Dedicated to providing individualized legal advice and services to our clients in the areas of immigration and naturalization law matters.

I just received a copy of a newly issued decision that is so good that I have read it several times just to make sure it said what I thought it said. This decision is highly technical but vitally important to the ability of those with TPS (temporary protected status) to obtain permanent residence. Previously (for a short time) in the district that includes Florida, USCIS was approving residence applications for those Read More

For those who are applying for legal permanent resident status (aka Green Card) a vital part of the approval process is the medical examination. The exams are required to be done by medical doctors who have been approved by USCIS. The purpose of the exam is to ensure that aliens entering the U.S. (or already here and applying for resident status) do not pose a threat to the public health and to identify the presence Read More

There is an inspiring story on newscentermaine.com about a shoemaker in Maine. Rancourt & Co is a three-generation family-owned shoemaker in Lewiston, Maine. Owner Mike Rancourt was interviewed recently about the challenges the company faced with finding people who wanted to be shoemakers. This created worries about whether the business could continue. Three years ago, a group of French-speaking African Read More

Now I know why so many of my clients have had naturalization interviews over the last few months. According to the USCIS Naturalization Policies Fact Sheet published in June 2021, USCIS processed over 180,000 naturalization applications between March and April 2021 which has allowed them to return to pre-pandemic processing times. Congratulations to all my clients who are now “Americans by Choice”.  On July Read More

Good news Adjustment of Status, Employment Authorization Documents and Processing Delays One of the biggest problems that immigration clients have experienced over the last 4 years has been increasingly long processing delays. The pandemic certainly exacerbated this, but the problems existed pre-pandemic. When a person applies for permanent resident status (green card) in the U.S., the application is called Read More

Last month I wrote a blog about how undocumented people were unable to obtain the Covid vaccine due to the application of documentary requirements that were written to allow “snowbirds” to obtain vaccines. I am happy to report that undocumented people can now get the vaccine without multiple proofs of residency. All that must be presented at this time is proof of age because the vaccines are not approved for Read More

In 2004, USCIS issued a “Deference Policy” which wisely provided guidance to adjudicators that a prior determination of eligibility should be given deference if there was no material change in the underlying facts. This policy is mainly applicable to non-immigrant business petitions such as a professional visa or a petition for a multinational manager/executive.  For the professional visa (H-1B), an applicant Read More

I thought that this month I would write a blog about Extraordinary Ability Visas. There are provisions in the immigration law that allow a person to come to the U.S. temporarily or permanently if they can prove “Extraordinary Ability” in their field. The field can be virtually anything – it applies to people in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics but the standards of proof are quite rigorous. A ton Read More

Please download this PDF provided by the American Immigration Lawyers Association by clicking on the 'Download' button below: Download Read More

As most everyone understands the more people who are vaccinated the safer everyone will be. Dr. Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health advised “Nobody will be safe until everybody’s vaccinated, and that includes everyone, regardless of immigration status” Getting immigrants vaccinated should be a priority especially considering that many immigrants work in essential services that we all depend Read More