Immigrating to the U.S. Through Green Card Lottery [Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Lottery)]

Each year, the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program (DV lottery)(also known as green card lottery) makes 50,000 immigrant visas available to eligible applicants who are selected in the lottery. To qualify for the lottery, an applicant must be a native of one of the listed country; and have the U.S. equivalent of a high school diploma, or have 2 years of related experience in the last 5 years in an occupation that requires at...

Waiver of Joint Filing Requirement Based on Extreme Hardship for I-751 (Removal of Conditions on Permanent Resident Status)

Each year U.S. Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents apply to obtain permanent resident status for their foreign national spouse’s through filing an Immigrant Petition for Alien Relative (I-130) and Adjustment of Status Application (I-485). Upon approval of the application, the sponsored spouse is usually granted 2 year conditional permanent residence status. Usually, the sponsored alien and U.S. citizen sponsor jointly file...

Proposed Policy to Expedite I-601 Extreme Hardship Waiver is Currently Under Review!

Recently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is considering a proposal to expedite the adjudication, based on extraordinary circumstances, of I-601, Application or Waiver of Grounds of inadmissibility (“I-601 extreme hardship waiver”) filed by individuals outside the United States. Foreign nationals or non-U.S. citizens (including green card holders) with certain histories may need I-601 and/or other waivers,...

Green Cards: Improving Processing Time & Strategies

Choosing the correct and most suitable immigration classification and category when initiating and applying for green card status in and to the U.S. is extremely important. Depending on the type and/or classification of the green card, the wait time to obtain green card status varies tremendously, and the difference can be several months, to several years or even decades. Immigrating to the U.S. via sponsorships through certain...

Rising Demand for Workforce, Foreign Nationals or Otherwise, As Oil Spill and Environmental Calamities Worsen in the Gulf of Mexico?

With the spread of environmental calamities as a result of the severe and continuous oil leak caused by BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico of the United States, international cooperation and efforts from various experts which include, but are not limited to the scientific, environmental, and natural oil/gas communities are more sacrosanct than ever. This oil spill disaster is expected...

Advantages of U.S. Citizenship, Becoming a U.S. Citizen and New Naturalization Test

A. New Naturalization Test Beginning October 1, 2009, all U.S. citizenship applicants must take the new naturalization test, regardless of when they filed for their Form N-400 Applications for Naturalization. Since October 1, 2008, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has a new naturalization test for applicants of the N-400 Applications for Naturalization to become U.S. citizens. However, up until October 1,...

Comprehensive Immigration Reform - Pathway to U.S. Immigration Status and Citizenship!

In conferences and radio interview held in August 2009, President Obama has reaffirmed his position in pursuing legislative action on comprehensive immigration reform, in 2010, of the currently broken U.S. immigration systems, after attending to more critical issues such as U.S. healthcare and financial reform.Comprehensive immigration reform is a highly advocated proposal by the U.S. government to create immigration systems to...

Will the Long-Awaited Proposed Legislation on Providing Green Card/Permanent Imigration Status to, & Uniting Families from Abroad Finally Becomes Law?

An important proposed legislation that seeks to promote timely unification of, and legal permanent residence status (also known as green card) to relatives abroad with their families in the U.S. has been reintroduced to the U.S. Senate. The Uniting American Families Act would help legal immigrants unite with and confer legal permanent residence (green card) status to their families from abroad and end the decade-long waiting periods...