Practice Areas : Immigration

Deportation Proceedings & Relief from Deportation

Throughout the 1800s and into the early part of the Twentieth Century there were only a handful of federal statutes dealing with the exclusion of aliens and the removal or deportation of aliens already present in the United States. Since that time the laws regarding the exclusion and deportation of aliens have become extremely complex. In the past two decades alone their have been more than six major overhauls of the immigration laws and another major overhaul is imminent. If you are facing deportation proceedings hiring a competent immigration attorney is the first step in successfully canceling deportation and exploring other forms of deportation relief.

Employment Based Residency (Two Parts)

An immigrant is a foreign national who has been authorized to live and work permanently in the United States. If you want to become an immigrant based on the fact that you have a permanent employment opportunity in the United States, or if you are an employer that wants to sponsor someone for lawful permanent residency based on permanent employment in the United States, you must go through a multi-step process.

• Labor Certification Process
• I-140 immigrant petition for alien worker and for the I-485 adjustment of status to permanent residence

Asylum Petitions

Asylum may be granted to people who are arriving in or already physically present in the United States. To apply for asylum in the United States, you may ask for asylum at a port-of-entry (airport, seaport, or border crossing), or file an application for asylum and for withholding of removal within one year of your arrival in the United States. You may apply for asylum regardless of your immigration status, whether you are in the United States legally or illegally.

In order to be eligible for asylum an Immigration Judge must determine whether you are unable or unwilling to return to and avail yourself of the protection of your home country or, if stateless, country of your last habitual residence because of persecution, or a well-founded fear of persecution, on account of:

• Race
• Religion
• Nationality
• Membership in a particular social group
• Political opinion

The Asylum Officer or Immigration Judge will also consider whether any bars to asylum apply.

H-1B (Specialty Occupation)
The H-1B visa program is used by U.S. businesses to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher (or its equivalent), such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.

By law, the congressionally mandated cap for H-1B visas is 65,000 for new H-1B visas per fiscal year, (October 1st to September 30th) subject to certain limited exceptions. The advanced degree (Masters Degree, PhD) provides for an additional 20,000 H-1B visas.

E Visas (Investors/Traders)
The E categories are designated for aliens engaged in international trade or investment between the United States (U.S.) and the aliens’ countries of nationality, provided the U.S. has an appropriate treaty relationship with the foreign country.

A treaty country is a foreign state with which a qualifying Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, or Navigation, or its equivalent, exists with the United States. Treaty Countries include a foreign state that is accorded treaty visa privileges under specific legislation. A listing of countries that the U.S. currently has treaties can be downloaded from the State Department at http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/09fam/0941104X1.pdf.

Family Based Immigration
If you want to become a lawful permanent resident based on the fact that you have a relative who is a citizen of the United States, or a relative who is a lawful permanent resident, you must go through a multi-step process.

• The US Customs & Immigration Services must approve an immigrant visa petition.
• The Department of State must determine if an immigrant visa number is immediately available to you.
• If you are already in the United States, you may apply to change your status to that of a lawful permanent resident after a visa number becomes available to you.
• If you are outside the United States when an immigrant visa number becomes available, you must then go to the U.S. consulate servicing the area in which you reside to complete your processing.

People who want to become immigrants are classified into categories based on a preference system. The immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, which includes parents, spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21, do not have to wait for an immigrant visa number to become available once the visa petition filed for them is approved by USCIS.