Category Archives: Immigrant

Visa Bulletin

The Department of State has announced the availability of immigrant numbers during June 2013 in the Visa Bulletin for June 2013. The Department of State has announced the availability of immigrant numbers during May 2013 in the Visa Bulletin for May 2013. “The Employment-based Third preference category cut-off date for most countries has advanced significantly.  [...]

Posted on 5/10/2013 | Immigrant

Broken Again? A Brief History of Recent U.S. Immigration Law

During my 35 plus years practicing U.S. immigration and nationality law I have heard one constant complaint from colleagues and the chattering class alike. Like Chicken Little’s refrain about the “sky falling,” the complaint is that the immigration system is somehow “broken.” When I first started practicing in 1976 it was our way of dealing [...]

Posted on 5/09/2013 | Immigrant, Nonimmigrant

EB-5 Immigration Investors

The U.S. government is very interested in encouraging foreign nationals to invest substantial funds in US businesses with the expectation that these investments will create jobs in the United States. This is the premise behind the EB-5 program, which offers three types of qualifying investments, and should result in successful applicants eventually receiving “green cards.” [...]

Posted on 2/15/2013 | Immigrant

Immigration Innovation (I²) Act of 2013

A group of U.S. Senators has introduced a new immigration bill, namely the Immigration Innovation (I2) Act of 2013, in an attempt to pass new legislation that will provide critical reforms to the employment-based immigration system. Included in this new bill are provisions increasing the annual H-1B cap, providing additional market-based escalator clauses in the [...]

Posted on 1/31/2013 | Immigrant, Nonimmigrant

移民ビザ申請料

2013年2月1日以降に海外の米国領事館で移民ビザの発給をうける方は、米国へ出発する前に米国移民局移民ビザ申請料165ドルを米国移民局（USCIS）ウエブサイトから支払う必要があります。この申請料は、移民局が申請者の移民ビザファイルを作成・管理し、グリーンカードを作成・郵送するのにかかる費用を回収する目的で新設されたものです。 現状では、孤児(IR-3s/IR-4s)またはハーグ条約(IH-3s/IH-4s)にもとづく子供、米国政府の雇用にもとづくイラクやアフガン特別移民、帰国居住者(SB-1s)、Kビザ申請者などは同申請料の対象外となります。

Posted on 1/15/2013 | Immigrant

New Application Fees

Effective February 1, 2013, all individuals issued immigrant visas overseas  (including Canada and Mexico)  must pay a $165.00 USCIS Immigrant Fee to USCIS after receiving their visas and before traveling to the United States. This new immigrant fee will cover the cost of USCIS staff time to handle, file and maintain the immigrant visa package, and [...]

Posted on 1/15/2013 | Immigrant, Nonimmigrant

米国領事館のビザ申請審査状況をチェック

Consular Electronic Application CenterのCheck My Visa Application Statusのリンクから、ビザ申請提出後の審査状況がわかります。Select a locationでビザを申請した領事館を選び、Application IDを入力します。

Posted on 1/11/2013 | Immigrant, Nonimmigrant, 日本語

Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver

On January 2nd, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens present in the United States, who are in the process of seeking immigrant visas, may apply and be approved for provisional unlawful presence waivers before departing the United States to attend their immigrant visa interviews. The new rules [...]

Posted on 1/07/2013 | Immigrant

Schedule A for physical therapist

I recently had the privilege of representing a physical therapy center that wanted to sponsor one of their employees for a green card as a physical therapist. This employment-based sponsorship falls under “Schedule A,” a category of occupations for which the Department of Labor has determined there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, [...]

Posted on 12/20/2012 | Immigrant

Apply for deferred action as a dreamer childhood arrival

We are very pleased to announce that we have received our first batch of approvals for Deferred Action and Employment Authorization for those who have applied for such benefits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).  With these approvals these people will now be able to obtain a social security card and in many [...]

Posted on 10/18/2012 | Employment Authorization, Immigrant, Social Security Card