The I-130 petition is the foundation of this category; our clients use them to file for their relatives. Some of the beneficiaries will be outside the U.S. waiting; others will be here and seek to “adjust” their status to permanent residence.

A third category are in the U.S. but ineligible to adjust and will travel to their home countries to pick up their immigrant visas. For further information, please see our waivers section.

At Harris Beach, we have filed thousands of I-130 petitions, observing through the years as USCIS and the former INS have kept some requirements consistent while changing others.

We have also successfully navigated complex I-130 petitions involving children born out of wedlock, children of extramarital affairs, missing and defective marriage and birth certificates, stepchildren after the marriages terminated, and the deaths of petitioners and principal beneficiaries.

Lawful permanent resident status (commonly known as a “green card”) can be obtained through several family-based relationship categories. These categories include: immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen; preference relatives of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, or certain accompanying relatives of a preference category beneficiary.
Immediate relatives include spouses of U.S. citizens, unmarried children (under the age of 21) of U.S. citizens, and parents of U.S. citizens at least 21 years of age.
Preference categories for relatives include:

• Family-Based First Preference (F1): Unmarried sons and daughters (21 years of age or older) of U.S. citizens.
• Family-Based Second Preference (F2)
  • F-2A: Spouses and children (under age 21) of lawful permanent residents
  • F-2B: Unmarried sons and daughters (21 years of age or older) of lawful permanent residents
• Family-Based Third Preference (F3): Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
• Family-Based Fourth Preference (F4): Sisters and brothers of adult U.S. citizens

Where the beneficiary of a family-based visa petition is in the United States in a valid visa status, it may be possible for that family member to “adjust” to lawful permanent resident status by applying to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In the family-based context, this is typically an option for Immediate Relatives of U.S. citizens, for whom there is no backlog of visa availability. For many of the preference categories listed above, however, lengthy backlogs prevent visas from being immediately available. In those cases, it is more common that the immigrating family member will have to obtain an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad, through the “Consular Processing” path described below.

Harris Beach attorneys can assist you and your family in evaluating the available family-based immigration options and determining the optimal path to achieve family unification.

The immigration attorneys at Harris Beach assist in bringing foreign nationals to the United States through Consular Processing, which, in addition to the Adjustment of Status process described above, is the other primary way a foreign national may obtain permanent resident status (an immigrant visa, or “green card”) for family members who are physically located outside the U.S., in order to enable them to immigrate to the U.S.

“Consular Processing” is the process in which an individual who is the beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition, and has an immigrant visa number immediately available, applies at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad for an immigrant visa in order to come to the United States and be admitted as a permanent resident.

If your fiancé(e) is not a U.S. citizen, is located overseas and plans to marry you in the United States, then your fiancé(e) may qualify for a K-1 fiancé visa. This process starts with the filing of a petition on Form I-129F with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS). After the petition is approved, your fiancé(e) can obtain a K-1 visa at the U.S. embassy or consulate abroad, which he/she may then use to seek entry to the U.S. for the purpose of getting married. Once your fiancé (e) enters the United States, the marriage must take place within 90 days of entry. Once married, your fiancé(e) would be eligible to apply for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status, based on now being the spouse of a U.S. citizen.

In most cases, U.S. citizenship is the final step in the immigration journey. Harris Beach attorneys assist individuals in becoming U.S. citizens through the naturalization process. Lawful Permanent Residents are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship after five years of having acquired permanent resident status. This eligibility period/waiting period is reduced to three years if lawful permanent resident status was acquired through marriage to a United States citizen or if on active duty with three years completed service in the U.S. military. U.S. citizenship brings many rights and benefits, including the right to vote in U.S. elections, as well as other tax, employment, and other benefits such as automatic or “derived” citizenship for minor children in some cases. Harris Beach attorneys can assist you in determining your eligibility for naturalization and evaluating whether any obstacles to naturalization may be present in your case.

Entrepreneurs and investors may have several options to stay legally in the United States. Harris Beach immigration attorneys assist both employers and interested investors in assessing all visa possibilities. We advise on the benefits and drawbacks of each before making a decision about which options to pursue. Harris Beach has a depth of experience in the processing of “Treaty Investors” (E-2) and “Treaty Trader” (E-1) visas. We draw on the talents of not only our Immigration team, but also attorneys in the Harris Beach corporate, tax, intellectual property, and other practices, to offer clients a full suite of services relating to the establishment of a new U.S. enterprise or the purchase of an existing business, to establish eligibility for investment-based visa options.

Some J-1 exchange visitors become subject to a two-year home-country residence requirement as a condition of their J-1 program. This provision requires that certain J-1 holders return to their home country for at least two years after the conclusion of the J-1 program. This requirement is part of U.S. law, in the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 212(e). If the applicant is unable to return to his/her home country, or wants to remain in the U.S. after completion of the J-1 program, he or she must apply for a waiver. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security must approve the waiver application before the applicant may change status in the United States, receive a visa in certain categories, or adjust to permanent resident status.

There are four primary categories of available J-1 waivers:

1. “No Objection” Waiver:

Your home country government may issue a No Objection Statement, through its embassy in Washington, DC, confirming that your home government has no objection to you not returning to your home country to satisfy the two-year home-country residence requirement.

2. Request by an Interested Government Agency:

If you are working on a project for or of interest to a U.S. federal government agency, that agency may request an Interested Government Agency Waiver on your behalf, attesting that your departure for two years would be detrimental to the agency’s objectives.

There are several Interested Government Agency waiver options/programs dedicated specifically to foreign physicians, which typically require the physician to work for a set period of time in a federally-designated Health Professional Shortage Area or Medically Underserved Area. In addition to programs administered by a few federal government agencies, foreign physicians may also avail of the Conrad State 30 Program, which involves a request by state public health departments for a waiver on a foreign physician’s behalf, in exchange for agreement by the physician to provide patient care in a medically underserved area within that state for a period of three years.

3. Persecution:

Individuals who believe they will be persecuted based on their race, religion, or political opinion if they return to their home country may qualify for a waiver on this basis, establishing that they are unable to return to their home country for the required two-year period for safety reasons.

4. Exceptional Hardship to a U.S. citizen (or lawful permanent resident) spouse or child of an exchange visitor:

Individuals who have a spouse or child who is a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident may qualify for a “hardship” waiver if they can demonstrate that their departure from the United States would cause exceptional hardship to the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or child.

Harris Beach attorneys can assist international medical graduates, and other J-1 exchange visitors, in evaluating potential waiver options/categories based on your particular situation, and in navigating the complex J-1 waiver process.

In the immigration context, waivers are granted by the various agencies to allow applicants to obtain benefits to which they would not normally be entitled, usually by showing “extreme hardship” to a certain U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident relative. In other words, the agencies could refuse the benefits, but choose not to because such refusals would cause extreme hardship.

Sometimes an individual who is applying for immigration benefits or an individual with permanent residency must file a waiver for certain violations of the immigration law. Immigration waivers are needed for periods of unlawful presence in the United States, criminal activity, fraud or willful misrepresentation, or health-related issues. Waivers may be filed while the applicant is in or out of the United States.

Most of the available waivers require that the applicant have a “qualifying relative,” such as a parent, spouse, or child who is either a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. In order for the waiver to be approved, the applicant must demonstrate that “Extreme Hardship” would result for the qualifying relative if the applicant was not permitted to remain in or enter the United States or if the qualifying relative had to live in the applicant’s country. There are additional requirements depending on the type of waiver being sought.

Harris Beach immigration attorneys have vast experience in analyzing unique fact patterns and complex immigration histories to develop the best strategy to pursue the appropriate waiver category and develop the required supporting evidence.

Every year people come to the United States seeking protection because they have suffered, or feared. persecution in their home country due to:

• Race
• Religion
• Nationality
• Membership in a particular social group
• Political opinion

Harris Beach immigration attorneys provide counsel to oreign nationals facing persecution in their home country. Our attorneys assist in the preparation and submission of asylum applications to USCIS for individuals in the United States who are afraid they will be persecuted if they were to return to their home country. We invest significant time in developing strong supporting documentation for clients’ applications, and in preparing clients for their affirmative asylum interview. Our attorneys perform country condition research, assist in preparing/gathering affidavits and other personalized evidence, conduct mock asylum interviews, and attend asylum hearings/interviews with clients at USCIS Asylum Offices around the country. We also represent clients in asylum defense matters before the immigration court (Executive Office of Immigration Review).

DACA allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to use prosecutorial discretion and not pursue removal, or “defer action,” of an unlawfully present individual for a certain period of time, usually for humanitarian or law enforcement purposes. Those granted deferred action are eligible to receive a work permit during this period of deferred action. Harris Beach attorneys can assist in assessing clients’ eligibility for DACA and in preparing/submitting DACA and work authorization applications to USCIS.