On May 4, 2022, United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) announced a temporary final rule that increases the automatic employment extension on Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) from 180 days up to 540 days in certain visa categories. The primary objective for the additional 360-day extension is to prevent gaps in work authorization due to the USCIS’ significant processing delays for work permit renewal applications.
Read MoreApplying for a Green Card or Immigrant visa is the first step in becoming a United States Permanent Resident. As a Green Card holder, you and your immediate family can live and work in the United States permanently. Most people obtain Green Cards by being sponsored by their employers or their relatives. Others obtain permanent residence through the Green Card lottery, asylum and through various other means. The main ways of applying for a Green Card are through marriage, employment, family, the lottery and through investment.
The State Department has released the Visa Bulletin for June 2014. http://www.immigrationbn.com/Portals/52046/docs/visa bulletin.pdf The cut-off date for all family-based F-2A categories (for spouses and (unmarried, minor) children of lawful permanent residents retrogressed by more than a year for all countries. Unexpected and dramatic increase in demand in the employment-based third and "other worker" categories also resulted in retrogression in those categories, except for the Philippines. Hardest impacted is the EB-3 China category which retrogressed by 6 years from October 1, 2012 to October 1, 2006. The "other worker" China category retrogressed from October 1, 2012 to January 1, 2003. A notice regarding the 2015 Diversity Visa Lottery winners is also included.
In recent weeks, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) learned of a new telephone scam targeting USCIS applicants and petitioners. Scammers are using a technique called “Caller ID spoofing” to display a misleading or inaccurate phone number in a recipient’s Caller ID. The scammer poses as a USCIS official and requests personal information (such as Social Security number, passport number, or A-number), identifies supposed issues in the recipient’s immigration records, and asks for payment to correct these records.
Immigration attorney Karen-Lee Pollak explains how the Diversity Immigrant Visa program works.
Immigration attorney Karen-Lee Pollak explains the beneifts associated with US citizenship.
Immigration attorney Karen-Lee Pollak explains the 245i provision which allows you to apply for a green card if you are in the United States legally.
Immigration attorney Karen-Lee Pollak explains how to legally bring a family member to the United States.
Immigration attorney Karen-Lee Pollak explains how to legally bring a employee to work in the United States.