Immigration Law

Family Immigration Green Cards

Family reunification is the bedrock of the U.S. immigration policy. In 1965, the 89th Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, a sweeping law that did away with the national origins quotas and put in place the modern system of immigrant admissions the country largely still has today—a system weighted toward family reunification, with a lesser emphasis on employment-based migration. In fact, the act granted 74 percent of all permanent visas to family reunification categories

Do you have an American citizen parent, sibling or child (over 21) willing to sponsor you for residency?

As a U.S. citizen or Green Card holder, you can sponsor your immediate relatives to reside permanently and work in the United States. However, there are a lot of technicalities involved in this seemingly simple but complicated process. U.S. citizens can sponsor their spouse, unmarried sons and daughters, married sons and daughters over 21 years and siblings. However, a Green Card holder is limited in the sense that he/she can only sponsor a spouse or children. Thus, if you are a Green Card holder, you cannot sponsor your parents or siblings to reside and work in the United States.

How Long Must My Relative Wait to be Sponsored?

When applying for a family-based adjustment of status or consular processing, you need to understand that there are millions of other people around the globe currently on the waiting list. For some category of persons such as married sons and daughters or siblings of a U.S. citizen, the current wait time is over ten years depending on the applicant's country of chargeability. However, some family members such as spouses and minor children can get their application much faster without having to wait in the line.

Every month the U.S. Department of State publishes the wait times known as the “Visa Bulletin” for Green Cards based on family sponsorship and employment sponsorship. You can monitor these bulletins at any time. If this is an option that is of interest to you, please contact us so we can further examine your situation.

We have helped tens of clients with their immigration process and you too can become one of our happy clients. We encourage you to take advantage of our free initial consultation to discuss your options.

Can A Felon Petition for Family Member?

Yes! You can file a petition for your family relatives even if you are a felon

U-Visa

The U-visa is a United States nonimmigrant visa which is set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse while in the United States. The alleged immigrant victim must have been a victim of a qualifying crime and supported or be willing to assist law enforcement and government officials in the investigation and/or prosecution of the criminal activity perpetrated by a U.S. citizen. Examples of qualifying crimes are rape, sexual assault, felonious assault, domestic violence, involuntary servitude, kidnapping, female genital mutilation, etc. The alleged victim's immediate family may also be added as a derivative in the U-visa application. The victim and their immediate family members are then allowed to reside and work in the United States. The most exciting part of a U-visa is that it creates a pathway to citizenship. Another good thing about the U-visa is that unlike asylum and other forms of adjustment of status that requires interview or a court hearing, a U-visa does not require court appearance or USCIS interview.

The U-visa isn't the best situation we would like you to use in getting you a green card, however, if you have unfortunately been a victim of one of the above crimes listed above, we would like you to contact us for a free consultation.

Non-Immigrant Visa

The United States is arguably the most immigration friendly country in the world with a yearly admission of over one million immigrants. In addition to the already huge number of foreign nationals admitted yearly, the U.S. immigration law allows for unlimited number of nonimmigrant visas in different categories depending on the purpose of the foreign national's purpose of coming into the United States.

What is Non-Immigrant visa?

Nonimmigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States on a temporary basis for tourism, business, study, medical treatment and certain types of temporary work. The type of nonimmigrant visa needed is defined by immigration law related to the purpose of the travel. Generally, an individual applies directly to the U.S. consulate or embassy abroad for a tourist (B-2) or business nonimmigrant (B-1) visa. However, foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States to study requires certain authorization and documentation prior to applying for a nonimmigrant visa. The U.S. Department of State through the embassy process F1 and all nonimmigrant visas for foreign nationals abroad.

A visa simply indicates that a U.S. consular officer at an American embassy or consulate has reviewed the application and that officer has determined that the individual is eligible to enter the United States for a specific purpose. The Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Officer at the port-of-entry will conduct an inspection to determine if the individual is eligible for admission into the United States.

Do you want to travel to the U.S. for tourism or business?

For foreign nationals seeking to visit the United States for tourism or business, we can help guide you through the application process and gather the required documentation to make your American excursion possible. In addition, we can help you prepare for your visa interview at the U.S embassy or consulate in your home country

R-1 Visa for Religious Workers.

The United States government appreciate the importance of religious liberty and the need for all religious institutions to freely propagate their beliefs. Because religious institutions operate very differently from other business organizations, the United States immigration policy created specific visa process to meet the needs of foreign nationals coming to the United States to carry out religious and/or missionary work.

What is an R-1 Visa?

The R-1 Religious Workers visa is a nonimmigrant work visa for members of any religion to come to the United States to work for that religion. Religious workers are generally not in the ministry work for profit making, thus, the R-1 visa was created to meet the needs of religious organizations who are looking for such workers to fill positions that do not typically fit under other employment visa categories. The application process for an R-1 visa is made by the religious organization who is the applicant while the foreign national is the beneficiary. The religious organization files a Form I-129 petition with USCIS and once that petition is approved, the foreign national proceed to make his/her R-1 visa application at a U.S. embassy or consulate in his/her home country. However, a foreign national who is currently in the United States on another nonimmigrant visa may apply to change status to an R-1 visa.

R-1 Visa Requirements

Depending on the religious worker classification you apply for there are certain requirements you must satisfy. For each of these classifications you must have been a member of that religion for at least two years. In addition, the religion must be a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the United States.

The three R-1 Religious Worker classifications are as follows:

Ministers of Religion
Religious Professionals
Other Religious Workers

A foreign national from any legitimate religion can qualify and apply for this visa. However, the foreign national must have been a member of the foreign religious organization for at least two years, the U.S. religious organization must either be the same religious organization or affiliated to the US religious organization where the foreign national will be employed solely as a minister or in another religious vocation or occupation at least part time (an average of at least 20 hours per week) by a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the United States (or a bona fide organization that is affiliated with the religious denomination in the United States).

The R-1 visa is a great option for individuals interested in working within their faith here in the United States. The R-1 visa not only offers the applicant the opportunity to come into the United States but provides the applicant's family with an R-2 Visa status as well. Generally, the visa is valid for 30 months (two and a half years), and it can be renewed once for an additional 30 months.

Free Consultation

We have successfully completed R-1 visa for our clients who are currently residing and working in religious organizations in major cities in the United States. We are here for you, and we ask that you contact our office to discuss your immigration options.

F-1 Student Visa

An F-1 student visa is a nonimmigrant visa issued to foreign nationals who wishes to attend an academic program or English Language Program at a United States accredited college or university. An F-1 visa holder can remain in the country until the completion of his/her program. F-1 students are expected to complete their studies by the expiration date on their I-20 (Certificate of Eligibility for Non-immigrant Student Status) which is provided by the United States college or university which the foreign national has been accepted to attend. Upon completion of their academic program, F1 visa holders are given the option of working in the United States for a limited period under the Optional Training Program (OPT).

The application process for F-1 visa starts with getting accepted into a United States college or university. It is important to understand that each university or college have their own admission criteria. However, regardless which university you choose to attend, there are certain uniform requirements set out by the United States Department of Homeland Security. The F-1 visa is a great pathway to immigrate to United States, but it has to be done right in order to avoid breaching US immigration law which could be very detrimental to your goal of living the American Dream.

Free Consultation

We are here for you and we ask that you contact our office to discuss your immigration options and if F-1 visa is the right path for you.

L-1 Visa

Unlike the H-1B, where an individual is looking to join an American company, the L-1 visa is issued to those who are already employed by the company in another country, and who are merely relocating to an American office. These visa holders are known as intracompany transferees.

This is a great way to relocate to the United States if you have worked full time for a company for a period of at least one year in the last three years preceding your L-1 application. This non-immigrant work visa is available to company executives or manager and expert or specialized employees. One of the benefits of the L1 visa is that there is no quota.

Have You Been DENIED by USCIS?

There are several reasons why USCIS deny adjustment of status applications but one of the most common reason is lack of sufficient evidence to prove a case. In some other cases, USCIS denials are predicated on fraud such as sham marriage or failure to prove bona fide marriage. If your case has been denied by USCIS, you might be able to request USCIS to review its decision by filing Form I-290B and supporting evidence to overcome the denial. However, you will need an experienced immigration lawyer to help you with this type of application given the technicalities involved. In some cases, USCIS officers make mistakes in reviewing applications, but they rarely admit to mistakes but with the help of a competent immigration lawyer, you should be able to get USCIS to reconsider their decision.

Since 2016, Attorney Asiriuwa have worked with immigrants all over the United State to help clients win very difficult cases some of which had been rejected by other immigration lawyers. He is experienced in filing I-290B applications, 601 waiver application and 237(a) fraud waivers with the EOIR- immigration court.

Naturalization

If you are born in the United States, you are automatically granted U.S. citizenship under the birthright citizenship principle protected under the fourteenth amendment of the United States Constitution.

Naturalization is the process by which foreign nationals who received U.S. permanent residents become United States citizens after satisfying certain legal requirements. The Law Office of Emmanuel Asiriuwa is experienced with the naturalization process which can be complicated for some applicants.

Benefits of U.S. Citizenship:

Right to vote in all U.S. elections- federal, state and local elections
Ability to travel with a U.S. passport- visa free to over 100 countries
More options to sponsor family members to get U.S. immigration benefits
Ability to get citizenship for children born outside of the U.S.
Ability to reside outside of the U.S. for as long as you choose without the risk of losing your status