Image via Wikipedia

The U Visa for Victims of Crimes and Criminal Activity

What is a U Visa?
A U Visa is a special nonimmigrant Visa or status. It was established for victims of qualifying criminal activity committed in the United States. This includes Indian Country, military instillations, and the territories and possessions of the United States.

But this is not enough. The victim must also have information about the criminal activity and the victim must have been helpful, is being helpful, or is likely to be helpful to the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity.

Benefits of a U Visa?
What are the benefits of a U Visa and U Visa status? Well, there are many. The first thing is that the applicant need not be physically present in the United States in order to apply. And if granted the U Visa, it is typically granted for a period of four years, in which case the applicant will also be eligible to work in the United States. They will receive an employment authorization document.
After three years in the status, they may be eligible to apply for a Green Card, and if they have qualified family members, these members may also obtain derivative U Visa status.

U Visa Relief During Immigration Court Removal Proceedings
In addition to these benefits, I would like to briefly discuss two other benefits that are often overlooked. One is for local permanent residents. That is those who already have a Green Card, but find themselves in immigration court in removal proceedings to deport them from the United States. In this case, if they are victims of a crime and meet the other qualifying requirements, they may also apply for a U Visa.

U Visa Video

In addition, non Green Card holders, those who are in the United States illegally and find themselves as respondents in immigration court in removal proceedings, they may also apply for a U Visa, again, if they meet the qualifying requirements.

The point is, if you feel that you may be eligible for a U Visa and you are in immigration court, it’s very, very important that you notify your immigration attorney right away.

Qualifying Criminal Activity
What constitutes qualifying criminal activity? Well, the first thing you need to know is that it can take place at the federal, state, or even the local level. Now, Congress has enumerated a number of criminal activities that qualify. I’ll go through them in turn.

Rape, torture, trafficking, incest, domestic violence, sexual assault, abusive sexual contact, prostitution, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, being held hostage, involuntary servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, false imprisonment, blackmail, extortion, manslaughter, murder, felonious assault, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, perjury, and any attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of these crimes or criminal activities.

Qualified Victim
What constitutes a qualifying victim? The victim must have suffered substantial physical abuse, or the victim must have suffered substantial mental abuse. And as you can appreciate, many times these go hand in hand. There is also what’s known as the nexus requirement, and simply this is that the victim’s suffering must be a result of the underlying, qualifying criminal activity.

Certification Requirement
And finally, there is the certification requirement. A federal, state, or local official investigating or prosecuting the qualifying criminal activity must certify that the victim is being, or will likely be, or has been helpful to the official’s investigation or prosecution.

Perhaps the most common question we get about U Visas is about filing and the documentation requirements for applicants. As you can appreciate, as with most things in immigration, it’s all forms driven. There is a form for filing for U Visa relief, and it is called form I 918. However, be aware that there is a supplement to this form. It’s called form I 918 supplement B.

This supplement should be completed by the prosecuting or investigating agency, and it has to be signed by the authorized agency official. When filing the supplement, it has to be filed concurrently with form I 918. So you file them together.

The applicant must also prepare and file with form I 918 a detailed personal statement. When I say detailed, I mean that it absolutely should include all of the details and facts surrounding the event, how its affected you, and how you’ve assisted in the prosecution or in the investigation of this criminal activity, and how it affects you today. All of the details and facts that would tend to qualify one for U Visa relief should be contained in the personal statement.

Recommended Supplemental Documentation
In addition to the required documents and forms, there are some recommended supplemental documents that I believe you should submit with your application, as well. The first thing that comes to mind are police reports. Typically in these events when there are criminal activities, police reports are filed. If this is the case, you’ll want to be sure to obtain copies and submit them with your application.

• Transcripts and Court Records: If the case is being prosecuted or was prosecuted, you’ll want to obtain records that substantiate this.

• Affidavits of Witnesses: These can be eyewitnesses of the event or even friends or family who may have seen you immediately or shortly after the event who can testify as to, perhaps, injuries that you had or how it’s affected you. Don’t overlook this immportant issue.

  Along that same line, you may want to try to get affidavits from police and prosecutors who you worked with. This would be in addition to the supplement B, and it can be helpful at times if you’re able to obtain it.

• News Articles: If there were news articles about the event and you and what happened, you’ll probably want to have news clippings. Now, if you don’t actually have the news clippings themselves, be aware that most newspapers nowadays have an online source where you can pull up old articles and print them out.

• Photographs: If you do happen to have photographs of yourself immediately after the event, perhaps depicting your injuries, this can be helpful. However, be sure to submit them with an affidavit of authenticity.

• Medical Reports: Typically in these events, someone goes for medical treatment immediately thereafter, or sometimes ongoing. If this is the case, you’ll want to get doctor, hospital, medical reports and submit those with your application as well.

• Psychological Reports: Many times victims are psychologically traumatized and they don’t even fully appreciate this. Sometimes it affects their lives for months, and many times, years later. If you feel this may be your situation, it may be advisable to go to a psychiatrist or psychologist or other mental health professional to obtain an evaluation and a report to substantiate the mental injuries that you may have sustained.

This list here is by no means exhaustive, so if you have other evidence that you feel would support your claim and more, by all means include those as well. And the agency has been liberal in accepting such evidence on an ongoing basis. You’ll want to submit as much as possible with your initial application, but feel free to supplement as you obtain more evidence.

Tom and Peter
The Immigration Guys

Related articles by Zemanta

• All 10,000 Visas for Crime Victims Used Up (immigration.change.org)

Related posts

• U Visa Video Training (0)

Image via Wikipedia

How do you choose the RIGHT business visa to live and work in the United States? Well, it depends on how you answer a number of questions about your goals, education and work history. A quick survey of the available visas is the place to start, so let’s look today at the L-1, E-2, EB-5, B1, H1B   (Other visas are available, including the J, P, O, Q,  and TN etc., but these will be reviewed at another time.)

L Visa
The L visa is one of the most useful tools available to international companies who need to bring qualified foreign employees to the United States. Let’s say that a company located abroad establishes a company (meeting certain ownership requirements) in the United States, with the intent to continue operating the company abroad. The L visa allows a worker at the foreign company to relocate to the office in the United States after having worked abroad for the company for at least one year prior to being granted L-1 visa status.

If the foreign worker is married, he or she can bring their spouse and their spouse can work without restriction. Better yet, the worker can have the dual intent of working here with a temporary visa, while intending to eventually apply for permanent residence.

E Visa
Contrast this with an E visa, which requires a treaty to exist between the United States and the foreign country under whose treaty the E status is sought. A list of treaty countries may be found at:

http://usimmigrationteam.com/E-2-Visa-Investor-Visa-E-1-Visa.htm

For the person with money to invest, the E2 is a way to live and work in the United States for an indefinite period of time. There is no set amount for the investment. However, must be a “substantial amount of capital” that generates “more than enough income to provide a minimal living for the treaty investor and his or her family.”

Many attorneys suggest a minimum of $100,000, depending on the country from which the worker will be coming from, and the nature of the business. Obviously, some businesses require more capital than others to start and operate successfully. The investor’s spouse may apply for employment authorization.

EB-5 Visa
The L1 and E2 visas require active involvement in the business. For the person that is looking for a passive investment, and has plenty of money to invest, the EB5 visa offers the most benefits. Although there are other options, this visa gives you an opportunity to invest in certain qualified investments or a regional center with high unemployment rates. The minimum investment is $500,000.

A petition is filed and upon approval, you can apply for permanent residence if you are in the United States. If you are abroad, the U.S. Embassy in your home country will notify you when it is time to prepare documents for the visa interview.  After two years, you will need to file for removal of conditions on your permanent green card. Your green card should then be renewed every ten years, unless you have become a US citizen.

The advantages of the EB5 program are:

1) The visa is a direct route to permanent residence for you, your spouse and children under the age of 21;

2) You have the freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in the United States;

3) You can apply for US citizenship after 5 years of permanent residency; and

4) Children may attend college/university at U.S resident tuition rates.

Now, for the person who simply does not have that kind of money to invest, and only has the goal of being in the United States for a short time and for specific business purposes, the B1 visa may be more applicable.

B-1 Visa
For example, a B-1 visa can be used for such activities as forming a corporation, opening bank accounts, attending conferences and meetings, and even signing contracts to get ready to conduct business. However, a B-1 visa holder cannot work and receive compensation in the U.S. If a holder of a B-1 visa does work in the US, s/he will be in violation of the terms of the visa.

H1B Visa
An H1B visa, though not typically considered a business visa in the proper sense, can be used by a U.S. company to hire a specialty worker, that is one who has a bachelors degree or its equivalent. The potential employee’s degree must have some nexus with the position being offered and the position must be one that would typically require a bachelors degree.  If successful, the employee and his or her spouse and children may all remain in the US for 3 years with the option to renew for another 3 years.  Spouse are eligible to obtain employment authorization. The H1B employee must be paid the prevailing wage for a similar position in your area.

Tom and Peter
The Immigration Guys

Related posts

• H-1 B Visas: What are they …do you qualify? (1)

Image via Wikipedia

Divorces can have far reaching effects on naturalization, and one possible effect concerns nonpayment of child support.

Most often this problem surfaces when a permanent resident files  citizenship without the assistance of an immigration attorney. After all,  how complicated can it be to fill out the government form, right? Unfortunately, it is not just about filling in the form. Among other considerations, there is the matter of demonstrating “good moral character.” While there is no statutory or regulatory definition, the term generally means character that measures up to the standards of average citizens of the community in which the applicant resides.

Vague enough? Well, there are some helpful guidelines.

An applicant for naturalization who willfully fails or refuses to support dependents will be found to lack good moral character, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Willful failure may include someone who has the ability to pay child support, but simply refuses to do so, or someone who fails to provide support over a long period of time.

However, it is possible to establish extenuating circumstances affecting one’s ability to pay child support  where the applicant is out of work, or has made a reasonable effort to pay.

If an applicant is delinquent in his or her child support payments prior to filing an application or has been denied on this basis and has filed an N-336 Request for a Hearing, every effort should be made to bring payment current during the statutory period, or at least demonstrate a history of past payments or a commitment to bring the payments up to date.

It may be a stretch in most cases, but an additional step is to present an affidavit from a former spouse in order to establish good moral character.

Tom & Peter
The Immigration Guys

Related posts

• Naturalization: Good Moral Character Requirement (2)
• Naturalization Guide: Basic Eligibility Requirements (0)
• DREAM Act May Help Thousands of Young Immigrants (5)

Image via Wikipedia

The United States of America has filed  suit against the State of Arizona.

No more rumors today is the day it all starts. Some critics  have expressed concern that the  suit is drafted too broadly to succeed and thus premature. Others feel this this is  a frontal attack that will gain momentum and support once the issues are fully addressed before the American public.

Please take a moment to read US v Arizona now and report back to share your comment.

Immigration Guys

Related articles by Zemanta

• Justice Department Sues Arizona (legaltimes.typepad.com)
• U.S. Justice Department To Sue Arizona (alan.com)
• Obama Administration Sues Arizona Over Immigration Law (dailyfinance.com)
• Feds File Suit Against Arizona (michellemalkin.com)

Related posts

• No related posts.

Please  go to the following link(s) to  sign the petition now! — Then pass this on to your network of friends too.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/tps-for-guatemala

Pueden dejar comentarios acá:
http://www.redporlapaz.org/2010/06/08/tps_para_guatemala

Thanks,

Tom & Peter

Related posts

• Former President Clinton Named US Envoy to Haiti (0)

Their stories are both tragic and unbelievable at times to many Americans. Haitians tell of horrible beatings with guns, batons, and machetes, and of their family and friends being killed for expressing their political opinions. Colombians live in fear of the FARC guerilla group and flee their country in order to save their lives, many times leaving children behind; Venezuelans are “blacklisted” by Hugo Chavez’s regime; East Europeans are victims of human trafficking and prostitution rings; Kenyan women are subjected to female genital mutilation; Indonesians are targets of religious persecution; and El Salvadorians are menaced by gangs that the government is not able to control.

All of them have in common the goal to journey to America in order to have a better life for themselves, and hopefully, for their families in the future.

This guide was written to provide useful information on filing for asylum in the United States. The focus is on the requirements for eligibility and the asylum process. The information presented is an overview and does not attempt to deal exhaustively with any of the topics covered.

Goldman & Loughlin, PLLC is a full service, immigration law firm. We represent clients in USCIS interviews, go to Immigration Court, and file for marriage and business visas both in the United States and in Consular offices nationwide and worldwide. We have the ability to communicate with clients in over 150 languages and are dedicated to the needs of our clients who have come to us from over 40 countries.

Related posts

• What Happens If Your Asylum Case is Denied? (1)
• Voluntary Departure – what to do BEFORE you leave (1)

Image via Wikipedia

Good Moral Character Requirement

All applicants for naturalization must be of good moral character. Certain crimes and bad acts, even though not resulting in a criminal conviction, may make one ineligible to naturalize for lack of good moral character. In addition some crimes or acts may be sufficient cause to deny the application and place the applicant in proceedings to be removed from the United States. It is highly advisable to contact an immigration attorney if you have committed (even if not arrested) or been convicted any crime or bad act before filing for naturalization.  More Information About Good Moral Character

Continual Residence Requirement

Applicants must have resided continuously within the United States at least 5 years after having been lawfully admitted for permanent residence or at least 3 years if applicant’s permanent residence was obtained by marriage to a U.S. citizen. (See INA §316.5) However, this does not mean that an applicant must have actually remained in the United States for the entire five or three year period of residence. (see Physical Presence Test and Breaks in Residence below).

Physical Presence Requirement /Test

In order to naturalize an applicant must demonstrate that s/he has, subsequent to lawful admission as a permanent resident, resided has been physically present in the United States at least 30 of the past 60 months or 18 of the past 36 months where the applicant’s permanent residence was obtained by marriage to a U.S. citizen. (See INA § 316(a))

Effect of Breaks in Continuous Residence of Less than Six Months Absence from the United States

No break in continuity of residence for naturalization purposes.

Effect of Breaks in Continuous Residence of More than Six Months Absence from the United States – but less than one year

Only presumptively breaks the continuity of residence for naturalization purposes. This means that an applicant may rebut the presumption with evidence that s/he did not intend to abandon their residence for naturalization purposes.

However, if the applicant is unable to overcome the presumption, s/he must wait 4 years and a day to apply for naturalization, or 2 years and a day if they obtained lawful permanent resident status by marriage to a U.S. citizen. (See 8 CFR 316.5(c)(1)(ii))

Effect of Breaks in Continuous Residence of More than One Year Absence from the United States

If a applicant remains outside the United States for more than one year they will break the continuity of residence for naturalization purposes and must wait 4 years and a day to apply for naturalization, or 2 years and a day if they obtained permanent residence by marriage to a U.S. Citizen. (See 8 CFR 316.5(c)(1)(ii))

Tom & Peter

Related articles by Zemanta

• Wash. immigrants learn how to become citizens (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Study: 88,000 US citizen children lost lawful immigrant parent to deportion (scienceblog.com)

Related posts

• Naturalization: Good Moral Character Requirement (2)
• Naturalization and Child Support Payments (0)

Image by dbking via Flickr

One form of relief available to respondents facing removal in immigration court may be adjustment of status based on marriage to a U.S. citizen.  Adjustment of status permits an admissible alien to obtain lawful permanent residence (i.e., a green card) without leaving the United States.

You should seek the advice of an immigration attorney in determining whether or not this will be a viable form of relief. Factors such as the nature of the allegation against you and/or other legal impediments may prevent you from pursuing this adjustment of status while in immigration court. For example, you would still need to meet the admissibility requirements for adjustment—or obtain a waiver.

When a respondent gets married during immigration court proceedings, his or her attorney will typically first file an I-130 with USCIS along with detailed evidence of the bona fides (good faith) of the relationship. This is particularly important since applicants who marry after the initiation of proceedings must prove the validity of the marriage by clear and convincing evidence because of the obvious suspicion that the marriage was entered into solely for the purpose of avoiding the immigration problems. *Never enter into a fraudulent or sham marriage.

According to INA 204(g); 8 C.F.R. 204.2(a)(1)(iii), USCIS cannot approve an I-130 immediate relative petition without an exemption if the marriage occurs during the respondent’s exclusion, deportation or removal proceedings. For this reason, it is important for the applicant to specifically request a bona fide marriage exemption under INA § 245 (e) (3); 8 C.F.R. § 204.2 (a) (1) (iii) and § 245 (c) (8) (iii) – (v). While it is true that the agency may presume you are requesting the exemption, it is best to clearly indicate so in a cover letter in order to avoid delays in processing the case.

Once the I-797C filing receipts are received back from the agency the immigration attorney should file a motion to continue the case along with proof of filing, copy of the I-130 and copies of the evidence supporting the bone fides of the relationship.  Incidentally the I-130 petition package should be filed by certified mail or other trackable courier service so that you can use the shipping receipt as evidence of filing in case the I-797C does not arrive in time for the hearing of filing of the motion.

Once the I-130 petition is approved and the I-485 and related applications have been properly filed, the immigration judge can adjudicate the respondent’s adjustment of status or, in the alternative, terminate the case for processing by USCIS.

Tom & Peter

*Related articles by Zemanta

• Ten Charged In Marriage Scams (chicagoist.com)

Related posts

• Can You Lose Your Green Card? (5)

Haitian Temporary Protected Status Video

Tom & Peter
Immigration Guys

Related articles by Zemanta

• 200,000 Haitians expected to stay in U.S., send money home (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Haitians in U.S. can apply for protected status (cnn.com)

Related posts

• Designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (0)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Designated
Janet Napolitano  designated Haiti for TPS on January 15, 2009 in response to the devastation left behind by the tragic earthquake last week.  This means that 100,000 to 200,000 Haitian nationals living illegally in the U.S. may apply for benefits, including the right to live and work  in the United States.

TPS has been designated for other countries in the past and is designed to temporarily provide legal immigration status to eligible nationals of countries designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Not All Haitian Nationals Are Eligible To Apply For Haitian TPS

In order to be eligible applicants need be a national of Haiti, or a stateless person who last habitually resided in Haiti. In addition, there are certain residency requirements that must be met 1) Elligible applicants must have resided in the U.S. as of January 12, 2010 and 2) must remain continuously physically present in the United States from the date of the Federal Register Notice publication, announcing the opening of the initial filing period for registration.

It is also notable that the conviction of any felony or two or more misdemeanors in the U.S. will make one ineligible for TPS benefits.

TPS Registration Period Open For 180 Days
Haitian TPS registration will be  open for  a 180-day period only. The opening daet is expected to be announced this week. You should not attempt to file early as applications will  likely be rejected. Further applications must be filed before the final of the registration date.

Haitian TPS Application Seminars and Online Webinars

Goldman & Loughlin, PLLC the Immigration Only Law Firm will be sponsoring seminars at several Florida locations including Orlando, Naples, Fort Myers, Bradenton and Miami.

Please visit the website for details: www.usimmigrationteam.com/tps-seminar-schedule.htm

In addition, the firm will host weekly online webinars for those who may be unable to attend the seminars.

Please go to www.usimmigrationteam.com/haitian-tps-webinars for more information/

Tom & Peter

Related posts

• No related posts.