Truth and Misconceptions Regarding Anchor Babies

Truth and Misconceptions Regarding Anchor Babies

As immigration reform has received renewed attention, there is a growing debate regarding anchor babies. Anchor baby is a term describing children that are born in the U.S. to illegal aliens. Anchor baby implies that illegal aliens can “anchor” themselves in the US. A baby born in the US is automatically conferred U.S. citizenship under the 14th amendment. This amendment, ratified in 1868, was designed to prevent any State from denying citizenship to any freed slaves, or their children. In order to eliminate this benefit, there would likely need to be a constitutional amendment which is a difficult process.

Food Allergies - A Serious Business Risk for Restaurants

Food Allergies - A Serious Business Risk for Restaurants

On December 17, 2010, seventh grader Katelyn Carlson was rushed from her Chicago school for gifted students to a hospital. The 13 year old girl had a severe allergic reaction to the Chinese food she ate while at school. The girl was pronounced dead at 5:40 PM on December 17th. An autopsy determined she had died from the food allergy. This was a tragedy that could have been avoided.

The family of the student is now suing the Chinese restaurant that supplied the food for over $100,000.  The lawsuit claims that the teacher told an employee of the Chinese Inn Restaurant, at 7505 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Niles, that the food was for a class party and students in the class had peanut allergies and the restaurant agreed to provide food what was prepared without peanut oil, peanut products, and peanut flavoring. The food was later tested and it is likely that the food was cooked in peanut oil, despite the teacher's instructions.

B-2 Tourist Visas

If you have a friend or family member that is coming to the U.S. to visit you, they will generally need a B visa. The B-2 visa permits entry into the U.S. for up to 6 months to conclude their visit. Citizens or nationals of certain countries such as Japan or South Korea are eligible for the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The VWP allows eligible citizens or nationals to travel to the U.S. for tourism or business stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. There have been talks of Taiwan being accepted into the VWP but nothing has been finalized.

Generally, stays in the United States using a B-2 visa involve such activities as tourism, visiting family and obtaining health care. A B-2 tourist cannot be involved in employment while in the United States and cannot undertake an academic study program.

How to apply for a B-2 visa?

H-1B Update

The H-1B cap has been reached for fiscal 2011. Fiscal Year is defined as the 365 day period of time that the Government uses for all Federal and Fiscal operations. The fiscal year 2011 started on October 1, 2010 and will end on September 30, 2011. The Fiscal Year 2012 will start on October 1, 2011 and will end on September 30, 2012.

Why you should not file a K-3 or K-4 visa

Why you should not file a K-3 or K-4 visa

Recently, a client asked me if they should apply for a K-3 visa. The client was married to a US citizen and residing abroad. I explained to them that filing for a K-3 visa was a waste of time and money. Instead, they should file an immigration petition and go through green card processing at the US consulate in their home country.

The K-3 visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows the spouse of a U.S. citizen to enter the U.S. while an immigration petition is pending with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). 

The immigration petition must have approved in order for their foreign spouse to be eligible for an immigrant visa in the United States. The K-4 visa is available for the unmarried children under 21 of a K-3 visa holder. 

Ideally, a U.S. citizen would submit the immigration petition, get the receipt notice shortly thereafter, and then apply for a K-3 and K-4 visa so the foreign spouse and children could reside in the U.S. while the immigration petition is pending.   

However, the process does not work so smoothly. You file the K-3 or K-4 visa petition with the USCIS in Texas. In order to do so, you need to have a receipt notice of your immigration petition application. The receipt notice is a document from USCIS that confirms they have received your immigration petition which takes about 2-3 weeks from the date you submit your immigration petition. But, if you look at the current processing times for the immigration petition, the K-3 and the K-4 visas on theUSCIS website, it currently shows it takes about 5 months to process each of those applications. In other words, it is likely that an immigration petition would be approved before the K-3, or K-4 visas approved.

In summary, accordingly to the USCIS website, the immigration petition, K-3 and K-4 visa are all processed in the same estimated time frame.  Since you would have to wait about 2-3 weeks after filing an immigration petition receipt to file for the K-3 or K-4 visa, and all three applications take about the same amount of time to be processed, your immigrant petition will almost certainly be approved before your K-3 and K-4 visa. 

What this means is that if you file an  immigrant petition for your husband or wife and then apply for a K-3 non-immigrant visa, it is almost certain that your immigrant petition will be approved before your K-3 visa.  Given these estimated processing times, applying for the K-3 or K-4 visa is a waste of time and money.

attorney@mylawllc.com
My Law, LLC
Immigration & Tax Law Firm
www.mylawllc.com

Tax Tips for Students

For those of you that are waiting to file their 2010 tax returns until the last day, April 18th, here are a few tips:

*F-1 visa holders must file form 8843 even if you aren't required to file a tax return. If you are only filing form 8843, the filing deadline is June 15, 2011

*If you are filing a tax return, check with your school to see if they offer CINTAX tax software. The CINTAX software is for filing form 1040NR. 1040NR is mailed to the IRS and cannot be efiled. Many schools purchase a license for the CINTAX software and offer it free to their students and alumni.

Tri-Valley University Accused of Immigration Fraud

Tri-Valley University (TVU), a little known Pleasanton, California school, has been accused of being a sham university that illegally provided I-20s to foreign nationals. As of December 30, 2010, the school had 1,613 active and 966 initial F-1 students with approximately 95% of the students from India. The tuition at the school was $2,700 each term so the school would have generated about $7,000,000 in revenue in the spring 2011 term alone. The school offered three terms per year.
You can visit the school's website at http://trivalleyuniversity.org/index.htm. The website is unintentionally hilarious.

Alleged violations at TVU
There are too many allegations to list so I’ve chosen a few of the alleged violations to list here:
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Requirement: In order to gain approval to admit foreign students and issue I-20 forms, TVU was required to provide proof that at least three accredited colleges and/or universities would accept credits earned by TVU transfer students.
Allegations: TVU submitted three agreements from accredited colleges indicating that the colleges would accept TVU credits for transferring students. U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators determined that at least two of the colleges would not accept TVU transfer credit nor had they ever done so. These agreements are alleged to be fraudulent.

PUBLIC CHARGE

An individual who is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible to the United States and ineligible to become a legal permanent resident.  However, receiving public benefits does not automatically make an individual a public charge. “Public charge” means an individual who is likely to become “primarily dependent on the government for subsistence, as demonstrated by either the receipt of public cash assistance for income maintenance, or institutionalization for long-term care at government expense.” In determining whether an alien meets this definition for public charge inadmissibility, a number of factors must be considered, including age, health, family status, assets, resources, financial status, education, and skills. No single factor - other than the lack of an affidavit of support, if required - will determine whether an individual is a public charge.

Top 10 Tips for Green Card Holders

So you’ve finally obtained your green card. Please follow these tips in order to keep it.

1)      Update your address within 10 days of moving using Form AR-11 or file the online AR-11.

2)      Carry your green card with you at all times.

3)      Register with Selective Services (US Armed Forces) if you are a male between the ages of 18 and 26.

Student Financial Aid – FAFSA

Student Financial Aid – FAFSA

If your child is planning to attend college in Fall 2011, then now is the time to apply for financial aid. You can go online and file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Each year, there is a limited amount of financial aid available so file FAFSA early so you can make sure you obtain all the financial aid you qualify for.

Requirements

H-1B Friendly Employers in Illinois

If you are still looking for an H-1B employer in Illinois, here is a list of the top 120 H-1B employers in Illinois for FY 2010 (October 1, 2009-September 30 2010). Most of the employers on the list are universities, finance, technology, or consulting companies. If you are in a different field of study, don't lose hope because even small employers can sponsor H-1B visas. Please note that some employers are listed several times due to minor variations in the employer name.

EMPLOYER_NAME