Immigration Updates

By: Immigration Attorney Norka M. Schell In the year of 2016, the election of Donald Trump was significant for the direction it signaled U.S. immigration policy would be taking in the foreseeable future. The elected President proposes to build a wall on the Mexican border; to deport illegal immigrants; and to block the inflow of…

By: Walter Ewing In the event that there was any doubt, women and children from Central America’s Northern Triangle—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—are fleeing the same horrific conditions that were driving them out of their countries in large numbers two years ago. That is why apprehensions of Northern Triangle refugees have gone up this year,…

In New York City, defendants are brought before a Judge for arraignment within 24 hours of the arrest. After the case has been docketed by the court and the complaint and accused’s criminal history are ready, the defendant is brought to Criminal Court for arraignment. In New York City’s five boroughs, criminal court arraignments are…

Validity of Marriage for Immigration Purposes The applicant must establish validity of his or her marriage. In general, the legal validity of a marriage is determined by the law of the place where the marriage was celebrated? (“place-of-celebration rule”). Under this rule, a marriage is valid for immigration purposes in cases where the marriage is…

Undocumented immigrant victims of violence historically have been extremely reluctant to seek justice for the crimes perpetrated against them because to do so inevitably requires the involvement of law enforcement. Those who have no status in the United States understand full well that if they contact the police, immigration authorities may follow behind, and deportation…

There are two classifications of people that the United States uses in regards to taxes tax residents and non-tax residents. If you have immigrated into the United States, you may be wondering how to figure out how immigration and taxes apply to you. There are many situations in which you may be required to pay…

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (‘USCIS”) does bring removal proceedings against every alien whom it suspects of being deportable. For one thin, it recognizes that there are certain cases in which extraordinary sympathetic factors would make removal unconscionable. For another, the DHS could not remove all deportable…

H-2B Employers Urged to Identify Returning Workers when Filing Petitions Effective December 18, 2015, H-2B workers identified as “returning workers” are exempted from the fiscal year (FY) 2016 annual H-2B cap of 66,000 visas. See Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) §214(g)(9)(a), 8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(9)(a), as revised by Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-113).…

USCIS is proposing regulatory amendments to better enable U.S. employers to hire and retain certain foreign workers who are beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions and are waiting to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs). Read the notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on December 31, 2015: Retention of EB-1, EB-2 and…

On December 8th, in the wake of the attacks in Paris, the House overwhelmingly voted to pass the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) reform bill to enhance and bolster the national security. This reform bill that was initially introduced by Rep. Candice Miller introduces many promising and effective security enhancements such as the use of a…