Immigration Updates

The Congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered annually by the Department of State. Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of “diversity immigrants,” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For fiscal year 2016, 50,000 diversity visas (DVs) will be available. There…

When someone wishes to come to the U.S. temporarily (whether for a number of weeks as in the case of a tourist, an international student or a number of years as in the case of an H-1B worker), he or she must obtain a “visa” to enter the U.S. When admitted into the country -at…

In an asylum claim, what is a well-founded-fear of persecution? With regard to the “well-founded fear of persecution ” standard applicable to asylum claims, the regulations state that an applicant meets the standard if he establishes that (a) the applicant has a fear of persecution in his country of nationality or last habitual residence on…

Each year mandatory detention results in the jailing of tens of thousands of people who pose no danger to their communities and are not a flight risk. Feeding this detention system is the mandatory detention provision of Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA), requiring that most people in deportation proceedings, base…

The decision whether to grant parole in place is discretionary. Generally, parole in place is to be granted only sparingly. The fact that the individual is a spouse, child or parent of an Active Duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces, an individual in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve or an individual who…

I have noticed that there is some confusion out there about what our National Benefits Center (NBC) is and what it does. The NBC serves a unique role within our organization as part of the Field Operations Directorate. The NBC was founded in 2001 in Lee’s Summit, Missouri and was originally called the Missouri Service…

By: Norton Tooby Posted by: Norka M. Schell DUI and Immigration Driving under the influence cases are very common, and fortunately do not in general trigger adverse immigration consequences. Assuming the case involves driving under the influence of alcohol, as opposed to drugs, a simple DUI conviction does not trigger deportation or inadmissibility. If the…

Employers that decide to hire foreign nationals affected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and export control requirement must implement sophisticated procedures related to that hiring. In addition of obtaining proper visa status for prospective foreign national employees, employers must be aware of the circumstances in which employing a foreign national implicates federal export…

Although noncitizen in removal proceedings lack the full constitutional protections of criminal defendants or the broad discovered tools of civil litigants in Federal Court, the Immigration and Nationality Act and accompanying regulations provide a number of protections related to evidence. Aliens have an explicit statutory right to present evidence and cross-examine adverse witnesses. Evidence is…

When a person in the United States in one nonimmigrant visa (temporary) status decides to engage in a primary activity permitted only under a different nonimmigrant (temporary) status – for example, a B-2 tourist decides to attend school, or an F-1 student decides to take up other than school-approved employment – the nonimmigrant visa has…