San Francisco Office

San Francisco Office of Peerallylaw

Civil Penalties Related to Failure to Comply with Voluntary Departure Does not extend to U-1 non-immigrant victims

USCIS in a Memo adopts the decision of the court in the Matter of L-S-M. While the failure to voluntary depart might still apply to some VAWA cases, the court has made clear it does not apply to U Visa Holders. 2016-0513_Matter_of_L-S-M-_Adopted_Decision_2016-03_ clarifies that the exception to the civil penalties for failure to comply with an order of voluntary departure, available for certain victims of domestic violence or related abuse, does not extend to U-1 non-immigrant victims of qualifying criminal activity. See sections 240B(d)(1)-(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. That said, the…Read More Breaking News

Immigration Relief for Those Affected by Severe Earthquakes

USCIS offers immigration relief measures for people affected by natural disasters, such as the severe earthquakes that recently occurred in Ecuador, Japan and Burma. These measures may be available upon request: * Change or extension of nonimmigrant status if you are currently in the United States, even if the request is filed after your authorized period of admission has expired; * Re-parole, if you were previously granted parole by USCIS; * Expedited processing of requests for advance parole documents; * Expedited adjudication of requests for off-campus employment authorization for F-1 students experiencing severe…Read More Breaking News

Guide to Law Enforcement on U and T Visas

The U visa is actually an important visa for many, as such the Department of Homeland Security has created a guide for law enforcement on U visas. We have essentially attached the guide to our series on U visas. U and T Visa Law Enforcement Resource Guide The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provides this guidance to federal, state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement officers. This public guidance primarily concerns law enforcement certifications for U nonimmigrant status, also known as U visas. The U visa is an immigration benefit that can be…Read More Breaking News

Voluntary Departure as an Option for UNNJ cases.

  • Posted on April 13, 2016
  • /Under Asylum
April 12 2016 - The UNNJ cases have brought back some really interesting concepts or reliefs which most people in the community has not experienced for a long time. One of them is the Voluntary Departure (VD).  VD might actually be an option once the Notice To Appear (NTA) has been issued and the individual wants to leave without triggering the inadmissibility bars of ten years of under INA §212(a)(9)(A). Note that in case there is an NTA issued, you cannot depart from the US without at least a VD. In the most of…Read More Breaking News

Willful Misrepresentation or Fraud in providing Documents to apply for H1B, or OPT.

  • Posted on April 9, 2016
  • /Under CPT
April 8 2016 - Some of the students of the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ) who applied for an OPT or an H1B visa, have been receiving a number of requests for evidence (RFEs) based on their physical and actual attendance of UNNJ classes including but not limited to transcripts, parking space receipts, attendance records, etc. Since UNNJ was not a real school per se, many of those records were wrongfully obtained either through the brokers or the school administrations. As such bogus parking space receipts, false attendance records and false transcripts…Read More Breaking News

Shah Peerally Law Group calling on Congress to increase the Visa Cap for Victims of Crimes known as the U visa Cap.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Newark CA April 5th 2016 - The Shah Peerally Law Group Pc, an immigration law firm in California, calls on Congress and President Obama to increase the U visa cap from 10,000 to 30,000. The law firm which had previously, with great success, championed for the H4 work permit and TPS for Yemen, has now set its goal to help immigrants who are victims of criminal activities. The U visa is given to those who are victims of certain crimes. Congress created the U non-immigrant visa with the passage of…Read More Breaking News

Court Success Story from our San Francisco Office – Congratulations to attorney Oliver Foland.

  • Posted on February 19, 2016
  • /Under Asylum
Seemingly Hopeless Removal Case Ends with Client at Home with Family Brief Facts: The client, a young man with a troubled background was put into removal proceedings after his second criminal conviction. Though at first it seemed as though the case could easily be resolved through a U visa, an extraordinarily generous visa in terms of its benefits and waivers, at the initial bond hearing it soon became clear that the case would be very difficult, as the Government counsel pushed strongly for his detention and removal and the judge quickly denied any…Read More Breaking News

Liquidated Damage Clauses – H1B Employee Contracts

Liquidated Damage Clauses – H1B Employee Contracts What is a Liquidated Damages Clause Many (if not most) contracts, including those between an employee and their employer, contain a liquidated damages clause. Such a clause stipulates what the penalty will be in the event that a party breaches the contract. Because, however, breach of contract is not a crime and in many instances is, in fact, encouraged, liquidated damages clauses may only compensate the non-breaching party, and may not impose penalties for the breach. Indeed, the Restatement (Second) of Contracts states: “Damages for breach…Read More Breaking News

DIVERSITY LOTTERY IS OUT!

The annual Diversity Visa Lottery (DV lottery), otherwise known as the Green Card Lottery, is out! The DV lottery is a US government program through the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State that makes 55,000 Permanent Resident cards available every year to persons from “low admission regions” or “underrepresented countries,” those that have been less represented in employment and family-based preference categories in the United States. The program is open to all who meet two basic eligibility requirements. The Program makes Permanent Resident Cards available to the winners, authorizing the…Read More Breaking News

MARRIAGE PETITIONS

Marriage is a fundamental and globally celebrated institution. Indeed, the United States Supreme Court has held marriage to be a fundamental right, and afforded great deference. As such, a foreign national spouse of a United States citizen may file for permanent resident status in the United States, to be processed immediately. Bona Fide Marriage Obtaining a green card through marriage, however, may not be as easy as it seems. Because it is the easiest and most expedient route to a green card for foreign nationals, it is also highly scrutinized for fraud. Thus,…Read More Breaking News

VAWA – PROTECTION FOR IMMIGRANTS IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS

VAWA – the “Violence Against Women Act” - is a very powerful piece of legislation that has been successful in protecting abused spouses and children. Although it is called the “Violence Against Women Act” it applies to all spouses, including abused men, and children. It can be a path to getting out of the abusive relationship, obtaining employment authorization, and getting a green card so the person can begin a new life in the United States. There are three basic requirements for VAWA eligibility: 1) You had a bona fide marriage, that is,…Read More Breaking News

Employment Based Immigration Options for South American Individuals and Corporations.

There are a lot of talks in the news on immigration for South Americans and Hispanics. Most of these talks are related to undocumented individuals or family and related immigration.  However, many people ignore the options that are opened for qualified legal immigrants.  Such options  are also available to many of the hispanics and South Americans. In fact, they can be very specific to South Americans.  As such we have tried to compile some of the employment based immigration which can be advantageous to latinos. This article focuses on the kind of immigrant…Read More Breaking News

Humanitarian Parole Available for Temporary Emergency Entry into the U.S.

Humanitarian Parole: Humanitarian parole is an emergency measure, used only in extraordinary circumstances to allow someone who otherwise would not be admissible to the United States to enter the U.S. due to urgent circumstances or a compelling emergency. The measure grants temporary admission for the duration of the emergency. USCIS may grant the humanitarian parole to anyone applying for admission into the U.S. based on urgent humanitarian reasons, or if there is a significant public benefit, for the length of the emergency or humanitarian situation. For example, USCIS may grant the parole if…Read More Breaking News

Waivers Are Now Available to Cure Unlawful Presence and Obtain a Green Card

I-601A- Waiver of Unlawful Presence Many immigrants who wish to apply for a green card, but who came to the country without inspection (or a visa), will be found inadmissible due to their unlawful presence (that is, entering the U.S. without inspection).  The provisional unlawful presence waiver process, however, allows immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, children, or parents) who are currently residing in the United States to apply for a provisional waiver while in the United States, if the refusal of admission of the immigrant would result in extreme hardship to their…Read More Breaking News
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