In one short week, this is some of the wisdom that has come from USCIS. 1. A, from Las Vegas, is a long-term permanent resident. A’s ten-year green card is expiring next month. A went online to the USCIS website to file to renew the green card. A then took the receipt for $450 to the Las Vegas USCIS office with A’s passport so A could get A’s passport stamped with proof  that A’s permanent resident status was not expiring,…

The usual outcry from people concerned about “illegal aliens” in the United States benefitting from legislation such as a DREAM-like Act, amnesty, or comprehensive immigration reform is that those that benefit from such legislation will end up going to the head of the line to the detriment of those who played by the rules. The fallacy of the argument is that illegal aliens face severe penalties that not only force them to the end of the line but create situations…

In the jargon-rich world of immigration law, an important new phrase came out of amendments to the immigration law in 1996, the 3 and 10 year bars. What these bars say is that if a person accrues more than180 days of unlawful presence in the United States and departs he or she cannot return to the United States for 3 years. If the person accrues a year or more of unlawful presence, this person cannot return for 10 years. A…

In recent days immigration law became more exciting because of news about homosexual marriage adjustments of status. To be brief, the President announced that the Justice Department would not defend a statute in the courts that defines marriage as being limited to heterosexuals – one of each gender. Inasmuch as this law has a huge impact in immigration law as U.S. citizens and permanent residents can petition for their spouses to immigrate to the United States, there was much optimism…