Employment-Based Visa Immigration with no Labor Certification

The other common ways getting a lawful resident status in the U.S. is via employment.  There are several choices in employment-based immigrant visa classification and lots of sub classification contained by those choices. One is eligible by deciding correctly which categories to take to triumphantly transfer to the United States. Fundamentally, this type is called “EB-1”.

The best characteristic of EB-1 visa is that usually the job offer from an employer is not required. This feature is very significant since the optimistic immigrant will not need the support of an employer. Without an employer the aspirant can apply a self-petition with the USCIS also known as United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.  The hopeful migrant does not need to obtain labor documentation from the United States Department of Labor as a prerequisite to legal permanent residency.

The second most excellent attribute part of EB-1 visa is the scarcity of visa backlogs. This connotes that the immigrant, the unmarried children below 21 years old and the US citizen spouse can depend on to transferring soon to the United States after the acknowledgment of EB-1 petition.

For the non-citizen who has an exceptional skill the first choice is EB-1 visa.

“Remarkable skills” is portrayed as a “stage of expertise indicating that the person is one of those marginal’s who have ascended to summit of the playing field of achievement”.  EB-1 visa aim is to give the most excellent and the smart immigrant with a visa as a superior member of staff whose ability, creativity and skills are useful to the United States of America. An immigrant with an extra-ordinary skill entry in the United States has to “extensively benefit potentially for the United States”.

The hopeful immigrant who has an aspiration to submit an application should meet the criteria as a priority worker, must be an alien with a bizarre skills in the playing fields of arts, of business or athletics (“EB-1A”), sciences, an excellent professor or research (“EB-1B”), education,  a multinational executive or a manager who will be employed in the United States for the same company whom he/she was working with in his/her native land for one out of three years in an administrative competency (“EB-1C”). For qualification the three categories of EB-1 visa priority personnel have distinctive characteristics and conditions.

Human Rights Violations in US Immigration Reforms Enforcement

Hispanics, immigrants and native Americans are said to face a pattern of human rights violations under United States Immigration policies. The communities living in the border are greatly affected by the immigration control measures which results in human rights violation. The execution of immigration enforcement criterion along the border has created an impact in the rights of Indigenous population as their lands lie on both regions of the US-Mexico border.

Immigration policies has pushed the undocumented immigrants into using dangerous routes through the US desert which results in the death of numerous people. Racial profiling has been increasing due to the improper supervision of the state and local law enforcement. Some Immigrants are denied their basic human rights like the right to education because of the increasing region laws and local policies. Local communities and some minority populace are at a risk of injustice. Some immigrants face a range of obstructions of justice, most especially once they are victims of domestic violence or human trafficking.

A report states that the federal and state laws had failed to respect immigrants' right to life. American citizens of Hispanic descent and Native Americans are subject to prejudiced identification by federal, state and local law enforcement officials. Through that they are being preyed for police stops and investigations. Each citizen and every immigrant has human rights, despite of their lawful resident status. The report from Amnesty International says that US has been failing to ensure the basic human rights under the international law.

Federal and state authorities have controversial ideas about the report's complaints of racial profiling. The officials from the Department of Homeland Security say that the report is based on obsolete information. The statement doesn’t have rational approvals for improvisation. It only suggests the deferral of the nationwide immigration compulsory programs.

Even Texas does not have immigration laws, the DOS officers arrest undocumented immigrants in spite of their nationality. The federal state communities say that they prevent racial profiling by having the fingerprints of all the arrested people and are being checked against FBI criminal records. Customs and Border Protection officials say that is has been working with the tribes to create identification forms. The federal agency has institute a policy which will protect victims of domestic violent behavior both physically and emotionally and to make ensure that the criminals are prosecuted

.

As per the statement of Amnesty International, most of the victims do not file law enforcer reports because they believe that the police will not lend a hand to them. The human rights group has also commented on the US border policy, for forcing the undocumented immigrants to use dangerous routes to enter the country. Amnesty International says that many have lost their lives along the border and the children are suffering due to the local policies as they face difficulties in accessing their right to education.

What will the American Airport Immigration Officer Expect To See After Your Absence from the U.S. for 6-12 Months ?

Lawful permanent residents of the United States may travel abroad freely for less than a year. But traveling abroad might be difficult if you hold an expired Green Card. Even if your Green Card is valid you will be permitted to enter into the country only after inspection and the US immigration officers will question you in order to make sure that you had not left the country with an intention of giving up your lawful status in the United States. US Green Cards are issued to foreign nationals who intend to make the country their permanent home and if such Green Card holders plan to reside permanently in a foreign country, their Green Cards may be revoked and they may not be allowed to re-enter the country. You may be at the risk of losing your Green Card if you travel outside the country frequently. US immigration officers at the US airport will also ask you about the purpose of your frequent travel.

However, you may not be allowed to re-enter the country with your valid Green Card, if you had lived in a foreign country for a year or more. And you will have to obtain a re-entry permit to get back to the country, prior to your departure, if you plan to remain abroad for more than 365 days. But if you had to remain abroad for long time due to a genuine reason, you may explain your situation to the US immigration officer and provide evidence to prove that you had not planned to remain outside the country but you had to remain due to a valid reason. If your family member had fallen sick all of a sudden and if you had to stay in the foreign country due to that reason for a long period of time, you may submit copies of medical records to show that you had to remain with the family member who was in need of your help. However, your continuous absence from the country disrupts your continuous residence and the US immigration officers may doubt that you have plans to live in a foreign country and abandon your permanent residence status in America.

In order to prove that you had to remain abroad for a genuine reason, you may be required to provide documentary evidence to show that you have social and family ties in the United States. Hence, it is wise to always carry with you certain documents that will help you to prove that you intend to reside in the United States permanently. You may provide details about your property in America, the vehicle that you own in the United States, your American bank accounts and your US driver's license, to demonstrate that you need to return to the country. Similarly, the tax returns that you had filed and your employment in the United States, may also help you to establish that you had do not have an idea to relinquish your permanent resident status in America. Apart from that, you may present copies of your family member's medical reports to show that you had to stay with that relative, as he needed your help. A US immigration officer at the US airport may expect the above mentioned documents and evidence to grant you permission to re-enter the country.

Who Are The Young People Eligible for the President’s “Deferred Action” Initiative

According to the deferred action policy, young undocumented immigrants who got into the United States, as children are eligible to receive deferred action. Their deportation will be postponed for two years for which they are granted deferred action. As much as 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in the country may become eligible to request deferred action as they meet the eligibility requirements for deferred action. Around half the number of eligible undocumented immigrants live in Texas and California. But other American states also have significant number of undocumented immigrants from every part of the world. Most of the undocumented immigrants in the United States are from Mexico. Apart from Mexicans, there are many undocumented immigrants who are from Asia, South America, Europe and various other parts of the world.

Young people who are eligible for the deferred action process, are the undocumented immigrants who are below age 31 and above 15 and they must have entered the country when they were below age 15. Such undocumented immigrants to become eligible for the deferred action process should have resided within the United States, continuously for 5 years. Their physical presence in the country as of June 15, 2012 and at the time of submitting their requests, is mandatory. Moreover, the requesters must not have any legal immigration status in the country. If they had entered lawfully, then they must prove that their lawful status expired on or before 15th June, 2012. The application filed by an undocumented immigrant will be considered for deferred action, if he has been issued a final deportation order or if he was never placed in removal proceedings. Young undocumented immigrants who are currently in school or those who hold a high school completion certificate alone are eligible to request deferred action. Otherwise, the applicant must be an honorably discharged veteran from the US Coast Guard or Armed Forces, to request deferred action. In order to prove all the above, you must mail Form I-821D, along with the documents that will establish your eligibility. Undocumented immigrants who were convicted of punishable offenses may not be eligible to request deferred action. Moreover the undocumented immigrants who pass the background checks will only be eligible to receive deferred action.

However, children below age 15 may not be eligible to request deferred action, but they may become eligible in future, if the deferred action process is in effect. Though this process is not a permanent solution, it will help a lot of undocumented immigrants, who do not want to be removed from the country. Undocumented immigrants who are considered to be of low-priority for the enforcement of the US immigration laws will be benefited through this process. They may file Form I-821D, to request deferred action by providing the required supporting documentation to prove that they are eligible to receive deferred action. These undocumented immigrants who receive deferred action will receive federal work permits and driver's licenses. Hence, the President's deferred action/Acción diferida initiative will grant a temporary relief from deportation to the law-abiding young undocumented immigrants.

What Deferred Action Means for Our Nation's Undocumented Young people?

Even before the deferred action policy was implemented, thousands of undocumented immigrants were trying to gather information about the process. They are happy about the implementation of the process and the forms that are made available by the USCIS. Form I-821D, is the form that must be filed by an applicant who is eligible to receive deferred action. This process has provided hope and the undocumented immigrants who are in deportation proceedings are waiting to see if they could get a chance to stay back in America.

Deferred action process is considered to be important, because this process will defer the deportation of eligible immigrants and will permit them to work and stay in the United States, for two more years and it may be renewed at the end of the two-year period. Undocumented immigrants who seek lawful status in the United States are happy about the process and are willing to undergo all the paper work and pay the required fees. This shows that they are so keen in remaining in the country. Though this process does not grant lawful status to the undocumented immigrants, it grants them employment authorization so that they may work in the United States legally, if they are granted deferred action.

Students who are in deportation proceedings or with a final removal order, if granted deferred action need not leave the United States and they may continue their studies, in the United States. Thousands of dreamers are awaiting to get help in order to apply for deferred action. USCIS has already instructed the eligible applicants to mail their applications to one of the four USCIS offices around the country. USCIS has said that more personnel may be hired to process the I-821D applications.

Many undocumented immigrants who had entered the United States as children are now in schools or high schools and they all are rushing to file applications to request deferred action. Though this is only a temporary relief, eligible undocumented immigrants consider this to be a great relief. Many of them who were smuggled to the United States at a very young age, are now in schools and some are graduated and employed. Some of them say that the deferred action process is the only chance for them to remain in the United States. Similarly they are also worried whether the details that they provide will put their families at the risk of deportation.

Most of the eligible undocumented immigrants are collecting papers that are necessary to prove their eligibility to receive deferred action. Though they are in the United States as undocumented immigrants, they have their roots in the United States and they had been residing in the United States for a long time and they do not want to leave the country. They also say that they do not know about their native countries. Hence, this deferred action process means a lot to them, as they feel that this is a chance given to them by the country to remain there, at least for a two-year period. As this process will grant them work authorization along with deferred action, almost all the eligible undocumented immigrants are in the process of obtaining and filing Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization and Form I-765WS, Form I-765 Worksheet.

How To Petition The Immigrating Spouse of U.S. Citizen?

If you are the spouse of a US citizen, you may immigrate to the United States through family based immigration. To immigrate to the United States, you must be sponsored by your US citizen spouse. Your spouse who is a US citizen, must file the USCIS Form I-30, Petition for Alien Relative, in order to sponsor an immigrant visa with which you may enter the United States. In order to be eligible for a marriage visa, you must prove that you are a legally wedded husband or a wife of the US Citizen. With a marriage visa, the foreign spouse of a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident may immigrate to the United States.

The spouse of a US citizen is considered to be an immediate relative and there is no annual limit in the numbers visas issued to immediate relatives of US citizens. If the foreign spouse of the US citizen is already in the United States in some other non-immigrant category, the foreign spouse may adjust status to permanent resident status by filing Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status to Permanent resident, at the same time while the US citizen spouse files Form I-130, Petition for Alien relative. Through adjustment of status, the foreign spouse who is in the United States as a non-immigrant, may become a permanent resident.

If the US citizen wishes to sponsor an immigrant visa for a spouse who is abroad, the US citizen may first file Form I-130, for the foreign spouse. After approval of the petition, USCIS will work with the US Consulate or Embassy, in the country where the foreign spouse lives. After the process is complete and after filling the necessary forms, the foreign spouse must apply for an immigrant visa at the US Embassy or Consulate, in the country where she lives. On obtaining an immigrant visa, the foreign spouse may enter the United States with that visa and she may become a permanent resident.

Filing Form I-130

As a US citizen, while you file Form I-130, you must submit certain other documents as supporting evidence. You must submit copies of documents such as your US passport in order to prove that you are a US citizen. To establish your relationship with your foreign spouse and to prove that your marriage is genuine, you must submit copies of your marriage certificate. You may be required to provide copies of certain other documents to establish that your marital status is authentic. You must also make all efforts to prove that you had not entered into the marriage just for immigration purposes.

Fill out the form completely, without missing or concealing any important information. As the form consists of three parts make sure that you mention the relationship between you and the beneficiary in the Section A, details about yourself such as your name, address and date of birth in Section B and the details about the beneficiary in Section C. You must also complete and sign Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, to demonstrate that you will accept the legal responsibility to financially support your spouse for whom you sponsor an immigrant visa to immigrate to the United States. An affidavit of support is required to show that the foreign spouse who is seeking a marriage visa to immigrate to the United States has enough financial support and that the spouse may not become a public charge.

Useful Tips on How to Get Immigrant Visas

A foreign national must get an immigrant visa to immigrate to the United States and to live there permanently. There are different types of immigrant visas that are available for the people who wish to immigrate to the United states. It is not a very easy task to immigrate to America and it involves filing various forms and various steps are involved in the immigrant visa process.

Generally, to immigrate to the United States and to apply for an immigrant visa, a foreign national must be sponsored by a US citizen relative, US Green Card holder or by a potential employer. Once you decide to immigrate to the United States, the first step that you must take is to file an immigrant visa application with the USCIS. An appropriate form depending on your category must be filed.

If the foreign national is sponsored by a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident sponsor who is residing in the United States, the person who is sponsoring must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with the USCIS Chicago or the Phoenix Lockbox facility. If a US employer is offering a job to a foreign national, the potential employer must file Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker.

The immigrant visa petition filed by the US citizen family member or the employer must be approved by USCIS. After the immigrant visa petition is approved by USCIS, the preliminary processing of the visa with the Department of State, National Visa Center, will begin.

It is the duty of the National Visa Center(NVC) to provide instructions to the sponsors and visa applicants. The NVC will review the required Affidavit of Support forms submitted by the sponsors. It will receive the required fees, application forms and other supporting documents that are required. Certain immigrant visa categories are assigned a numerical limit. For such categories, the NVC will contact the applicant after the priority date becomes current.

After verification of the required documents, the NVC will schedule an interview with US Embassies or Consulates. The immigrant visa case files of the applicants will be sent by the NVC, to the US Embassy or the Consulate, where the interview is scheduled. After you get an interview appointment from the NVC, you must get prepared for the immigrant visa interview. You must prepare for the medical exam and make sure that you possess all the required original documents to be submitted at the time of the interview.

Diversity Visa Program is another way through which a foreign national may obtain an immigrant visa to immigrate to the United States. This program provides visas to applicants drawn from countries with low immigration rates to America. The other immigrant types require a US sponsor, but the Diversity Visa (DV) program does not require a US sponsor. It also does not require a visa petition.

How To Obtain A Family Based Green Card?

It is the general policy of the USCIS to design the immigration processes in such a way so that it will be easy for any category of immigrants to realize their dream. The common dream of these immigrant classes is that of living and working in the US, for which they should first get a green card. As mentioned earlier, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has laid out so many pathways for an immigrant to become a green card holder. All that an applicant needs to do is ensure that he/she is eligible for it and then choose the most appropriate route for getting it.

Pathways to getting a green card

The most favored ways for getting a green card are as listed below

• Family based green card
• Green card through a job
• Green card through Asylee or Refugee status

Apart from these, there are other ways of getting a green card like, by being victims of human trafficking; being an US Armed Forces member, through the DV lottery program etc. The most sought after and the easiest way of becoming a legal permanent resident of the US is through the family route only.

Getting a family based green card

Before getting to know about this specific process, you need to know the general eligibility criteria required to file in a green card application – You should be eligible for any one of the immigrant categories that is drafted in the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act) and be admissible to the US. You must have your immigrant petition filed in by a suitable sponsor and got it approved. You must also be in possession of a valid immigrant visa, which is immediately available, as a result of the approved immigrant petition.

Once these are taken care of, you can then move on to the specific instructions of getting a family based green card. When you have your immediate family members as US citizens, then you are very lucky. This is because you need not wait in-line for a visa to become available, which is the case for the general category of applicants Also there is no limit prescribed by the USCIS for visas in this category. Ensure that you fall under any of the three categories of relatives to qualify as immediate relatives.

• You are a parent of a US citizen( In this case, your US Citizen child should be at least 21 years of age)
• You are the spouse of a US Citizen
• You are the child (unmarried) of a US citizen who is under the age of 21.

Any other form of relationship with the US citizen will not entitle you with the privilege of not waiting in line for an immigrant visa. However, they will be considered to issue a family based green card with some amount of waiting time for a visa.

I preference category          –  Unmarried, adult sons/daughters of US citizens (Age -21yrs or

                                                   older)

II preference category (A)   –  Unmarried children (Age- below 21 yrs) and spouses of the

                                                    Permanent residents

II preference category (B)   –  Unmarried sons/ daughters of Permanent Residents (age- 21 yrs

                                                    or older)

III Preference category        -   Married sons/daughters of US citizens, spouses with their

                                                     minor children

IV preference Category          - Siblings of US citizens, spouses with their minor children

The US citizen or permanent resident should file in USCIS Forms I-130 which is the procedure to petition an alien relative into the US. This should be filed in with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to establish the qualifying relationship of the Citizen or the permanent resident with the relative. Once this is approved, the USCIS will intimate the US Embassy in the country in which the relative resides. From here on, it is the applicant who has to follow up, in order to get a family based green card. He/she should then file in Form I-485 to adjust to the status of a permanent resident, based on the instructions of that particular embassy.

When To E-file My Green Card Renewal?

Green card is the ticket to getting a comfortable job and to reside peacefully in the US. It gives a sense of secure feeling to the individuals as they have the most important legal rights granted to them. The easiest way of getting a green card is by marrying a US citizen, as the citizens have the right to sponsor their immediate relatives. Getting a green card is very important and at the same time, keeping it fully updated and valid is also important. This is where the green card renewal comes to play.

Why Green Card Renewal?

USCIS has instructed all the Green card holders to have their cards with them all the time, irrespective of where they travel or what they do. Recent laws have authorized the police to pull up anyone that they feel to be suspicious and check their legal status. In these circumstances, having a green card (fully valid one) will be highly useful. Even though the Green cards are issued for the purpose of granting permanent residency till the entire lifetime of the individual, they come with a10 year validity period only. Green card holders should go in for a green card renewal when the card is about to expire or has already expired.

Before E-filing

This is one of the recent facilities introduced by the USCIS to facilitate easy submission of the green card renewal applications. Before starting this process, the applicant should ensure that he/she is eligible for filing in I-90 (Application for Green card renewal). Following circumstances will not allow a person to go in for e-filing

• Removing the conditions on the card cannot be done
• Applying for a fee waiver
• Residing outside the US , Guam, Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands
• The card was never received or received with an incorrect data due to an USCIS administrative error
• Renewing within 30 days of becoming a 14 year old when the existing card has expired or not expired.

Having a Pc with a compatible browser and a secure, fast internet connection is the next item on the list. Once the applicant logs in to the E-filing page of the USCIS website, he/she must follow the instructions that are specific for each and every form that are listed on the page. In order to login and e-file a form, the applicant must first create a valid user account, which is very easy and can be done within a few minutes.

USCIS has taken the pains to list out the most common mistakes that applicants do while filing in their applications, which leads to rejection or denial. It is highly important that the applicants go through this before e-filing.

E-filing process

Once the applicant has completed the application and submitted it, he/she should ensure that it has been successfully done. The following are indications that the application process has been successful

• Receiving a receipt number on the web confirmation page
• Receiving a Form I-797 (Notice of Action) with the confirmation receipt number through mail, that too within 10 days of e-filing

Before closing the e-filing page, applicants should note down the receipt number on the confirmation page. Only then 'finish' has to be given which will generate a PDF copy of the green card renewal application. Applicants are also advised to save a soft copy of their completed application and confirmation receipt notice on the computer or USB. It is essential that the applicants' fingerprints and photographs meet the USCIS stipulations as only then they will be processed further. Source: immigrationdirect.multiply.com