“IMMIGRATION LAW CONNECTION”

Every year, in the course of my professional practice as an immigration lawyer, I meet or know of at least 2-3 people who win the Greencard by virtue of the annual “Diversity Visa”-Lottery.    While this in itself may not be that unusual, I AM, however, astounded time and time again when I meet someone who [...]

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Starting February 1, 2013, USCIS will begin collecting a new fee of $165 from foreign nationals arriving in the United States as new immigrants.
The agency said it has worked closely with the Department of State (DOS) to implement the new fee, which will allow USCIS to recover the costs of processing immigrant visas in the [...]

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THE DREAM ACT: A CENTRAL ELEMENT OF REFORM
The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (S. 729/H.R. 1751) is a bipartisan bill that would provide a conditional six-year pathway to legal permanent residence for certain unauthorized youth who, as children, were brought to the U.S. if they: complete high [...]

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USCIS Director Mayorkas announced the coming of “Entrepreneurs in Residence.” This new innovative initiative will utilize industry expertise to strengthen USCIS policies and practices surrounding immigrant investors, entrepreneurs and workers with specialized skills, knowledge, or abilities.

“This initiative creates additional opportunities for USCIS to gain insights in areas critical to economic growth,” said Director [...]

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Zoe Adams, the driving force behind E2VISAREFORM.ORG, has initiated a petition with the White House in order to raise Washington’s awareness for the need of reforming E-2 visa regulations to allow for a path to permanent residency.
If we can reach 5,000 signatures within 30 days – till October 26th 2011 – the White House [...]

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In keeping with “tradition”, the U.S. State Department, which oversees the annual Greencard Lottery program, has posted participation dates and instructions for the upcoming DV-2013 lottery, which will accept entries between October 4 and November 5.
As usual, the lottery entries will only be accepted online at the official U.S. State Department site during the [...]

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The U.S. State Department has announced that certain Immigrant Visas (leading to permanent residence upon entry to the United States), and cases based on the Diversity Visa Lottery (”Greencard Lottery”) will NO LONGER be processed at its consular posts in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Oslo (Norway), due to low demand to process these types of cases [...]

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This post summarizes the major provisions of the legislative proposal known as “IDEA Act”, or H.R.2161 – Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America Act of 2011, as it is officially known. As stated in the bill itself, its purpose is “to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote innovation, investment, and research in the [...]

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Recently the USCIS has been implementing nationwide changes throughout its Field and District Offices that essentially do away with the practice of issuing so-called ADIT-stamps to Approved Adjustment Applicants.
ADIT-stamps are rectangular red-ink stamps placed into the passports of Applicants who have been approved for Green Card resident status, as temporary evidence of such approval [...]

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Following the PR nightmare and fiasco of the State Department’s horrendous blunder, a second drawing was conducted on July 15 among the entrants who participated in the Fall 2010 Diversity Visa Lottery (”Greencard Lottery”).   While this dashed the dreams of many, for others this represents a second chance to maybe hit that coveted “immigration jackpot”…
In [...]

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