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 screeni...

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 d...

If you're in IT, foreign or not, sit up and read this. In 2016, Time Magazine listed the  20 Best Songs to Wake Up To.   Don't ask me how Hit the Quan made the list.  In immigration news, however, the Trump administration just issued a policy memo that should wake up every IT manager in America, whether or not they employ noncitizens.  To be sure, every IT Consultant involved with H1B visas should sit up and read this. As of today, the USCIS has "clarified" the  Policy Requirements for Third-Party Worksite H-1B's , i.e. IT consultancies.  I put "clarified" in quotes because, although the new memo mostly restates the current law and requirements for H1B visas (not altogether unneeded by the way), there are several subtle and not so subtle hints regarding the way off-site employee H1B visas will be treated in the Trump administration.  This amounts to new H1B policy just as we enter the season of annual new H1B filings. SUMMARY Less deferenc...

An application can be denied even before an interview. Recently I Answered the Following: "Me an my spouse (F-1 student) are in the process of concurrent filing. We were wondering if it is really necessary to include hard evidence such as: joint bank statements, auto/health insurance, car titles, bills, rent lease, photos...etc with our application package, or leave until we are called in for the interview?" Short, Sarcastic Answer:  Sigh. A Little More Helpful Answer:  It depends on a noncitizen's tolerance for risk. An adjustment interview is not like a consular interview where one necessarily brings supporting docs to an interview. Without adequate supporting documentation of a bona fide marital relationship, an application may be denied before an interview is even granted. Having said this, the items listed are common documents to demonstrate a bona fide marital relationship. A marriage certificate is not enough. In fact, joint financial statement...