Clarity and Strength in Immigration Law

Permanent Residence (Green Cards)

Why Is My Immigration Case Taking So Long?! Recent Trends in USCIS Processing Delays

March 4th, 2019
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Posted by Emily Sumner

By Samantha Davis, Richmond, VA Immigration Lawyer If you feel like your case has been pending for longer than anticipated, you are not alone. Members of the immigration law community have noticed longer and longer case processing times. Their observations were confirmed with a recent AILA report. The American Immigration Lawyer’s Association (AILA) analyzed recently […]

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Help! My race is not listed on the I-485 Form!

January 28th, 2019
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Posted by Emily Sumner

We frequently have clients ask about the Biographic Information section in Part 7 of the I-485 Form and similar questions on race and ethnicity on other US immigration forms. The form limits the preparer to two ethnicities and five races. This can be frustrating and very confusing if you don’t feel that you fall into […]

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Visa Bulletin Predictions: November 2018 and Beyond!

October 24th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

Each month a representative from the American Immigration Lawyers Association meets with Charlie Oppenheim, the man behind the visa bulletin curtain, to get a sense of how the priority dates may advance (or not!) in the coming months. In October’s meeting, Charlie made the following observations and predictions: Family-based preference categories: All of the final […]

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Five Ways to Mess Up Your K-1 Fiancee Petition

October 24th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

By Nikita Hernandez, Paralegal at Sumner Immigration Law Way to Mess Up #1: Get married before or during the process The K-1 petition and visa process is for a fiancee. Once you get married, you need to file a completely different petition with different documentation, filing fees, etc. Even a cultural marriage ceremony in your […]

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Heads Up! You May Be Able to File Your I-485 As of 10/1/2018!

September 25th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

The question of when a person can submit the I-485 to apply for a green card is one of the trickier aspects of US immigration law to understand. Since October 2015, the Department of State  has published two charts for the family-based categories, and two charts for the employment-based categories. The first chart is called […]

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What to Expect When Placing a Service Request with USCIS

August 10th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

We carefully monitor the status of the cases that we have filed with USCIS for our clients. Occasionally, if a case is not proceeding as expected or we encounter another issue that needs to be addressed by USCIS, we may find it necessary to place a Service Request. USCIS allows the following reasons for Service […]

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NTA Policy On Hold — For Now

July 31st, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

Earlier this month, we wrote about two new major policy changes with US immigration: 1) a policy memo was issued that directed USCIS to issue a Notice to Appear (NTA) when a petition or application was denied, leaving the beneficiary or applicant out of status, and 2) a memo allowing USCIS officers to flat out […]

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Double Down: New Dangers of Deportation Even for Legal Immigrants- Proceed with Great Caution

July 15th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

These are difficult times in the US immigration landscape, even for foreign nationals who are in the US legally. We often hear in the news about the separation of children whose parents are seeking asylum in the US, the de-naturalization task force, or processing backlogs. We hear less in the news about the new restrictionist, […]

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Visa Bulletin Predictions: July 2018 & Beyond!

June 27th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

Each month a representative from the American Immigration Lawyers Association meets with Charlie Oppenheim, the man behind the visa bulletin curtain, to get a sense of how the priority dates may advance (or not!) in the coming months. In June’s meeting, Charlie made the following observations and predictions: EB-1 China and India: He expects the […]

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I-751 Conditional Residence Processing Delays, Receipt Delays, and a Solution?

June 27th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

USCIS has traditionally taken a long time to process the I-751 petitions to remove the conditions on a marriage-based green card — we typically tell clients it will take around a year if everything goes as expected. However, in this current presidential administration, almost everything immigration-related is taking longer, and this includes I-751 processing. When […]

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