Immigration Articles  |
| Useful articles on a variety of immigration topics. |
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| MAVNI Program: Direct US Citizenship without Permanent Resident Status |
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| The Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program is a program which authorizes certain branches of the military to recruit certain legal aliens whose skills are considered to be vital to the national interest. The one-year MAVNI pilot program allows the military to recruit up to 1,000 non-citizens who do not have permanent resident status, but who have been in US legally for at least two years. The MAVNI Program allows foreign nationals that join the military to apply for U.S Citizenship through naturalization without first having to obtain permanent resident status. In this article, we will explore how the one-year MAVNI Program gives a direct route to U.S Citizenship regardless of the permanent resident status of the foreign national. |
| Did You Know About the J-1 Umbrella Sponsor and its Advantages in Obtaining a J-1 Visa? |
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| US immigration law has provisions for several categories of “J-1 Exchange Visitors”, which include Au Pairs, camp counselors, summer work/travel, physicians, professors and researchers, short-term scholars, teachers, students, and trainees. To obtain a J-1 visa, you need to have an employer and the employer must be pre-authorized by the State Department to sponsor a J-1. But not all the employers are pre-authorized to have their own J-1 program. Thus, the J-1 umbrella program comes to rescue in such situation. In this article we will focus on the trainee program and discuss what a J-1 umbrella sponsor is. We will also talk about the use of an umbrella sponsor to obtain a J-1 visa. |
| Setting Up a New Business: Choosing Between L1 or E visa |
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| Setting up a new business can be quite exciting but there are also many challenges. Generally L-1 visas are used to set-up a new entity in the U.S. when it is a subsidiary, parent, branch, or affiliate of an overseas company. However, foreign nationals from countries with certain treaty with the U.S. have the choice of using E-1, E-2 or L-1 visa for establishing a new entity in the U.S. This article helps you understand the situations under which E-1, E-2 or L-1 visa options can be used. |
| PERM Labor Certification Process |
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| To improve the operations of the permanent labor certification program, ETA published a final regulation on December 27, 2004, which required the implementation of a new re-engineered permanent labor certification program by March 28, 2005. The PERM System i.e. Program Electronic Review Management System is a program developed by the Department of Labor to replace the then existing Employment based Labor Certification Application. The PERM regulation came into effect from March 28, 2005 and is applicable only to applications filed on or after that date. PERM is designed to streamline the labor certification process and reduce processing times. It eliminated the two methods of processing viz. Regular and RIR (Reduction in Recruitment). |
| Do you know the difference between 'Visa' and 'Status'? |
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| It has vitally important for all foreign nationals coming to the U.S. to maintain their status at all times. People often get confused between the visa and status and this is the reason why many people fall out of status without being realized that they have fallen out of status. Falling out of status can endanger your future travel to the US. In order to maintain your status while in the U.S., you must understand the difference between the two legal terms — ‘Visa’ and ‘Status’. In this article we will explore the differences between visa and status. |
| Affidavit of Support – Forms I-134 and I-864 in Comparison |
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| The Affidavit of Support is a legal document required for the petitioning sponsor for many family-based and some employment based immigrants to show the intending immigrant will have adequate means of support, when planning to immigrate to the U.S. However, it has often been observed that petitioners and visa applicants often get confused about which Affidavit of Support they need to complete and submit – Form I-134 or Form I-864. This article will discuss and compare the two Affidavits of Support – Forms I-134 and I-864, and when each should be used. |
| Behind the fall in H-1B Visa Demand – Is it the Economy or Increased Scrutiny on H-1B? |
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| First time in the history of immigration, USCIS has faced a steep decline in the demand for H-1B visa. Debates continue to rage on as to what or who is responsible for the fall in the demand of H-1B visa this year. Is it the economy or the increased scrutiny on the H-1B? For the first time ever, the number of H-1B petitions withdrawn by applicants or rejected by US authorities exceeds the number of new H-1B petitions filed this year. |
| The H-1B Visa Portability Provisions: Who Can Take Advantage of Them to Change Employers Freely? |
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| Changing jobs on H-1B visa had been so easy until the H-1B portability designed by the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (AC21) came into existence. The American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (AC21) allows an H-1B worker to change employers and begin working for the new employer as soon as the new employer files the H-1B petition. The H-1B employee no longer has to wait for the new H-1B petition to be approved. Read the complete article to understand how the H-1B portability provision works and what are its advantages. |
| I Got Laid Off While on H-1B? What Should I Do Now? |
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| The economy did not leave any one untouched by its drastic impact. Stories of banking crises, bailouts, rising unemployment, plummeting securities and housing prices, rising inflation, rising gas and food prices, recession, depression, and laid off of foreign employees in the US are no new. However, amongst all the worries of a foreign national worker in the US, the most worrisome is a layoff, these days. This article is designed to help you understand your rights and privileges in the US in case you are laid off from your job. |
| What is ESTA: Is ESTA Required For Travelers Under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)? |
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| What is ESTA? Is ESTA really required for travelers under the visa waiver program (VWP)? People often confuse the ESTA Travel Authorization with a visa but it is not true. The ESTA Travel Authorization is not a visa. Then what actually is an ESTA? This article is designed to help you understand the meaning and purpose of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The article also throws a light on the differences between the Electronic System for Travel Authorization and a visa. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization has made visiting the United States an easy and simple process for the millions of visitors under the Visa Waiver Program; read out the article to find out how. |
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