Immigration Blog

Immigration Attorneys/Lawyers vs. Paralegals: Understanding the Key Differences In the realm of immigration law, two primary roles come into play: immigration attorneys or lawyers and immigration paralegals. While both play vital [...]

Diversity Visa Lottery: Next Steps for Winners Outside the United States   The Diversity Visa (Green Card lottery) results have been released, and we are thrilled to see many winners among [...]

Currently, obtaining a work permit takes a very long time. Even in ordinary cases of family reunification immigration (the adjustment of status process to a green card), obtaining a work permit [...]

When and How to Change Your Address with the USCIS If you are NOT a U.S. citizen, you must report any change of address to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [...]

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a permission for nationals of certain countries to reside and work in the United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security [...]

Trump's Executive Order: deporting aliens who committed crimes On the issue of deporting aliens who committed crimes: Trump's order does not create any new basis for deportation. The [...]

L-1 (L-1A or L-1B) visas permit you to transport a worker with expert knowledge into the country. But just because you have a valid reason to bring over a worker has [...]

Here at I.S. Law Firm, we know that the immigration process is complex and often difficult. For those that don't work with an immigration attorney in Virginia, it can be almost [...]

Having the perfect immigration attorney take on your case can mean the difference between having a good or bad outcome. Here at I.S. Law Firm, we are here to help you. [...]

If you are looking to immigrate to the United States, ask for asylum, file a petition with USCIS or apply for a change of status, your first step is to find [...]

Online registration for Diversity Visa Lottery (green-card lottery) begins soon! Entries for the DV-2018 Diversity Visa program must be submitted electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov between Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 12:00 noon, [...]

NOTICE: The information contained on this page site is intended to educate the general public and is not intended to provide legal advice. To ensure proper handling of your individual situation, [...]

TPS Registration Period Extended for Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone On June 25, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended the initial registration deadline for Temporary Protected [...]

How to Prepare for Diversity Visa Interview? Being selected in Diversity Visa Lottery (DV Lottery) is random. DV Lottery, also known as Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, makes 50,000 [...]

Initial Registration Deadline for Syria TPS is July 6, 2015 Recently, the USCIS announced that Monday, July 6, 2015, is the deadline to register for TPS for eligible [...]

What If I Was Selected in Diversity Visa Lottery When I Am Already in the United States? Being selected in Diversity Visa Lottery (DV Lottery) is random. [...]

Nepal Designated for Temporary Protected Status On June 24, 2015, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced its decision to designate Nepal for Temporary Protected [...]

What If I Was Selected in DV Lottery When I Am Still Living in My Country? Being selected in Diversity Visa Lottery (DV Lottery) is random. DV [...]

TPS Extended For Somalia On June 1, 2015, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Somalia (and [...]

Spouses of Certain H-1B Visa Holders Can Now Apply for Work Permits Certain H-4 dependent spouses may now apply for employment authorization under the H-4 rule. Effective today, [...]

Voluntary Departure Every year, thousands of immigrants are placed in what is called “removal proceedings,” meaning that they are in the process of being removed (deported) from the [...]

Spouses of H-1B Visa Holders Will be Eligible for Work Permits On February 24, 2015, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced eligibility for employment [...]

Start of Application Process for Expanded DACA is Delayed On February 18th, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was expected to start accepting applications for [...]

USCIS will begin accepting requests for expanded DACA on February 18, 2015 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) [...]

Temporary Protected Status Extended for El Salvador United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of El Salvador for [...]

Nationals of Syria Can Register and Re-register for Temporary Protected Status On January 5, 2015 , due to an ongoing armed conflict and temporary conditions in Syria [...]

President Obama Announces Executive Action on Immigration On November 20, 2014, President Barack Obama unveiled his executive action plan on immigration. The President’s plan will affect [...]

Nationals of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone can apply for Temporary Protected Status On November 20, 2014, due to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa, [...]

National Interest Waiver for a Financial Analyst I.S. Law Firm obtained permanent residence (“green-card”) through a process called National Interest Waiver for our client, a financial analyst [...]

DHS to Implement Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program On October 17, 2014,  the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that, starting in early 2015, it will begin implementation [...]

Temporary Protected Status Extended for Honduras and Nicaragua On October 16, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Honduras [...]

Immigration Enforcement Statistics for Fiscal Year 2013 On October 1, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its immigration enforcement statistics for the 2013 fiscal year, which [...]

Diversity Visa Lottery 2016 Entries for the DV-2016 Diversity Visa program must be submitted electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 1, [...]

DHS Extends Temporary Protected Status for Sudan and South Sudan On September 2, 2014, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced that he would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for [...]

Immigration Relief Measures to Nationals of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone On August 15, 2014, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Ebola outbreak-related immigration relief [...]

Obama to take executive action on immigration On Monday, June 30th, 2014, President Barack Obama announced that he would take executive action to address the United States' [...]

DHS Announces Proposals to Attract and Retain Highly Skilled Immigrants On May 6, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the publication of two proposed rules, [...]

CBP Website Now Shows Arrival/Departure History On May 1, 2014, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched a new webpage that offers non-immigrant U.S. visitors access to their I-94 [...]

USCIS Reaches FY 2015 H-1B Cap On April 7, 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions [...]

H-1B Cap Likely To Be Filled by April 7 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2015 [...]

Naturalization Approval through N-336 Hearing I.S. Law Firm secured approval of a previously denied application for naturalization (Form N-400) for our client through an N-336 hearing on a [...]

Healthcare for Immigrants If you live in the United States, you have probably been hearing a lot about healthcare recently. Specifically, you may have heard about the “Affordable [...]

Temporary Protected Status Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a permission for nationals of certain countries to reside and work in the United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security [...]

TPS Overview Temporary protected status is a permission for nationals of certain countries to reside and work in the United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a [...]

DHS Designates Chile Into the Visa Waiver Program On February 28, 2014, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, joined by Deputy Secretary of State for Management and [...]

On March 3, 2014, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Haiti for an additional 18 months, effective July 23, 2014 through January 22, [...]

On January 30, 2014, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the agency had received several reports of a scam in the past few days. According to USCIS blog, the [...]

Settlement on Asylum Interview Notes On November 19, 2013, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and co-counsel at Davis Wright Tremaine [...]

NOTICE: The information contained on this page site is intended to educate the general public and is not intended to provide legal advice. To ensure proper handling of your individual situation, [...]

ICE proposes changes to international student programs On November 20, 2013, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) proposed changes to the requirements governing its Student and Exchange Visitor [...]

Temporary Protected Status Extended for Somalis On November 6, 2013, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Rand Beers has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Somalia [...]

Expedited US Citizenship through MAVNI Program Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) is a recruiting program that allows certain lawfully present non-citizens to enlist in the [...]

Diversity Visa Lottery 2015 Online registration for the Diversity Visa (DV) 2015 Program will begin on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) [...]

Immediately after the landmark Supreme Court ruling on June 26, 2013, the United States immigration authorities have started working to eliminate discrimination against same-sex married couples in the implementation of United [...]

First Same-Sex Marriage-Based Green-Card Approved On June 28, 2013, the first marriage-based immigration petition filed by a same-sex couple has been approved.  This is the first ever green-card [...]

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Gay Marriage On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court issued two landmark decisions in favor of same-sex marriage.  I.S. Law [...]

Supreme Court Blocks Law Requiring Voters to Prove Citizenship On June 17, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled, 7 to 2, that states may not [...]

DHS Re-Designates Syria for Temporary Protected Status On June 17, 2013, United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has re-designated Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and [...]

Immigration Reform Update On June 13, 2013, the United States Senate voted to block Senator Grassley’s amendment 1195, which would prohibit the granting of Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) [...]

Court Finds Undocumented Immigrant with Temporary Protected Status Eligible for Green-Card On June 4, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that [...]

E-2 for Convenience Store Investor On February 27, 2013, I.S. Law Firm secured approval of E-2 status for an investor in a convenience store business.In securing approval of [...]

US Customs to Verify All Student Visas On May 2, 2013, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an order to all border agents to verify that [...]

DV Lottery 2014 Results Available May 1, 2013 The results of Diversity Visa Lottery-2014 will be available starting at noon (Eastern Daylight Time) on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. [...]

US State Department Releases 2012 Human Rights Reports On April 19, 2013, the United States Department of State released Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012. Country reports [...]

Immigration Reform Bill Introduced in US Senate On April 17, 2013, a group of senators introduced their long-awaited bill for comprehensive immigration reform that would overhaul the immigration [...]

Immigration Bill Outline Published On April 16, 2013, a bipartisan group of senators published the outline of their proposed immigration bill, titled “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization [...]

Asylum Clock Update Agreement Reached in National Class Action Lawsuit on Work Authorization for Asylum Seekers On April 12, 2013, the plaintiffs in A.B.T. et al. v. [...]

USCIS Reaches FY 2014 H-1B Cap For the first time since 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the statutory H-1B cap of 65,000 for fiscal [...]

Congress Passes VAWA Reauthorization On February 28, 2013, the United States House of Representatives passed, 286-138, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), securing [...]

Immigration Reform Moves Forward Comprehensive immigration reform is a step closer to becoming reality as a Senate group introduced its immigration plan, followed by president Obama’s own [...]

New Appointment System at US Embassy in Baku The U.S. Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, has announced that it will implement new, improved visa application and appointment scheduling procedures [...]

Foreign Students Boost US Economy In November 2012, NAFSA, Association of International Educators, published a report, “The Economic Benefits of International Students to the U.S. Economy: Academic Year [...]

Republican Senators Counter DREAM Act with ACHIEVE Act W-1 Status W-2 Status W-3 Status On November 27, 2012, Senator Kay Bailey [...]

Estimating US Resident Nonimmigrant Population In November of 2012, the Department of Homeland Security released data on the resident nonimmigrant population in the United States for [...]

Maryland Voters Approve Dream Act Law On November 6, 2012, a Maryland law that grants an in-state tuition discount to undocumented college students won voter approval [...]

Immigrants Play Key Role in Virginia Economy In October 2012, The Commonwealth Institute of Virginia released a new report titled “Critical Assets: The State of Immigrants [...]

I.S. Law Firm Will Submit Your Entry for Diversity Visa Lottery-2014 for Free This year, I.S. law Firm again offers free services to those who wish [...]

Guide to Deferred Action for Immigrant Youth (DACA) The Obama administration recently announced that it will offer relief from deportation for young immigrants who were brought to the country [...]

Obama Administration to Halt Deportations of DREAMers On June 15, 2012, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that, effective immediately, certain young people who were [...]

Battle over VAWA Continues The U.S. Congress remains deadlocked over the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which provides immigration relief to victims of domestic [...]

Asylum Statistics On July 26, 2012, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Asylum Division has released asylum statistics by applicants’ countries, gender, asylum offices, types, [...]

USCIS Begins Accepting Requests for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals On August 15, 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun accepting requests for consideration of [...]

Supreme Court Rules on Arizona Immigration Law On Monday, June 25, 2012, the United States Supreme Court issued a mixed decision in the case of Arizona Et Al. [...]

US Takes Steps to Keep Talented Foreign Students in the Country Immigration Impact published the following opinion with regard to the recent expansion of the Department of Homeland Security's List [...]

DV Lottery-2013 Results Announced May 1, 2012 The results of Diversity Visa Lottery-2013 will be available starting at noon (Eastern Daylight Time) on Tuesday, May 1, [...]

H-1 B Count FY2013 The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to accept H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2013 cap season. U.S. businesses [...]

USCIS Designates Syria for Temporary Protected Status Due to the violent upheaval and deteriorating situation in the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on [...]

Anti-Immigration Laws Damage US Economy As many U.S. states are considering and implementing harsh immigration-control laws, research shows that the impact of such laws can harm states’ economies, [...]

White House to Attract Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs and Highly Skilled Immigrants On January 31, 2012, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unveiled their strategy [...]

Obama to Boost Tourism and Improve Visa Processing On January 19, 2012, President Obama signed an executive order to improve visa and foreign visitor processing and travel promotion. The [...]

Immigration Creates US Jobs Immigration creates jobs for native-born Americans, a new report finds. Immigration does not reduce employment among U.S.-born population; instead, foreign-born workers “complement” U.S.-born workers. [...]

Lautenberg Amendment Extended I.S. Law Firm applauds extension of Lautenberg Amendment, which provides protection to refugees seeking religious freedom, through fiscal year 2012. The Lautenberg Amendment has been [...]

ICE Launches New Hotline for Detainees On December 29, 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced new measures to ensure that individuals being held by [...]

E-2 Investor Visa for a Small Business (Treaty Investors) I.S. Law Firm secured and successfully extended an E-2 visa for a small electronics retailer. We are [...]

EB-1 (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) Visa for a Political Psychologist I.S. Law Firm is proud to announce an important victory in securing an approval of EB-1 (Extraordinary Ability) [...]

National Interest Waiver (EB-2) We are proud to announce that we succeeded in approval of National Interest Waiver immigrant visa (green-card) petition for an accounting professional from Azerbaijan! National [...]

Alien with Extraordinary Ability (EB-1) It is our pleasure to announce an important victory in securing an approval of EB-1 (Extraordinary Ability) petition for a former [...]