generally under the law, courts will not consider differences in the times zones or fractions of a day. The only time a court will consider this question is when it affects an important right. Petitions to get a green card and being considered a U.S. Citizen may be considered important rights. However it depends on what part of the U.S. you are in and what U.S. Court of Appeals is in that area.

The reason for this problem is that the wording of the immigration laws in the above situations is unclear. If you and your child are in one of these situations it is possible to get a denial of your petition or application fixed. An Immigration Attorney should be able to help you with this.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Domestic Violence Convictions and Expunging or Vacating a Conviction often will not protect you from keeping your Green Card or Getting removed or deported from the U.S.

Domestic Violence is specifically noted in the Immigration Laws and Regulation for severe treatment. However depending on your case and what is stated in your conviction there may be ways to prevent you from losing your green card and being removed or deported from the U.S.

It is very important to get certified copies of your court record and arrest report if you have been accused of any crime. A State Court Conviction can affect your green card and your right to remain in the United States. Immigration Laws focus on the actual action (wording of the law) that you are accused of as well as the wording of your conviction record. Having a conviction vacated or expunged will often not help you avoid deportation or removal from the U.S.

If you are in court proceedings now you should have a criminal attorney and should have your criminal attorney work with an immigration attorney to decide the best way to handle your case.

. Possession of Drugs and Deportation is hard to fix, But there are ways to fix it Sometimes!

Very often being convicted, arrested for or even admitting to possession of drugs is one of the fastest ways to get you deported. Drug related crimes are some of the most difficult to defend against in Immigration Court.

However, there are ways that people affected by these crimes can keep their Green Cards. What will decide this is when they were convicted and whether they were advised about immigration effects of pleading guilty to a crime. How long you have had your Green Card can also can effect whether you can escape deportation/removal.