Austin IRC

J-1 Visa Program Requirements

The J-1 visa program can provide many professional and education-based visa opportunities for international visitors to the United States. There are currently 14 different programs within the J-1 visa program umbrella. These multifaceted education-based visa programs range from teaching to studying and conducting research. Foreign nations may also demonstrate special skills and can receive on the job training for a few weeks to up to several years under the J-1 visa program. Texas immigration lawyers regularly help foreign nationals obtain entry into the United States through the J-1 Visa program. Check out the requirements and regulations for each category of the J-1 visa program to determine which one is right for you. Continue reading J1 Visa for Teachers & Exchange Visitors

The green card lottery, which is formally known as the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV), is a program administered each year by the U.S. Department of State that allows certain individuals to immigrate to the U.S. if they meet certain strict eligibility requirements. The idea behind the DV program is to make visas, and eventually citizenship, available to individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. over the prior five years. Continue reading How Does the Green Card Lottery Work?

As a nation founded on immigration and established by the workforce of millions of immigrants, it often takes us aback that the intolerance for people of other races, ethnicities, and nationalities has reached the level that presidential candidates are calling for self-deportation of illegal immigrants. How is this so? How does a nation that prides itself on freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness culturally and legally prosecute people who enter this country searching, sometimes in vain, for a better life? While the answer is still out there, we can examine if laws against immigrants, primarily illegal immigrants, are working to further spread intolerance or are they stemming the tide for American workers to find employment during hard times. Continue reading Are Anti-Immigration Laws Working?

Apples are rotting on the branches of trees and corn is dying in the vast fields of America because of a shortage of workers to harvest our crops, resulting in substantial losses for farmers and their communities. Worker shortages are raising a serious threat to bring in the harvest and this problem ties in with larger political issues. In an agricultural system built on exploitation, tough immigration laws are getting rid of one of the easiest groups of people to exploit: undocumented immigrants who have everything to lose if they attempt to report labor violations or assert their rights.

Continue reading A Hard’s Days Work: The Importance of Migrant Labor

When you have applied for U.S. citizenship, you must go through an interview with an officer from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The purpose of this interview is to verify your identity, provide information about your background and character, and ensure that you are willing to take an Oath of Allegiance to the United States. Going through the interview process is a requirement of becoming a citizen of the U.S. and if you do not have an interview with USCIS, your petition to become a citizen will be denied. Continue reading What to Expect at the Citizenship Interview

Generally, if you wish to enter the United States and to remain temporarily, you have to obtain a Non-Immigrant Visa in whatever category corresponds to the purpose of your visit. Under this heading, we’ll be dealing only with the categories B-1 (for those who wish to visit to conduct certain business or commercial activities) and B-2 (for tourists, social visitors, those coming to the US for certain medical treatments, or to take part in some cultural event). But we’ll first address the exception to the general rule, The Visa Waiver Program. Continue reading Visiting the United States

• If your aim is to move to the United States, to live here, work here, make this place your home, you’re an Immigrant in the making.
• You want a Green Card (so-called).
• How you accomplish your objective depends upon your own peculiar circumstances.
• Thus the various categories of Immigrant Visas.

Immigrants come to the United States legally via the following routes:

1. As Fiancée or Fiancé to a United States Citizen;
2. As an Immediate Relative to a United States Citizen;
3. As Employee of a US business;
4. As an Investor.

We’ll cover the first couple of these in detail here. Continue reading For Those Who Want to Immigrate to the United States

A couple of years ago I was hired to help a young US Citizen get a Green Card for his wife, a young lady from The Philippines. She’d entered as a Visitor (B-2), over-stayed, and at some point or other along the way had fallen in love with This Guy. I have no idea what she ever saw in him, but I could’ve told her straight away that it would end in tears. He was just a cute… a dumb kid with no apparent aim. Which is why it was tough to get their I.130/I.485 package together. Every such I-130 Petitioner has the burdens of proving: Continue reading Divorce and Conditional Residence

More often than not, when the term “illegal alien” is used, the image most people associate this with is the undocumented migrant worker. For whatever reason, migrant workers have been cast in a very poor light. Is that fair? Who knows. I do know one thing: the role that migrant workers perform in our economy is vastly misunderstood; and these misperceptions make them easy political targets. Continue reading Migrant Workers: Caught in the Political Crossfire

A Texas immigration attorney acts as an advocate for people who are not legal citizens. If you are a visiting the country as a student, an employee or a person hoping to obtain citizenship, there are many issues you may face. There are several questions to ask an immigration attorney that will help you maintain your immigrant status in good standing.

Any important question to ask is in regards to fees for services rendered. How much will the attorney for each service. There are different fees attributed to different services. The filing of forms and legal documents will be considerably lower than those charged for court appearances. Ask for itemized lists of services and the fees that go along with them. Continue reading Questions to Ask an Immigration Attorney