Immigration QA

Credit Reuters Happy days to the Indian national cricket team, taking its first grand title of a T20 World Cup.  A nearly blemish-free record by most accounts. By the way, this year was also America's first serious ICC Cricket tournament on home turf. The U.S. team actually won enough games to qualify for the 2026  T20 World Cup  in Sri Lanka and India! This rather reminds me of U.S. immigration law.  This is because, in addition to the many requirements for U.S. naturalization, applicants must have what is called Good Moral Character (GMC). This can be a highly discretionary standard used as a catch-all for a derogatory past that may not be technically disqualifying. Some people think it only matters for the previous five years. This is not true. For clients without a blemish on their record, I don’t submit proof of GMC.  For those that do, I work hard to prove this up.  So what is considered a blemish?  This must be examined early in a client screening. Why? It’s not just court

  Extensions can be beautiful yet complicated. Like hair extensions, H1B extensions can be a very good thing, but are complicated to achieve.  To be sure, both require particular attention. Recently I received some questions about extending an H1B visa. BACKGROUND An H1B, or "H1," visa is a temporary visa allowing a company to petition for a noncitizen with a bachelor's degree or higher to work for the business on specific project whose occupation requires such a degree. Most often it is used for S.T.E.M. occupations, but that is not required.  There is an annual cap on these visas and competition is high to just be allowed to apply for the H1.  Once approved, one can work on an H1B visa for up to six years before needing to go through the "cap" process again. However, an H1B is usually only approved for one to three years, requiring a company to apply for an extension that proves a project still exists for the noncitizen to work on. Also, if a company sponsors

"Grace" is Minnesota's official state photograph. I was State Senator in 2002 when we officially voted for Minnesota's official "state photograph." A more prolific image originating from Minnesota than "Grace," I'm not aware of.  My colleague and friend, Rep. Loren Solberg , was the natural author of the bill since Loren lived in Bovey, Minnesota where the photograph was taken.  I think Loren also liked it because he bears resemblance to Charles Winden, the guy in the photo (Loren and I ribbed each other from time to time).  Read more about the history of Grace here. Speaking of grace, lately I've received a rash of calls from noncitizens who find themselves similarly situated to Mr. Wilden, praying for providential intervention in a recent job loss.  Primarily H1B visa holders, these folks have been laid off and are uncertain about their legal status and how to proceed with potential new employment in the United States.  The influx is prom

In 2023 the Minnesota legislature enacted the Clean Slate Act. It involves expanding the types of past criminal convictions that can be sealed from public view, as well as automatically sealing others, primarily low level drug offenses. The reason is that, in many situations, past criminal records harm the ability of an otherwise law abiding individual to gain employment, housing, insurance, loans, or the like.   The question of the Clean Slate Act is not whether expunging criminal records is good. The question is whether a system of automatic expungements has been crafted to prevent unintended harm to those who actually benefit from access to their own criminal records.   Who are some of these people?   Noncitizens.  In every immigration application, noncitizens have an affirmative duty to disclose any arrest and provide certified records of any arrest, charge, conviction, probation, probation completion, and in many instances court transcripts—regardless of final disposition. This is

Over the years I’ve been blessed to discover some effectives way to initiate the first call to a lawyer, and some not so effective ways. Initial contact with an attorney can move quickly and efficiently, or can take longer and lead to more confusion.  This post lists some of my own observations through 24 years of law practice to get the most out of your first call with an attorney. To clarify, it's not about WHAT to call a lawyer, as my imagination pales to many out there. It is about how to contact an attorney to make your first (or subsequent) call as productive--and inexpensive--as possible.  These are some helpful tips when contacting an attorney for the first time, or even when contacting your current attorney. Call from a Quiet Spot This is my biggest suggestion and most common problem. You are calling a lawyer because you have an important legal issue in your life that needs to be solved. If the attorney cannot hear you, or you cannot hear the lawyer, you risk losing import

I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING QUESTION TODAY:   My husband and father's cases have been in Administrative processing for over 9 months now. The Embassy is just delaying the process! ANSWER:   In general, there’s not much a lawyer can legally do to "unstuck" an application at an Embassy. An attorney can submit a letter, but Embassies are so bureaucratic it is doubtful the letter will reach the right person. An attorney can, however, sue the Department of State in U.S. federal court to force a decision one way or another, but this will cost thousands of dollars and the decision may go against you. One realistic course of action should be to contact your own Congressperson to write a letter to shake loose a decision. You should know, however, that if the application was problematic is some way, sometimes no answer is a good answer. Meaning, at least the application is not yet denied. To help determine your chances, a consultation with an attorney may help. But it will be essentia