Posts Tagged ‘Green Card’

The Religious Worker Path to a Green Card

May 11th, 2011 Tushar Mathur
If you work for a recognized religious organization, either as a minister or a religious worker, you might qualify for a green card as a special immigrant. You can apply for your green card as a minister or religious worker from inside the U.S.—if you are in lawful status and not working without authorization—or from abroad. You start the process by filing an I-360 petition on your own or through your employer. Whether you or your employer files the petition, the prospective U.S. employer must submit certain documentary evidence, including an attestation showing that certain requirements have been met regarding the organization, its history of filing this type of petition and the position and salary.

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Visa Backlog Expected to Go Down For Spouses & Children!

February 9th, 2011 Tushar Mathur

I have heard from a reliable source in Seattle earlier this week that the State Department backlog for the Family 2A preference category–spouses and children of permanent residents–will likely be going down very soon. This is a big deal. Currently, as of the February 2011 Visa Bulletin, there is a three (3) year wait for green card holders who are applying for their spouses and children (under 21).

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February 2011 Visa Bulletin – Family remains retrogressed; Employment sees slight advancements

January 14th, 2011 Tushar Mathur
The February 2011 Visa Bulletin was released recently by the State Department.  In general, there is not much positive movements in the cut off dates for both family and employment petitions.  On the family side, the retrogression that started in January continues to be a problem. As discussed previously, the rapid forward advancements in family cut off dates during the past two years have caused a huge increase in  demand for family immigrant visa numbers.  As a result, the U.S.

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How a Divorce Can Hurt Your Immigration Case

January 5th, 2011 Tushar Mathur

Three of the most common times when a divorce can negatively impact a person’s immigration case are: (1) when someone is waiting for their green card (a.k.a. applying to adjust their status); (2) when someone is trying to change a conditional residence status to permanent residence status; and (3) when someone is waiting on their naturalization (citizenship) application.

First, if an immigrant is married to a U.S. citizen and applies for a green card, but divorces the U.S. citizen before the green card is approved, the immigrant will no longer be eligible for a green card. The only exception is when the U.S.

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Seattle Immigration Lawyer | Intro to Getting a Green Card Through Employment

October 9th, 2010 Tushar Mathur

This will be the first of several blog posts covering employment-based immigrant visas—the route to a green card through employment. Only 140,000 immigrant visas are made available per year for immigrants, along with their spouses and children, who wish to immigrate based on their job skills. On top of that, there is a quota that limits every country to seven percent of the available green cards every year. (There is no quota for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.) And, several categories (known as “preferences”) of employment-based immigrant visa petitions require that the sponsoring employer file a labor certification application with the U.S.

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Seattle Immigration Lawyer | The Marriage Route to Getting a Green Card Cont’d – Living in the U.S. and Married to a LPR

October 1st, 2010 Tushar Mathur

I have used the last three postings of the Seattle Immigration Lawyer Blog to discuss this popular topic and after this current posting it will be time to move on. In this last scenario, if the immigrant spouse is living in the U.S. and married to a U.S. LPR, the LPR files the visa petition with USCIS, which goes into the now familiar “lockbox.” When the immigrant spouse’s priority date is current, or close to that time, the petition will hopefully be approved.

But, here is where it really gets ugly. The immigrant spouse living in the U.S. who is married to a U.S.

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Seattle Immigration Lawyer | The Marriage Route to Getting a Green Card, Continued – Living Abroad and Married to U.S. Citizen

September 28th, 2010 Tushar Mathur

In the case of an immigrant living abroad who is married to a U.S.

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Seattle Immigration Lawyer | Asylum Basics

September 23rd, 2010 Tushar Mathur

One way to obtain a green card and eventually to become a naturalized U.S. citizen is to apply for asylum. You can only apply for asylum when you are already in the U.S. or at the border/port of entry. If you are outside the U.S. and outside your home country, you can apply for refugee status—both refugees and asylees must meet the same standards but the process is different—this article will only discuss the steps for an asylee. If you think you may have an asylum claim, you should consult with an immigration lawyer about your specific circumstances.

Qualifications:

To qualify for asylum, you must demonstrate that you are unwilling or unable to return to your home country because of past persecution or a “well-founded fear” of future persecution in your home country based on your race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

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