For busy families living in the United States, hiring a person to help out in their home, such as a childcare worker or housekeeper, is a common desire. Despite popular belief, however, there are not many visa options for immigrants who want to come to the US to work in a private household. There are a few nonimmigrant visas that are available in limited circumstances, which will be discussed below; however, families wishing to hire without restrictions may be disappointed by the limitations.
Read moreTop 10 “Quick” Immigration Questions (Spoiler Alert: The Answers are Rarely Quick!)
As an immigration attorney much of my day is spent answering “quick” questions from current and potential clients. I know their heart is in the right place when they ask what they think will be a simple question, so I try to be gentle when I break the news that answers are frequently much more complicated than the questions when it comes to immigration law. So, I thought it might be useful (and interesting) to discuss some of the most common ones. (As always, this post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice. We strongly recommend consulting an experienced immigration attorney for legal advice and guidance.)
Read moreUSCIS Does It Again....
It's that time all immigration attorneys have been dreading. No, no, not a Trump presidency, but rather US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) increasing their fees. In all fairness, it has been over six years since the last fee increase and USCIS is almost entirely funded by fees paid by applicants and petitioners for their immigration applications.
Read moreKey Differences between EB-1-1 Immigrant Petitions and O-1 Nonimmigrant Petitions
Jessica, a third year law student at Fordham University School of Law, is our fall associate. She is currently the Senior Notes Editor for the Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law and a student attorney at the Immigrant Rights Clinic.
We regularly work with “extraordinary” individuals. And we don’t just mean “extraordinary” in the normal sense of the word—rare, phenomenal, and special—but also the type of “extraordinary” that fits US Citizenship & Immigration Service’s (USCIS) legal standard. That’s right, we’re talking about the O-1 nonimmigrant visa classification for individuals with “extraordinary” ability or achievement and the EB-1-1 immigrant visa classification for individuals who demonstrate “extraordinary” ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim.
Read moreMy Immigration Story
Many people come up to me and say, “Joseph, how did you get your start in immigration law? I know that now you edit the law firm blog and work in human resources, but what was it like to be an immigration paralegal? And how does your hair get such great volume and bounce?”
Read moreAll about Visa Reciprocity
Reciprocity is a principle of international law stating that the benefits, privileges, and penalties granted by one country to citizens of another country should be returned in-kind when the reverse occurs. In immigration law, this means that when a foreign government imposes certain fees or conditions on US citizens for certain visa types, the US government will impose the same fees or conditions on nationals of that country for similar visa types.
Read moreUSCIS Is Going Paperless (Someday): What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
They say the art of letter writing is dead, and yet every week we send carefully penned letters, laboriously printed on reams of dead trees and lovingly hand-signed in blue or black ink, a choice that can be surprisingly important to the receiving agent at US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS). Many US government agencies have implemented electronic forms for everything from paying your taxes to registering to vote. And, of course, many people have been conducting much of their personal business online for decades now—from ordering lunch to banking to managing their 401(k).
Read moreAn Introduction to E-2 Treaty Investors
Megana, a rising second year law student at Fordham University School of Law, is one of our summer associates. A merit scholarship recipient, she will serve on the Intellectual Property Law Journal this coming year.
While not as well known as an H-1B or O-1, the E-2 Treaty Investor is at times a good option for certain individuals seeking to do business within the United States. The following Q&A will shed some light on the various conditions that must be met in order to qualify as well as general information for this type of visa.
Read moreAn Introduction to Medical Ineligibilities for Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visas
Whether applying for immigrant (Green Card) or nonimmigrant (temporary) visas, foreign nationals must be found “admissible” to the US. There are many legal grounds of “inadmissibility” that make people inadmissible, including criminal and security grounds. A lesser-known basis of inadmissibility relates to health and medical issues, which is what we will focus on in this post.
Read more5 Visas We Wish Existed
We are lucky here at the firm to meet so many interesting and talented people from all over the world. But nothing is more frustrating than when we meet someone with a genuine and legitimate reason to be in or come to the US, but we are unable to help them because there is no appropriate visa type that matches their qualifications or situation. This got us to thinking—what if we could invent or re-style existing visas to match some of the people we meet and cannot help. We may have to get creative with the alphabet here…
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