R-1 Five-Year Rule and Green Card Priority Date is not Current
An R-1 religious worker approaching five-year limit on R-1 status may face difficult issue of maintaining lawful immigration status and employment authorization when pursuing permanent residence. Consider a religious worker whose I-360 immigrant visa petition is approved. The worker’s priority date permits filing I-485 under Visa Bulletin’s Date of Filing […]
USCIS New Adjustment of Status Memo: Impact on Green Card Applicants
On May 22, 2026 USCIS published a memo titled “Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace, and an Extraordinary Relief that Permits Applicants to Dispense with the Ordinary Consular Visa Process” calling adjustment of status an extraordinary relief and consular processing is the primary way to […]
Interfiling to Upgrade or Downgrade Employment-Based Green Card Petitions.
Visa bulletin movement can significantly impact employment-based-immigration green card strategy. In some years, rapid advancement in higher preference categories may create opportunities to upgrade, while in others, retrogression may make a downgrade more practical. One notable example occurred in 2020, when unusually high immigrant visa availability led many applicants to […]
Parole for International Entrepreneurs
USCIS is now implementing Internation Entrepreneur Rule (IER) following December 1, 2017, ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the National Venture Capital Association v. Dukecase. International entrepreneurs can now use American investments and enter through parole, special permission, to set up and grow start-up […]
What Is Your Immigration Status
Your immigration status in the United States determines your legal rights (/obligations) and eligibility to stay in the country. Immigration law allows for many different immigrant and non-immigrant classifications under which a foreign national may be admitted into the United States. Each such classification attaches with a specific purpose and […]