I have always appreciated a bargain. When I was a teenager, I remember telling everyone I knew what a good price a gallon a gasoline was. I think it was a little more than 30 cents, which meant I could fill my tank with five dollars. The dime phone call was a good deal. And I think seats in the Bleachers for a Dodger game were around $5.

Immigration visa fees were once a bargain, but those days seem rather distant. The Department of State recently raised nonimmigrant visa processing fees, and the USCIS is proposing new fee increases. Now, the Department of State is raising immigrant visa fees.

Some of the increases are substantial. Starting July 13, the employment-based immigrant visa processing fee will rise from $355 to $720. Family-based immigrant visa processing fees (when you include secuirty surcharge increases), will rise from $400 to $404, while the affidavit of support fee will rise from $70 to $88. The fee increases only involve visa processing at U.S. consulates and do not apply to processing in the United States.

Even though the government continues to raise immigration processing fees, foreign nationals will continue to pay them, since there is little alternative. If you have a question about rising fees or need any immigration assistance, you may contact the immigration lawyers at Garg & Associates.

While campaigning for the Presidency, Barak Obama pledged to immediately tackle immigration reform. I thought this promise made a lot of sense. After all, there are perhaps 12 to 15 million undocumented foreigners in the United States, those attempting the obtain permanent residence legally often must wait six, ten, fifteen or more years, and many of the visa caps and procedures seem completed off base when considering economic conditions or business needs.

Sadly, immigration reform is nowhere in sight. The President is not seriously moving discussions forward on the topic. States are attempting to take matters into their own hands. Immigrants hoping for positive changes are left with nothing to cheer.

I do not see immigration reform occuring this year, and I can only hope to see changes next year, after the elections. I also hope the President will lead on the issue. Who is elected in November and the extent of the President’s committment to immigration reform will have much to do with the direction of immigration laws.

Until immigration reform is enacted, Garg & Associates’ immigration attorneys will provide profeesional services to help clients work within the current framework of the law by utilizing its experience and creativity to obtain the best results.

Love can be a wonderful thing, but uniting with the loved one is not always a simple matter if you are marrying a foreign national. You may think that just because you are a U.S. citizen it should be easy to bring your foreign wife to the United States. It should be a fast, easy process, right?

Unfortunately, the immigration process can be much more lengthy than people imagine. First, even if your wife has a visitor visa, she may not be able to use it after her marriage to you. There is a presumption in the immigration rules that any visitor coming to the United States wants to stay here permanently, an impermissible intent under the B (visitor) visa. Thus, the visitor must overcome this presumption with his or her statements at admission. If someone is married to a U.S. citizen, the inspecting officer may not believe that the visitor will leave the U.S. as required within six months. Therefore he or she may refuse entry for your wife.

Moreover, obtaining an immigrant visa takes time. Anywhere from six months to, in extreme cases, years. The one thing that can save you much time and money is the retaining of an experienced immigration attorney. Any slip ups in the paperwork, misunderstanding of the rules, or other unfortunate errors, can cost an inspiring immigrant severe delay and loss of money. If possible, seek immigration advice before marriage, since there may be a strategy that you have not thought of. There are even times when marriage in the U.S. could work out better, but only if the correct immigration rules have been followed.

The immigration attorneys at Garg & Associates are very experienced in these matters.

Immigration has become a hot topic again ever since Arizona passed a new anti-illegal immigration law that could subject many legal immigrants to scrutiny by law enforecement personnel. There is no way to know whether this new law will stand or be overturned, but what is clear is that immigration is certainly in the spotlight.

What can be expected in the near future concerning immigration law? It is probable that Congress will take up immigration issues in the next few months in order to show that it is tuned into the controversies; but since it is an election year, it would be very surpising to see a comprehensive immigration bill signed into law. Look for action on a bill next year.

In the meantime, the visa bulletin remains extremely backlogged, which means that the wait for most immigrant visas is very, very long. The government is readying to conduct a record number of audits in H-1B and Religious Worker cases. And new systems, like the DOL electronic system to issue prevailing wages is not performing well and is creating backlogs in what used to be an efficent system.

Despite the mostly poor news I note above, there are some good signs in the direction of the all powerful immigration winds. Blowing our way is the fact that since April 1st, employers are once again able to submit H-1B petitions (for a start date of October 1st). I have also noticed that, in general, the USCIS is processing petitions and applications much faster than in past times.

This blog is sent to remind foreign nationals to consult with their immigration attorney before traveling outside of the U.S. They are many situations where traveling outside of the U.S. can harm a foreign national’s interests. Consider these examples:

• Most applicants for adjustment of status must wait to receive an advance parole document before leaving the U.S. If this rule is not observed, all of the expense for filing the adjustment application (lawyer fees, filing fees, medical exam fees, etc.) will be wasted. The government will consider the application abandoned in this situation. One exception to this rule occurs if the applicant is in H or L classification. You should consult your attorney to see if you are covered by an exception.
• A applicant for a Reentry Permit must wait until he or she has completed the biometric requirements before leaving the U.S. After filing for the Reentry Permit, the applicant must wait for the USCIS to send the applicant a biometrics appointment, and then attend the appointment. If this formality is not observed, the application is deemed abandoned.
• Green card holders should listen to their immigration attorney’s advice before traveling. There are a number of important rules for such individuals to keep in mind. For example, if a green card holder leaves the U.S. for more than six months, the government may very well question whether the person has given up permanent residence status. If the person leaves the U.S. for more than a year, permanent residence status is deemed abandoned. If the person has a Reentry Permit, these rules may not apply.

There are some exceptions to the rules stated above, but the point is that foreign nationals need to seek out immigration counsel to make sure they will not suffer adverse immigration consequences.

It has now been several years since the USCIS started providing Premium Processing for selected immigration applications and petitions. Premium Processing is a USCIS program that permits an applicant or petitioner to submit an extra $1,000 in order to receive fast adjudication. How fast? In most cases, the application or petition is decided in 15 days. If the case is not decided in 15 days, it is normally because the USCIS has requested some additional evidence, in which case, the government promises to process the case within 15 days of receiving the additional evidence.

When premium processing was first instituted, many believed that it inappropriately gave a benefit to the rich, and that those without much money would see longer lines while the premium processing beneficiaries received swift approvals. My experience is that most people, regardless of their incomes, prefer to use premium processing, and I haven’t heard many complaints, except for the valid argument that not enough cases are eligible for premium processing. A list of the types of immigration cases eligible for premium processing can be found at the USCIS website.

Every so often, the USCIS announces that it would resume premium processing for two types of petitions. Last June, it announced that it would again start processing Form I-140 petitions for an immigrant visa under premium processing. This announcement was limited to certain types of immigrant visa petitions. Left out were I-140 petitions for EB-1 multinational executives and managers and EB-2 members of the professions with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest waiver.

Last July, the USCIS announced it would again allow premium processing for R-1 cases. Previously, the government had suspending premium processing for religious worker cases because of heightened scrutiny involving its perception of fraud involving R-1 petitions. The use of R-1 premium processing will be limited to petitioners that have successfully passed an on-site inspection.
Hopefully, the USCIS will make more visa categories eligible for premium processing in the near future. In the meantime, immigration attorneys at Garg & Associates can help you plan the fastest, most efficient process to meet your immigration needs.

These can be good times for foreign student graduates looking for an H-1B visa. The H-1B visa is a category that helps college graduates work in the United States if they can land a job offer that specifically requires their bachelor’s degree for the job.

In the past, students had faced some pretty tough obstacles to obtaining H-1B status. Employers can begin filing H-1B petitions beginning on April 1st each year, with a work start date that cannot be earlier than October 1st of the same year. A recurring problem has been that the general H-1B Cap (65,000 per year) has been filled in the first week of April. This is not a problem this year. It appears that H-1B numbers will be available for several months.

Another, major problem in the past was an issue called the Cap-Gap. The Cap-Gap occurs when a student is the beneficiary of an H-1B petition filed in April or May, and that student’s status (counting the 60 day grace period) will expire before October 1st, the first date the H-1B petition can be valid. In some years, these students needed to leave the U.S. and return later, on or after October 1st. This was a major inconvenience to students, especially those needing to travel long distances to their native country, like China or India.
Last year, the U.S. government solved the Cap-Gap problem with new regulations. Now the law permits students to remain in the U.S. during the Cap-Gap period, so long as the H-1B petition was timely filed while the students were in status. In addition, any students in this position should use the H-1B filing to obtain a new I-20 from their school, so that they will have proof of continuing legal status.

If you are a student looking for an H-1B, you should consult with an experienced immigration attorney to make sure you continue to properly maintain your legal status during the immigration process.