Recent News Items

Relief for Foreign Nationals Stranded due to the Icelandic Volcano Eruption

Department of Homeland Security has issued an advisory for foreign nationals stranded in the U.S. due to airport closures in Europe.

If you have exceeded or are about to exceed your authorized stay in the U.S. you may be given up to an additional 30 days to depart.

Foreigners under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) should contact either the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office at the airport or visit the local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office.

Foreigners under a non immigrant visa should visit the local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office. Please remember to bring your passport, itinerary for the canceled flight and the I-94 departure card.

To read more visit www.uscis.gov.

The Haitian Government has requested a final list of orphans being considered under the Special Humanitarian Parole Program for Haitian Orphans. In response, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has stopped accepting new requests for consideration under the special program as of today, April 14, 2010. After today, USCIS will resume processing of inter-country adoptions.

More than 1,000 orphans have been authorized parole under the special program since January 18, 2010. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, 340 more cases are currently being considered. This program included provisions to protect the children. In particular, it ensured that each child granted parole was truly available for adoption and was matched to a suitable U.S. citizen for adoption.

In the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake, the Department of Homeland Security authorized parole for two specific and limited groups of Haitian children: (1) Children who either had full and final adoptions completed by their U.S. parents before the earthquake and who were legally confirmed as eligible for inter-country adoption by the government of Haiti and (2) Children who were far enough along in the adoption process that both the U.S. and Haitian governments could verify the identity and eligibility of the children for adoption and the U.S. government could confirm the suitability of the adoptive parents.

From today onward, every inter-country adoption case involving Haitian orphans will be processed through normal channels. The Haitian government has begun accepting new documents for adoption cases and the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince has resumed regular processing.

At the Visa Lawyer Group, our attorneys always remain current on developing stories and their impact on immigration laws. We are an immigration law firm that provides legal assistance to clients around the world. Our immigration lawyers can be contacted to work on a variety of immigration related issues. For more information please schedule a free consultation, email us at info@visalawyergroup.com or call us at (845) 353-3500.

In an effort to protect noncitizens from incompetent counsel, the U.S. Supreme Court held in favor of the immigrant Petitioner, in Padilla v. Kentucky. In a 7-2 decision, the Justices held that criminal defense lawyers must advise their noncitizen clients of the harsh immigration consequences that can result from accepting a guilty plea. Justice Stevens wrote that the right to competent counsel, enumerated by the Constitution, extended to the collateral consequences of plea bargaining. The decision in this case confirms one of the basic tenets of our criminal justice system, competent legal advice. Criminal defense attorneys who do not have even a basic understanding of U.S. immigration laws fail to provide their clients with comprehensive advice. Admitting or pleading to any charge in the criminal justice system can turn around and have devastating consequence on the defendant’s immigration status in the United States. Therefore, it is important that every attorney who works with the immigrants in our country understand that the criminal justice system does not exist in a bubble and to act accordingly.

For more information read the New York Times article.

On Monday, March 22, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the arguments in Ruben Flores-Villar v. United States. At the crux of the argument is the disparate treatment given to children of U.S. citizen mothers as opposed to U.S. citizen fathers. Under the current law, children born abroad to a U.S. citizen mother have an easier time attaining U.S. citizenship as opposed to children born abroad to a U.S. citizen father. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the U.S. immigration laws in this area create a gender bias. In the instant case, Ruben Flores-Villar was born in Tijuana, Mexico to a Mexican mother and a U.S. citizen father. Mr. Flores-Villar applied for U.S. citizenship in 2006 in an effort to fight off criminal charges resulting in a deportation order. Mr. Aguilar argued that his biological relationship to his U.S. citizen father granted him U.S. citizenship. The courts said that Mr. Flores’s father did not meet the requisite residency requirement needed under the law. The area of birth-right citizenship has always been a contested area of law. For example, under the current law any child born on U.S. soil is considered a U.S. citizen. Even if the child was born to undocumented parents and this has raised many issues in the ever present immigration debate. Hopefully this case will lead to clarification and uniformity in area of immigration law. The case will be heard before the Supreme Court in Spring, 2010.

For more information read the New York Times

At the Visa Lawyer Group, our attorneys always remain current on developing stories and their impact on immigration laws. We are an immigration law firm that provides legal assistance to clients around the world. Our immigration lawyers can be contacted to work on a variety of immigration related issues. For more information please ,schedule a free consultation, email us at info@visalawyergroup.com or call us at (845) 353-3500.

Due to the recent catastrophic disasters in Chile, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has implemented certain immigration benefits for eligible Chilean Nationals. Unlike the steps take for temporary protected status after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, no such protection has been created for Chilean Nationals.

The temporary relief measures currently available for Chilean nationals may include: (1) grant of change of status or extension of a nonimmigrant status even when the application is submitted after the applicant’s authorized stay has expired; (2) re-parole of individuals previously granted parole; (3) extensions of certain advance parole approvals and expedited processing of advance parole applications; (4) expedited and approval, if qualified, for off-campus employment authorization for F-1 students; (5) expedited processing of I-130 immigrant visa petitions for qualifying immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents; (6) expedited issuance of employment authorization; and (7) assistance to stranded green card holders without documents in conjunction with the Department of State.

It is important to note that these relief measures must be requested. At the Visa Lawyer Group, our attorneys always remain current on developing stories and their impact on immigration laws. We are an immigration law firm that provides legal assistance to clients around the world. Our immigration lawyers can be contacted to work on a variety of immigration related issues. For more information please ,schedule a free consultation, email us at info@visalawyergroup.com or call us at (845) 353-3500.