In Georgia, there are many undocumented foreign nationals who have been living in our communities and contributing to our society and the state’s economy for years. Unfortunately, for the most part their undocumented status has prevented them from obtaining work authorization, drivers’ licenses, and other benefits. Thankfully, these disadvantages will no longer pose obstacles to […]
Comprehensive immigration reform has been looming on the horizon for over two years now. Ever since the Senate agreed to its own bill last summer, immigration advocates and opponents alike have been waiting for the House of Representatives to pass legislation addressing the fractured U.S. immigration system. Unfortunately, the country continues to wait as the […]
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) houses the government agency U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS reviews and approves (or denies) most applications for immigration benefits, including applications for deferred action (suspension of deportation proceedings) and work authorization for undocumented foreign nationals who were brought to the U.S. as children. These foreign nationals […]
Recently, the House Republicans issued their official statement on what standards must be met in any immigration bill in order for the House to pass the legislation. In general, the Republicans have six broad categories of goals they want accomplished before they will pass comprehensive immigration reform. First, there is a widespread consensus amongst House […]
In June of 2013, the United States Senate passed its version of the long-awaited comprehensive immigration reform. A bi-partisan group of Senators introduced the bill in April 2013, after President Obama made immigration reform a top priority for his second administration. The bill was several hundreds of pages long and addressed major issues such as […]
Many F-1 student visa holders may want to travel abroad to the Caribbean, their home country, or elsewhere during the summer break. Other students may intend to seek temporary employment related to their course of study (Curricular Practical Training or “CPT”). In order to be able to travel, study, or work there are important issues […]
In my previous article, I discussed how clients are surprised that their criminal record, even years old, may prevent them from becoming a U.S. citizen. I discussed that, in U.S. immigration law, a conviction is more than just a finding of guilty and that having a criminal record can have a serious impact when applying […]
Recently, I was interviewing a new client who was interested in applying for her U.S. citizenship – “naturalization” – and during our naturalization intake review, she appeared to be surprised and confused when I began asking her about her criminal history. “Why, does that matter?” she asked and my immediate response was, “Yes! Yes it […]
Any major immigration reform regarding the path to citizenship for undocumented workers may be taking a backseat to other pressing matters facing Congress and the President such as the crisis in Syria, a short-term spending bill to avoid a complete government shutdown, the upcoming the debt ceiling in October and partisanship disagreements on implementation of […]
The USCIS has now released the application forms for the Obama deferred action program and is accepting requests as of August 15, 2012, pursuant to the guidelines released on June 15, 2012 and again on August 3, 2012 by Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security. It is important that applicants understand the eligibility requirements prior […]