All About US Immigration Law: Recent Episodes
Immigration Law of Montana, P.C
Have you ever had a question about US immigration law? After allimmigration is constantly in the news with all the issues at theSouthern Border. In this podcast we answer your questions about USImmigration law. For a framework, we decided to start off with thecommon immigration issues that a US immigration lawyer would helpclients with. For example, did you know that the most common issuesare helpingwith US Citizenship, helping with the greencard process, or lawful permanent residency, helping with obtaininga visa, helping people who are not US citizens who get intotrouble and providing help with humanitarian immigration cases.Thepodcast covers each of these main areas. First, with a generaloverview and later with more in depth, going over the details andproviding examples. We hope that you enjoy the series. If you haveany questions about US Immigration Law, please let us know. We willconsider all your suggestions and we will cover the best ones inthis podcast.
We previously covered citizenship and green cards in previous podcasts. In this podcast we look at visas, providing a guide to visa types. But, we do start at the beginning, do you need a visa? If you do the simplest visa is the visitor visa for business or pleasure. It is also a volunteer visa.
A lot of people want to come to the United States to work. They often call immigration attorneys asking about a work permit or working visa. We explain how working visas are matched to the job description. So if you are an agricultural employee you will need an H-2A visa. Similarly if you are religious worker, you need an R-1 visa. We go over the process for getting these visas, how it is driven by the employer, not the worker.
Besides working, getting a visa for school is very popular. We explain the choices of visas for education. We also discuss how change from one status in the US to another for school, the change of status process.
Lastly, we go over the specialized visas. Did you know that if you are a victim of a crime, you may be eligible for a visa, the U visa. Likewise, if you have money to invest in the US, and plan on employing US workers, you would be eligible for the E-2 treaty investor visa?
Non-immigrant visas almost span the alphabet, starting with A and ending with V. Each one is for a particular set of job duties. Figuring out the right visa can be confusing. An experienced visa lawyer can help.
Green Cards – Lawful Permanent Residency, A Popular Attorney Service
After Citizenship, obtaining the right to live and work in the United States permanently is the most popular service provided by immigration attorneys. Many people know this by the slang term, getting a green card. What makes this process popular is the variety of ways you can obtain lawful permanent residency in the US. By far the most popular way is to obtain a green card through marriage. It is even possible to obtain a green card if you married an illegal immigrant. In the podcast we discuss how a green card through marriage is just one of the ways to obtain a family based green card.
Besides green cards based on relationships, US law provides for green cards based on employment. In this route your employer petitions for you to receive an employment based green card. A job's education and experience requirements dictate the process the lawyer follows. Getting a green card for an H-2A agricultural worker is a lot different than a hospital petitioning for a physician. Similarly, the US government has special rules relating to religious worker green cards.
US law also provides for humanitarian green cards, green cards for those who have successfully applied for asylum or refugee status, asylee green cards or refugee green cards.
Besides touching on the green card process for these situations, the podcast advises how an experienced immigration attorney can help you figure out the best route to a green card if you have options.
Citizenship – The Most Popular Service an Immigration Attorney Provides
Did you know that you can become a citizen of the United States even if you were not born here? Based on Google searches, this is by far the most popular service provided by immigration attorneys. US immigration law provides four ways that you can become a citizen. You do not necessarily need an attorney for all four methods, but some are quite difficult, so a good, experienced US citizenship attorney helps. The four methods are citizenship through adoption, citizenship through military service, citizenship through derivation, and citizenship through naturalization. We're discussing these methods from probably don't need the services of an attorney to definitely need an attorney.
You don't usually need an attorney to get citizenship for your adopted child. Most adoptions go through agencies. Your child arrives in the US as a lawful permanent resident, and becomes a citizen automatically. Similarly, if you are not a citizen and you are serving in the military, your branch of the Service will help you become a citizen through military service.
Most applicants who believe that they derived US citizenship from one or both of their parents need attorney help. Laws governing the requirements for deriving citizenship have repeatedly changed. It is important to understand the requirements first then to figure out how to meet them. Moreover, documenting your case is often challenging.
Lastly, you wouldn't think that obtaining citizenship through naturalization would be a challenge – doesn't the US want citizens? - and you would be right. So why do you need an attorney? It is true that most cases do not need an attorney. But, for people have trouble with residency or good moral character, applying can be a real challenge. Many people apply and find their N400 application denied. These people need help in appealing. Also, if applicants for naturalization recognize the problem, they can retain immediately retain an immigration attorney to save time.
In our podcast we cover these methods, discuss them in more detail for more information on US citizenship, please contact us here.
What is an Immigration Attorney?
Are you curious about what it is that an immigration lawyer does? A simple response is, helps with immigration issues or problems. But what does this essentially mean? One of the ways to answer this question is to use Google and its numbers for the searches people do. By using this strategy, we discover that the immigration issue most regularly searched for is US citizenship. Alternative issues that individuals look for help on are getting a visa to enter the USA, processing for a green card, and gaining authorization to live and work in America permanently.
Certain visas are relatively easy to get hold of, and you can probably apply for them without any help. Others could be a lot more involved. With these ones you'll actually need an immigration lawyer to assist you. Similar to when you break the law, you need to hire a criminal defense lawyer, if you get into problems with immigration, or violate the rules, you will need the help of an immigration lawyer as well. Last but not least, immigration lawyers assist people who are fleeing persecution or harm by assisting them to apply for immigration benefits such as asylum in the US.