IMMIGRATION SERVICES

Among other areas, our firm concentrates on handling Immigration cases for our clients. These services range from filing Immigration petitions with the USCIS (Former INS) to representing our clients in Immigration Courts all around the Country. Immigration Law is a Federal Law and we can help in any court throughout the United States. Though we have offices in Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and New York (Manhattan) Counties in New York, we can accommodate you anywhere a case is brought.

Our Immigration services include having experienced lawyers handle the following issues:

NON-IMMIGRANT VISAS

A non-immigrant visa is granted to a non-U.S. citizen to seek admission into the U.S. for a temporary period of time for a specific purpose. It is usually issued by the U.S. Consular officer in the country of the aliens’ residence. The U.S. Immigration laws define various types of non-immigrant visas.

• A visa – This visa allows for diplomats, officials and employees of foreign governments recognized by the U.S. to come on official business.
• B-1 visa - This category is reserved for individuals who need to come to the U.S. for temporary business reasons such as for contract negotiation, consulting with business associates, participating in conventions, etc.
• B-2 visa – This visa is for people coming to the U.S. for pleasure such as tourism, social visits to friends, and for health reasons, etc.
• E-1 visa – This visa is reserved for individuals who wish to carry on substantial trade that is international in scope between the U.S. and a foreign state of which he is a national and there exist a treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation or Bilaterial Investment Treaty or other arrangements (i.e. NAFTA).
• E-2 visa – This visa is for people who has invested or is actively in the process of investing and there is a treaty between the foreign state of which he is a national and the U.S.
• F visa – This visa is for bonafide students who wish to pursue a full course of study.
• G visa – Staff members of a listed international organization (i.e. IMG, UN) who are assigned on a resident basis are given this visa.
• H-1B visa – This visa is for people who wish to work in the U.S. in a specialty occupation such as those jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
• H-1C visa – This visa permits foreign trained nurses to work temporarily at hospital in areas where there is a health professional shortage.
• H-2A and H-2B visas – These visas are for temporary workers performing agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature.
• H-3 visa – This visa allows temporary workers for purposes of receiving instruction and training.
• I visa – This visa is for representatives of a foreign press, radio, film or other type of information company.
• J visa – This visa is for individuals who are coming to the U.S. to participate in an exchange visitor program that has been designated by the State Department. Certain holders of J-1 visa are subject to a two year foreign residency requirement.
• K-1 visa – Individuals who are engaged to U.S. citizens may be sponsored for this visa.
• K-3 visa – Individuals who are married to the U.S. citizens may come to the U.S. on this visa while they are waiting for adjudication of their family petitions.
• L-1A visa – This visa permits multinational managers or executives to be transferred to the U.S. from a foreign company that is affiliated with the U.S. company.
• L-1B visa – This visa permits an individual who has obtained specialized skills or knowledge at a foreign company to come to the U.S. to transfer his skills to an affiliated U.S. company.
• M visa – This visa is for students who wish to study at a vocational or nonacademic institution.
• O visa – This visa is for a person who has “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.”
• P-1 visa – This visa allows entry for a person who is performing as an athlete, individually or as a team member, or as an entertainer who is part of an entertainment group.
• P-2 visa – These individuals would enter under a reciprocal exchange program between an organization or organizations in the U.S. and one or more foreign organizations that allows for the temporary exchange of artists.
• P-3 visa – Individual or group artist may apply for a visa to perform, teach or coach in a culturally unique program.
• visa – This visa is for participants in an international cultural exchange program that was designated by the U.S. Attorney General.
• R visa – This visa is for individuals working a religious capacity (i.e. a minister) or in a professional capacity in a religious vocation or occupation.

IMMIGRANT VISAS

An immigrant is a non-U.S. citizen who is authorized to live and work permanently in the U.S. There are five categories of EMPLOYMENT BASED immigration:

• First Preference (EB-1 priority workers): aliens with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers.
• Second Preference (EB-2 workers with advanced degrees or exceptional ability): aliens who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent and aliens who because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business will substantially benefit the national economy, cultural, or educational interests or welfare of the United States.
• Third Preference (EB-3 professionals, skilled workers, and other workers): aliens with at least two years of experience as skilled workers, professionals with a baccalaureate degree, and others with less than two years experience, such as an unskilled worker who can perform labor for which qualified workers are not available in the United States.
• Fourth Preference (EB-4 special workers such as those in a religious occupation or vocation): aliens who, for at least two years before applying for admission to the United States, have been a member of a religious denomination that has a non-profit religious organization in the United States, and who will be working in a religious vocation or occupation at the request of the religious organization.
• Fifth Preference (EB-5 Employment Creation) If you would like to be granted immigrant status in the United States for the purpose of engaging in a new commercial enterprise, please see How Do I Become an Immigrant Through an Investment?.

The filing date of a petition is the applicant’s priority date. Whenever there are more qualified applicants for a category than there are available numbers, the category will be considered oversubscribed and immigrant visas will be issued in the chronological order in the preference the petitions were filed until the numerical limit for that category is reached. An immigrant visa cannot be issued until an applicant’s priority date is reached. In certain heavily oversubscribed categories like EB-3, there may be a waiting period of several years before a priority date is reached. Family Based Immigrant Visas

A non-U.S. citizen may gain the right to live and work permanently in the U.S. through a petition filed by a family member. If the sponsor is a U.S. Citizen, they may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the U.S:

• Husband or wife
• Unmarried child under 21 years of age
• Unmarried son or daughter over 21
• Married son or daughter of any age
• Brother or sister, if the sponsor is at least 21 years old, or Parent, if the sponsor is at least 21 years old.

“Immediate Relatives” refers to parents, spouses and children (who are unmarried and under 21 years of age) of a U.S. citizen. Immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen can immigrate to the United States without being subject to any numerical restrictions, unlike other close family members of U.S. citizens and/or permanent residents. Other close family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents are divided into several groups called “Preferences”. Each Preference is given a numerical quota per year to limit the number of immigrants admitted into the United States. Other close family members of a U.S. citizen can qualify to immigrate to the United States, but unlike immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen, they are subject to a numerical limit of immigrant visas available to them each year. Close family members are divided into several groups called “Preferences”. The higher the Preference, the quicker the alien will be eligible for a green card.

If the sponsor is a lawful permanent resident, they may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the U.S.:

• Husband or wife, or
• Unmarried son or daughter of any age.

The sponsor must be able to provide proof of the relationship. ASYLUM
Asylum may be granted to people who are arriving in or already physically present in the United States. To apply for asylum in the United States, a person may ask for asylum at a port-of-entry (airport, seaport, or border crossing), or file Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, at the appropriate Service Center within one year of his or her arrival in the United States. A person may apply for asylum regardless of his or her immigration status, whether he or she is in the United States legally or illegally.

A person must apply for asylum within one year of the last arrival in the United States, but may apply for asylum later than one year if there are changed circumstances that materially affect his or her eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances directly related to his or her failure to file within one year.

GREEN CARDS

An individual may be eligible for a “green card” (lawful permanent residency) if certain legal requirements are met. There are different paths to a “green card.” An individual may be sponsored by a family member or an employer. See Immigrant visas. Persons granted asylum or refugee status in the U.S. may be eligible to adjust there immigrant status to one of a permanent resident. There can be a Diversity Visa Lottery Program option. An immigration attorney can review the circumstances of an individual case and recommend available options.

CITIZENSHIP

The U.S. citizenship may be obtained three different ways. The first way is by birth. One is automatically a citizen if he or she was born in the United States. One is also a citizen if he or she is born outside the U.S. and is the offspring of at least one U.S. citizen and certain conditions apply.

The second way one can become a citizen is by meeting the requirements for citizenship established by the Child Citizenship Act, which has been in effect since February 27, 2001. If the child meets these requirements, then he is automatically a U.S. citizen even though he was not born a U.S. citizen and did not go through the naturalization process to become a U.S. citizen. In this scenario, one may want to obtain a certificate of citizenship to prove U.S. citizenship.

The third way one can become a citizen is through a process called naturalization. Naturalization enables a non- U.S. citizen to become a United States citizen. A person must meet certain requirements established by the U.S. law. Among them are age, residence and physical presence, good moral character, knowledge of the U.S. government and history and English language.

DEPORTATION AND REMOVAL

Immigration law provides certain types of relief from removal in the Immigration Court, the BIA and various Federal Courts. Among possible avenues of relief are:

1. cancellation of removal for permanent residents;
2. cancellation of removal for non-permanent residents;
3. adjustment of status to permanent residence;
4. asylum, withholding of removal and UN Convention Against Torture; and
5. waivers of inadmissibility and deportability

For more information on visas and procedures please refer to www.uscis.gov To set up a consultation please email us or call 516-741-3400

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