Green Card & Visa News » Immigrant

How a Divorce Can Hurt Your Immigration Case

Tushar Mathur — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:09:00 +0000

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. citizen spouse was abusive.

Second, as you may know, if an immigrant obtains a green card based on a marriage to a U.S. citizen, and that marriage occurred within the last two years, the green card is conditional and expires after two years. In order to remove the condition, the immigrant and the U.S. citizen spouse must file a petition (Form I-751) within 90 days before the card expires. (The petition must be accompanied by supporting documentation showing that the marriage is not a sham. USCIS will either: approve the petition; request additional evidence; refer the case for an interview; or, deny the petition and refer it to an Immigration Judge.) The petition must be filed jointly; however, if the couple is divorced, the immigrant will file the petition him or herself and seek a waiver of the joint filing requirement, which is only granted if: (a) the marriage was entered into in good faith but was legally terminated; (b) the immigrant’s deportation would cause the immigrant extreme hardship beyond the normal hardship of someone who is deported; or, (c) the marriage was entered into in good faith but the immigrant was abused by the U.S. spouse.

If you are applying for a waiver it is highly recommended that you hire an immigration attorney since this is not a routine application but rather it requires submitting substantial documentary evidence. It is also important to note that the couple can still file the petition jointly if they are separated or their divorce is not yet finalized. But, if the couple files a joint petition and their divorce is finalized before the USCIS has rendered a decision then the petition will be denied and the immigrant will have to file a new petition with a waiver request.

Third, divorce can negatively affect an immigrant trying to naturalize based on a U.S. citizen spouse. For example, in a recent California federal district court case, the plaintiff had applied for naturalization based on his U.S. citizen wife after he had been a lawful permanent resident for three years. However, while his naturalization application was pending, the plaintiff divorced his wife. The court found that the plaintiff was not eligible for naturalization because as a result of the divorce, the 5-year residency requirement for naturalization applied instead of the 3-year residency requirement after becoming a lawful permanent resident. Alenazi v. USCIS No. 09-cv-2053 (S.D. Cal. October 12, 2010).

As you can see, the timing of a divorce can have real consequences in immigration proceedings, which are best dealt with by planning ahead and consulting with a knowledgeable immigration attorney.

EB 5- A good Alternative to H1 B

Tushar Mathur — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:05:37 +0000

One of the most popular and sought after visa for non immigrants’ skilled workers is H1-B visa, which provide them legitimate right to work in United States for a particular period of time. This is aspect is very problematic for migrants who are trying to apply for immigration and sponsorship. For such people EB-5 visa is considered as best alternative for H1-B visa.

It is very easy for a migrant who is living in United States for a considerable period of time to invest. This is because he would have gain a good understanding of the various aspects of the economy of the United States of America during his stay. He would have become more familiar with the functioning of economy. This knowledge of United States would help him in avoiding the culture shock which he would have otherwise faced. In these cases, getting accustomed and adjusted to the totally different culture of United States would be of prime concern.

Another advantage of this would be that he would have save some investment which could again be invested in United States economy. The task of researching and deciding about the regions to set the business and invest accordingly would be much more easy and simple if person have a good understanding of the economy.

Another advantage is that person would have proper understanding of local job market as well. The very basic requirement of getting EB-5 visa is that a minimum ten new jobs should be created for the local people and hence selecting right employees for jobs would not be so difficult. At the same time local job seekers would find it much easier to trust the immigrant as he is accustomed to local culture. This in turn will save a lot of money and time and subsequently would add to investment.

Since individual is already working in United States so he must have developed a vast professional network. This network can help him in promoting his business in easy fashion. An applicant can even work in collaboration with any American citizen.

Lastly an immigrant can be saved if he does not get involved in all deceitful and unlawful activities which might come in his way during the whole process of his venture.

It is always recommended for such profession to contact some good EB-5 attorney or any specialist in EB-5 who can help him in entire procedure.

What is Visa Waiver Program?

Tushar Mathur — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:11:11 +0000

The term Waiver stands for a kind of document provided to a person before a service is rendered by him. This waiver works as a security object for both the person as well as the provider.

‘Waiver’ holds the same significance in Visa Waiver Program too. Visa Waiver Program is a grant provided by the government of United States of America to the citizens of specific countries to travel United States for business or any other purpose for not more than 90 days without any Visa.

U.S. government has listed 34 countries under waiver program which are either the countries that possess higher economy or the developed countries.

A Pilot test of Visa Waiver Program was incorporated into Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in year 1986 by the Immigration Reform and Control Act. This pilot program was made permanent on October 30, 2000 by a special Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act. Security of Visa Waiver Program was strengthened by the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 which made the entry under this program more difficult.

The greatest advantage that a Visa Waiver Program can give is that any person that wishes to conduct his business in America can travel to United States without any visa.

Any individual applying for this program has to obtain an authorisation from the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before travelling. ESTA is an Automatic system that scrutinizes the eligibility of travellers wishing to visit United States under Visa Waiver Program. Application for the ESTA can be applied any time before your travel but it is highly recommended that its application should be submitted at the time of your travel plans.

Apart from the leverage that Visa Waiver Program provides, there are some issues to be taken care if you are applying for this program. You may not extend your status of being non-immigrant, if you are admitted once under this program. If you have violated any terms related to admission under this program then you cannot apply for the same anymore and in case if your admission is not accepted then you cannot take any judicial support for re-application.

Thus, if you fall under the privileged countries that come under Visa Waiver Program then you can surely apply for this facility that United States government provides.