Immigration Blog

Tips to Support your VAWA Petition for a Green Card – 12/7/2011 Did you know that Joe Biden was instrumental in developing the Violence Against Women’s Act. This important piece of legislation allows victims of abuse to get out of their abusive situation, not worry about their immigration status, and get their green card on their own assuming their spouse was a permanent resident or US citizen.

Tips on Qualifying for a National Interest Waiver 2/23/2012 The national interest waiver, NIW, is a type of immigrant visa sponsorship process in the EB2 category for which the petitioner does not need an employer. It allows you to skip the labor certification. This video provides some useful tips to qualify for the national interest waiver.

Tips on Qualifying for a U-visa Crime Victim – 2/23/2012 If you’ve been a victim of particular crimes on the U-visa list of crimes, you could potentially qualify for a U visa. There are many advantages that the U-visa has in that you can easily waive the EWI entry without inspection bar.

After your I-130 Marriage Petition Gets Denied – 2/23/2012 If your I-130 green card petition and I-485 adjustment of status gets denied, what should you do? What can you do? This video helps answer these questions. If it was due to a difficult or unreasonable option, you should not be too worried, because you can generally refile.

Consulate Abuses Administrative Processing in H1B Cases – 2/28/2012 In this video, a denial based on administrative processing is revealed and analyzed.

The New Obama Era I-601A Provisional Hardship Waiver – 4/6/2012 Ten Facts (accurate as of the recording of this video): 1. It is not yet available, but should be later this year (UPDATE: and it is now available). 2. You must be beneficiary of IR APPROVED petition from USC. Not pending.

Do you Qualify for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival)? 8/25/2012 In this video, the topic of DACA deferred action for childhood arrivals, established by the Obama Administration, is covered. The benefits, risks, and political implications are covered as well. This is an alternative to the DREAM Act.

Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWD) 7/15/2011 Before an applicant files most employment based green card petitions for foreign workers, an employer is required to file a labor certification. A labor certification is an application that the employer files with the department of labor indicating that it has taken necessary recruitment efforts to test the US labor market to see if it can find qualified US workers.

Hiring Foreign Workers from India and China 7/20/11 In this video, the caveats of filing green card petitions for those from India and China in EB2, employment based second category, and EB3, employment based third preference category, is discussed. Keep in mind, priority dates are backlogged in these countries, especially India.

Cap Gap Extension Applicability for F-1 Students Seeking H-1B – 7/29/11 This vlog entry covers the topic of the H1B cap gap extension, and the STEM extension, and the e-verification requirement in order to qualify.

Professional H1B Assessment Process – 8/1/2011 The topic of this video is how a professional makes assessment of whether a job qualifies for H1B status. This goes over some of the basis, from prevailing wage, what the employer requires and what the candidate possesses in terms of qualifications to have to petition qualify as a “specialty occupation.”

Writ of Mandamus Complaints and 1447(b) – 10/7/2011 In this video, the topic of writ of mandamus complaint and 1447(b) complaints is discussed. If you have a petition which is delayed to an unreasonable extent, then a writ of mandamus complaint could be filed to compel USCIS to act on the case.

Double Your Chance of Winning Asylum – 11/29/2011 Immigration lawyer/attorney, Hasan Abdullah, provides his personal insights on the political asylum process in the United States. Link to Immigration Judge Reports: https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/judgereports/ Here’s a link to a GAO report showing applicants with legal representation have twice the approval rate as those without legal representation, yes it is an old report, but should still be considered relevant.

Is Your College Accredited for H1B and I-140 Purposes? – 4/26/2012 It is absolutely critical that your degree is from an accredited program if you’re filing an H1B petition, seeking a master’s cap exemption, and if you’re filing an I-140 petition and using the degree as a qualification for EB2 or EB3.

B1 Business Visa Application – Free Case Assessment 10/24/12 This video guides you through the process of a self-assessment of whether you may qualify for a B-1 business visitor visa. It was created for a now defunct website called “ImmigrationEase.” Although Immigration Ease is no longer supported, this video still is of value.

B2 Tourist Visa Applications – Free Case Assessment 10/24/12 This video provides you with a simple self-assessment as to whether a B-2 tourist visitor visa is an appropriate visa for you. This video was prepared for a now closed website ImmigrationEase, and is still of value to benefit you if you are considering to apply for a visitor visa.

National Visa Center (NVC) Process – Free Case Assessment 10/24/12 Have you received a fee bill from USCIS’s National Visa Center (NVC)? This video guides you through some of the basis of National Visa Center processing. It was prepared for a now discontinued website, ImmigrationEase, and although the site doesn’t provide services anymore, this video is still of value and provided for your reference.

INA 214(b) Disproving Lack of Ties to One’s Home Country – 11/9/12 If your B-1 or B-2 visitor visa was denied on account of INA 214(b), that means that you have not showed sufficient ties to your home country. This video explains what you can do to avoid this result in a future application.

Posting Job Ads in Local or Ethnic Newspapers for PERM – 2/14/2013 If you intend to fulfill PERM recruitment requirements using a local or ethnic newspaper, this video explains some of the pitfalls to watch out for. A simple approach is to just post on a weekday in the paper of general circulation.

Getting an H1B Petition Approved Without a License 2/28/13 If you are in a profession requiring a license, can you file your H1B petition without the license. In some cases, yes, even if you aren’t in the process of obtaining the license. This video breaks down the issue in detail.

Substantial Investment and Proportionality Test for E-2 6/25/15 The substantial investment and proportionality test for E-2 visa applications is often misunderstood. This video explains how to determine whether your investment will be considered a substantial investment, and how the sliding scale proportionality test works.

Negative Control 50/50 Ownership for two E-2 Applications – 6/25/15 There is an often missed rule that actually allows two foreign nationals to obtain an E-2 visa as an investor, even where the investment amounts differ, as long as they both share ownership of the business 50-50. This rule is known as the negative control rule.

I-130 Marriage Fraud Referral Sheet Leaked 7/6/15 If your I-130 marriage based petition got denied, or if you ever wondered what criteria USCIS uses to evaluate whether a marriage based green card petition requires fraud investigation, this video provides a review of the fraud referral sheet used by immigration officers in making such evaluations.

Indian Pleads Guilty to Multi-million Dollar USCIS/IRS Scam 6/8/17 An American women of Indian origin, from Alabama plead guilty, admitting her involvement in a scam where India-based call centers cheated people out of millions of dollars. Nilam Parikh, age 46, admitted her guilt in the US District Court of the southern District of Texas, according to the US Justice Department.

Arrest Up Deportations Reduced Under the Trump Administration – 6/8/17 There has been nearly a 40 percent increase in immigration arrests in 2017 under the Trump administration. Approximately 40,000 people suspected of being present without status have been arrested. These figures were released by the Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director, Thomas Homan.