McVey Mullery & Dulberg: Practice Areas

Asylum

Citizenship and Naturalization

Deportation Defense

E-visas

Family Immigration

H1-B

Nurses

PERM

Religious Worker

TN

Asylum
Immigration status sought by a person either entering the U.S. or already physically in the U.S., who has a reasonable fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; if forced to return to their country of last residence.

Citizenship and Naturalization
Naturalization is a process that allows foreign-born persons to obtain citizenship in the United States. Once granted citizenship, foreign-born persons are granted all of the rights American born persons have, for example the right to vote, the right to governmental jobs and the freedom to travel with an American passport which provides entry without a visa into many countries. A key benefit a naturalization applicant will derive once granted citizenship is the ability to petition for an immediate family member through a faster petitioning process. There are many eligibility requirements a person must fulfill before they submit an application for naturalization.

Deportation Defense
If the DHS believes that an individual should be removed or deported from the United States, or an individual is found "inadmissible" to the United States, the DHS will issue a piece of paper called a "Notice to Appear" or "NTA" which initiates court proceedings to determine if an individual is removable, deportable or inadmissible from the United States. An Immigration Judge presides over these court proceedings which are held at US Immigration Courts across the country. These are formal court hearings and should be taken very seriously as your immigration record may be permanently affected and you can be physically deported from the United States. Only an Immigration Judge can determine if you are removable, deportable or inadmissible and whether you have relief from removal. If the Immigration Judge denies relief, you may appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals which has jurisdiction over decisions made by Immigration Judges.

Family Immigration
"Immediate relatives" of a U.S. citizen refers to parents, spouses and children (who are unmarried and under 21 years of age) of a U.S. citizen. Immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen can immigrate to the United States without being subject to any numerical restrictions, unlike other close family members of U.S. citizens and/or permanent residents. Namely, they can apply for the permanent resident status without any waiting time. Other close family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents are divided into several groups called "preferences". Each Preference is given a numerical quota per year to limit the number of immigrants admitted into the United States.

Nurses

As a nurse you may be eligible to immigration to the United States based on a petition filed by your employer. The application process for a registered or professional nurse to obtain permanent residency involves two steps. The first step is filing an I-140 application with the Citizenship and Naturalization Service (“CIS”). As the Department of Labor recognizes that professional/registered nurses are in shortage in the United States, your employer may bypass the labor certification process and file directly with the CIS. Your employer will have to post the job opportunity for ten consecutive days prior to filing the application.

The second step involves the filing of your green card application with the CIS. Once this application is filed, you will be able to obtain work authorization through the adjudication process of your application.

The CIS requires a “visa screen” certification to be submitted at the second stage. Please contact the CGFNS at http://www.cgfns.org/ to begin the process so that you will have the required certificate by the time you file the adjustment of status application.

Religious Worker:
The R1 is available to an applicant coming to the United States to work for a bona fide religions organization as a minister or in a religious vocation or occupation. The R1 is available for up to five years. The applicant must show that his/her intended stay in the United States is temporary. That means that s/he has a foreign residence that s/he has no intention of abandoning. The R1 must also demonstrate that s/he has been a member of the petitioning organization or an affiliate for the two years immediately preceding the filing of the petition.

To file a religious worker petition, the following conditions must be met:

The beneficiary must have been a member of the same religious organization as the petitioning organization for the two years immediately preceding the filing of the I-360 application.
The beneficiary must be coming to or remaining in the United States to carry on the activities of a minister or a religious worker.
The beneficiary must have been performing the duties of the position that s/he is intending to fill for the two years immediately preceding filing the petition.
The petitioner must be a bona fide non-profit religious organization defined as: a religious group or community of believers having some form of ecclesiastical government, a creed or statement of faith, some form of worship, a formal or informal code of doctrine and discipline, religious services and ceremonies, established places of religious worship, religious congregations, or comparable indicia of a bona fide religious organization.

TN
The TN is available to Canadian and Mexican citizens under the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA.") To qualify, you must meet the criteria of one of the established categories of professions in the NAFTA list. The TN is granted for one year and unlimited one year extensions. The TN applicant must show that his/her intended stay in the United States is temporary. That means that s/he has a foreign residence that s/he has no intention of abandoning. The TN is valid for employment only with the company that petitions for your TN. Finally, the TN allows you unrestricted travel.