Immigration Law

Immigrants and advocates across the United States reacted to a recent DHS decision with outrage and concern. In late 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made the decision to enforce the long-standing public charge inadmissibility law, a decision that could affect thousands of immigrants seeking to enter the United States lawfully. If you are currently in the United States…

Imagine a policy or a law that would give a common public servant the power to make a decision that could irreversibly affect another person’s life, likely in a negative way. According to the law, the public servant would have an almost unchecked authority to make the decision in question while the affected individual would have virtually no protections afforded…

If you are an immigrant in the U.S., receiving a letter in your mailbox containing a Notice to Appear (NTA) may mean having your worst fears realized. An NTA is a formal means by which the U.S. government informs a non-U.S. citizen currently living in the country that removal (deportation) proceedings against him or her have officially started. Receiving this…

On Thursday, US District Judge John F Walter of the Central District of California ruled in favor of a same-sex couple from California in a birthright citizenship case, allowing both of the couple’s twin sons to be legally declared citizens of the United States. The US-Israeli couple, Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks, were married in Toronto and became fathers via surrogacy…

Inadmissibility may apply to non-U.S. citizens who are seeking to enter or remain in the United States or who are applying for Adjustment of Status (Green Card). Being found inadmissible can be a serious obstacle to your immigration case and may trigger the start of removal proceedings against you. Grounds of inadmissibility – or the reasons why an immigrant may…

In one of our previous blogs, we explained how a memorandum issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in July may affect U.S. visa applicants. In the article, we also mentioned that according to another memorandum that had been issued earlier in the summer, USCIS will have more authority and discretion to start deportation proceedings. The memorandum in…

Receiving a call from a family member or friend telling you they have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and are now facing possible deportation can be one of the most heartbreaking calls you can get. Sadly, dozens of these calls are made every day in the U.S. All of these people have at least two things…

On July 13th, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a policy memorandum with new guidelines regarding issuing a visa application denial. The new guidelines make it both easier for the USCIS officers to deny an application and give them more authority to do so. The USCIS memo is just the latest instance of the current administration’s efforts to…

Anyone considering immigrating to the United States under the current climate/administration will face many challenges. Same-sex couples and LGBTQ immigrants will face even greater immigration challenges, needless to say. That’s why it’s important to think through the following five things with your partner if you are considering making the United States your new home: 1) Same-sex spouses can petition to…

Like many heterosexual couples, many same-sex couples living in America today are made up of one partner who is a U.S. citizen and a partner who is a citizen of another country. For heterosexual couples living abroad, any child born of the partnership is automatically granted U.S. citizenship because one of the biological parents is a U.S. citizen. As same-sex…