DACA Travel Abroad: There Are Risks and Advantages
If you have received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), “Advance Parole” allows you to travel outside the U.S. under certain circumstances.
DACA Renewals
In June of 2012, USCIS announced the new law for deferring action for certain childhood arrivals and issuing them work permits for a period of two years. Learn more about DACA renewals here.
Myths about Immigration, Illegal or Otherwise
Any politically charged issue will bring with it misunderstandings or misinterpretation of facts. This is especially true for illegal immigration, which has led to a number of myths about immigration in general.
U.S. Border Crisis: The Differences Between ‘Refugee,’ ‘Asylee’ and ‘Immigrant’
As tens of thousands of children from Latin America await their fate at the U.S. border, media reports and casual conversation have described their status as two very different legal categories: refugee/asylee and immigrant. There is a significant distinction between the two categories, which could play a major factor in the current U.S. border crisis and whether these children get deported or are given permission to remain in the United States.
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)
Background
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) amended the Immigration Nationality Act (INA) by changing who qualifies as a child for purposes of immigrant. This allows certain beneficiaries to retain classification as a “child,” even if he or she has reached the age of 21.
What Is the Purpose of the H-2B Visa?
Commonly Asked Questions and Answers
The H-2B visa is used by U.S. companies to temporarily employ skilled or unskilled foreign nationals in nonagricultural positions.
What Is an H-1B Visa?
U.S. employers use the H-1B classification to obtain authorization to employ foreign professional workers. The position offered must be in a specialty occupation. The H-1B visa is also used by aliens who are coming to the U.S. to perform services as a fashion model.
Lost the H-1B Visa Lottery? There May Be Other Visa Options Available to You.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa to the United States for professionals and individuals with “specialty occupations” requiring a bachelor’s degree. A “specialized occupation” requires theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge. Examples of “specialty occupations” include engineers, physicians, accountants, teachers and others. April 1st is the earliest date to file cap-subject petitions. The USCIS received 172, 500 cap-subject H-1B visa petitions during the first week of April, 2014. For the first time since Congress imposed an arbitrary numerical cap on H-1B petitions in the early 1990s, there were more losers than winners in this year’s lottery. Given that the cap is presently set at 85,000 (65,000 H-1B regular cap and 20,000 H-1B master’s exemption), there are a total of 87,500 individuals who will not be able to work in H-1B status for the companies which sponsored them.
Immigration Update: H-1B Visa
Petition filings for H-1B Visas surged this year. In fact, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) have reached their statutory cap for fiscal year 2015. With 172,500 petitions received, the cap on these visas was exceeded, leaving USCIS to hold a lottery to select which petitioners would get their petitions processed.
Economic Boost in Immigration
The U.S. Senate’s Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) is finding support from President Barack Obama as he urges the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the bill or craft similar legislation.