Immigration
Carson & Kyung provides effective solutions for all aspects of U.S. immigration and nationality services for our clients, including those listed below. Meet with our professionals to identify and strategically reach your immigration-related goals so that you may avoid having to struggle with complicated immigration laws alone.
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Family-Based Immigration
Family-Member Immigration | Citizenship & Naturalization | Fiance and Spouse Visas | Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Victims of Crime (U-Visa), and Victims of Human Trafficking (T-Visa) | Asylum/Refugee Status
Employment-Based Immigration
Employment-Based Visas (Green Card) | Temporary Employment Visas | Employer Compliance & E-Verify
Other Immigration-Related Services
Visitors for Business (B-1) or Pleasure (B-2), & Visa Waiver Program | Academic (F-1) or Vocational (M-1) Student Visas | Deportation Defense & Bond Hearings | Criminal Charges & Immigration | Waivers of Inadmissibility (I-601/I-212) | Administrative Appeals Office, US 9th Circuit Court, & Board of Immigration Appeals | Writ of Mandamus, 1447(b), Habeas Corpus, & Declaratory Relief Petitions | Deferred Action Policy
Immigration Blog Posts
8 Points from Gang of Eight’s Immigration Bill
On April 16, 2013, the bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Eight” introduced the bill “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” which would provide for comprehensive immigration reform.
This bill would accomplish numerous objectives, but here are 8. The objectives, summarized by AILA, are as follows:
LEGALIZATION: Allow noncitizens who are unlawfully present and who entered the U.S. before December 31, 2011 to adjust status to that of Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI). Eligible applicants would be required to pay a penalty and back taxes. Individuals in RPI status would receive work authorization and may travel abroad. They would also become eligible to apply for LPR status after 10 years, and can apply for naturalization 3 years after acquiring a green card. Includes generous provisions for DREAMers and agricultural workers.
FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRANTS: Move the current FB-2A category into the immediate relative classification, allow for derivatives of immediate relatives, eliminate the FB-4 category, cap the age of eligibility of married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens at 31, and bring back the V visa.
EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS: Exempt the following categories from the quota: EB-1 immigrants, doctoral degree holders, physicians who have completed the foreign residency requirement, and derivatives. Add a new “EB-6″ category for certain entrepreneurs.
TEMPORARY WORKERS: Create a W-1 visa for lesser-skilled workers, a W-2 visa for aliens coming to the U.S. temporarily to perform agricultural services or labor under a written contract, and a W-3 visa for “at-will” workers with an offer of full-time employment in an agricultural occupation. The W-2 and W-3 visas would replace the current H-2A agricultural worker program.
ASYLUM: Eliminate the one-year filing deadline and authorize asylum officers to grant asylum during credible fear interview.
E-VERIFY: Require all employers to be on the system after 5 years.
H-1B: Increase the quota to a floor of 110,000 and a ceiling of 180,000, increase the U.S. advanced degree exemption to 25,000 but limit it to STEM graduates, add a recruitment requirement for all H-1B labor condition applications involving a detailed posting on an Internet site designed by the Labor Department, add a non-displacement attestation, change the prevailing wage formula, provide EADs for spouses, and add a 60-day grace period after an H-1B has been terminated from his or her job.
FRAUD: Make it a crime to knowingly defraud an immigrant or hold oneself out as an attorney or BIA accredited representative when one is not authorized to do so. Require the identification of individuals who assist immigrants with the completion of forms and empower the Attorney General with injunctive authority to act against an unscrupulous “immigration service provider” at the federal level.
You may read the bill here.
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By: Peter Kyung Google+ | Twitter | LinkedIn | Avvo | Facebook
*The information provided in this post does not constitute legal advice or opinion. The information is for guidance purposes only. Individual situations vary and you should contact us for a consultation.
Zuckerberg (Facebook), Houston (LinkedIn) and Others Push for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Recently, leaders in the tech community hope to keep the United States competitive in the global economy; namely, by advocating for comprehensive immigration reform. As the Gang of Eight prepares to present its Immigration Bill, and with President Obama’s recent change to the procedural aspects of the Hardship Waiver, more and more groups are encouraging Congress to change immigration laws.
FWD.us was created for this purpose (with others in mind) and cites to studies showing that: (1) 57% of engineering graduate students in the US are foreign-born; (2) 40% of the 2010 Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants; and, (3) with comprehensive immigration reform, DREAMers would add approximately $329 billion to the US economy by 2030.
Here is the link to FWD.us
Call Us: (916) 241-3336
By: Peter Kyung Google+ | Twitter | LinkedIn | Avvo | Facebook
*The information provided in this post does not constitute legal advice or opinion. The information is for guidance purposes only. Individual situations vary and you should contact us for a consultation.
Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
USCIS Now Accepting Applications for I-601A Provisional Waiver
Persons who entered the US without inspection or who are otherwise ineligible to adjust their status in the US may now apply for an I-601A waiver for their unlawful presence.
Immediate relatives may avoid submitting waivers of inadmissibility based on unlawful presence (those subject to the 3-year or 10-year bar) abroad, thereby circumventing being separated from their families for months while their waivers are in review. The I-601A process will allow individuals to obtain waivers domestically, attend interviews abroad, and return within as little as a few days.
Who qualifies? The applicant must be: (1) an immediate relative of a US citizen – parent to an adult (over 21) US citizen son or daughter, child (under 21) of a US citizen, or spouse of a US citizen; (2) physically present in the US; (3) at least 17-years old at the time of filing; (4) the beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition; and, (5) must demonstrate “extreme hardship” to a qualifying US citizen relative.
If you have any questions regarding a potential I-601A Provisional Waiver application, please contact us.
Call Us: (916) 241-3336
By: Peter Kyung Google+ | Twitter | LinkedIn | Avvo | Facebook
*The information provided in this post does not constitute legal advice or opinion. The information is for guidance purposes only. Individual situations vary and you should contact us for a consultation.
New Immigrant Fee Started on February 1st
On Feb. 1, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began collecting a new USCIS Immigrant Fee of $165 from foreign nationals who seek permanent residence in the United States. This new fee was announced on Sept. 24, 2010 to recover costs for filing, handling, processing, and the production and delivery of permanent resident cards.
Call Us: (916) 241-3336
By: Peter Kyung Google+ | Twitter | LinkedIn | Avvo | Facebook
*The information provided in this post does not constitute legal advice or opinion. The information is for guidance purposes only. Individual situations vary and you should contact us for a consultation.
Image courtesy of ddpavumba / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I-601A Provisional Waiver
DHS published the final rules on the Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives on January 3, 2013. On March 4, 2013, persons who entered the US without inspection or who are otherwise ineligible to adjust their status in the US may apply for an I-601A waiver for their unlawful presence.
Immediate relatives may avoid submitting waivers of inadmissibility based on unlawful presence (those subject to the 3-year or 10-year bar) abroad, thereby circumventing being separated from their families for months while their waivers are in review. The I-601A process will allow individuals to obtain waivers domestically, attend interviews abroad, and return within as little as a few days.
Who qualifies? The applicant must be: (1) an immediate relative of a US citizen – parent to an adult (over 21) US citizen son or daughter, child (under 21) of a US citizen, or spouse of a US citizen; (2) physically present in the US; (3) at least 17-years old at the time of filing; (4) the beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition; and, (5) must demonstrate “extreme hardship” to a qualifying US citizen relative.
If you have any questions regarding a potential I-601A Provisional Waiver application, please contact us.
Call Us: (916) 241-3336
By: Peter Kyung Google+ | Twitter | LinkedIn | Avvo | Facebook
*The information provided in this post does not constitute legal advice or opinion. The information is for guidance purposes only. Individual situations vary and you should contact us for a consultation.
Image courtesy of anankkml / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
