Ask Garry
Ask Garry: Why Are The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Fees Going Up?
USCIS has announced a change in the fees it charges for the services it provides. The announcement became official November 14th, but is subject to comments from the public for over 30 days. The rate change is expected to go into effect in December 2019, while the comment period is still running. Here is…
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Ask Garry: Why Are H-1B Petition Denials Rising?
According to a report from the National Foundation for American Policy, October 2019, it is now four times more likely that an H-1B petition will be denied by USCIS. Of most concern is the fact that the law on H-1Bs has not changed. If the law is the same, what is it that accounts for…
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Introduction to the Employment Creation Visa (EB-5)
High net worth individuals who would like to immigrate to the US on a permanent basis may qualify for permanent resident status through investment. The program that allows for this is called the EB-5, or the Employment Creation Visa. Since this type of Business Immigration Visa may be new to you, we should dig a…
Read More What is Political Asylum?
Political asylum is an application filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), that allows an applicant to seek protection from persecution in their country of nationality. An applicant must prove the following: That the application has been filed within one year of entry into…
Read More Immigration Policy – What If There Is No Line?
Recently, I was listening to a talk radio program in which immigration policy was discussed. The gist of the discussion was responding to the question, “Why don’t illegal immigrants just get in line?” The point the host was making was that if those wanting to immigrate to the United States would just get in line…
Read More What is a H-1B visa?
The Challenge of H-1B Visas In our Dallas Immigration Law practice, we are frequently asked the question, “How can I get a work visa?” Technically, there is no such thing as a general visa to work in the US. Each visa type is for a specific purpose, such as studying (F-1, M-1, J-1), tourism (B-2),…
Read More Who Enforces U.S. Immigration Law?
Perhaps it would make sense for the U.S. government to implement, regulate and enforce immigration law through one agency. Unfortunately, that is not the reality. Even though it is just one statute (Title 8 USC – The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)), multiple government agencies are involved in the process, often with concurrent jurisdiction and…
Read More What is the New I-601A?
Introduction and History of the I-601A There are situations in which a person with a US citizen or permanent resident relative can be sponsored for permanent residence but cannot obtain that permanent resident status here in the US. If a person who has been sponsored for permanent residence by a family member has lived in…
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Visa Immigration Law: An Alphabet Soup of Temporary Visas
What is a visa? When most people hear that word, they think it is a person’s permission to be in a country. Under U.S. immigration law, “visa” is a technical term that refers to a document stamped into a person’s passport that allows the person to seek admission into the United States for a specific…
Read More What is a Green Card? – Immigration Lawyer
The term green card is used frequently in the United States, but I often wonder how many people actually know what it means. Green card is a colloquialism for what is technically called lawful permanent resident or LPR status in U.S. immigration law. A person holding LPR status has the right to permanently reside in…
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