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Istanbul, Turkey office
Meet Dr. Marjan Kasra, Esq. and Dr. Babak Hojjat J.D. in Istanbul office from Sept 23rd to Nov 7th 2021. Turkey office page
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Buyukdere cad. No:185 Kanyon Ofis Binasi Kat: 6 Bina Ic kapi no: 271 ResCo-work05 Levent-Sisli/Istanbul
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Expert recommended Top 3 Immigration Lawyers in Stamford, Connecticut. All of our immigration lawyers actually face a rigorous 50-Point Inspection, which includes customer reviews, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, trust, cost and general excellence. You deserve only the best!
https://threebestrated.com/immigration-lawyers-in-stamford-ct
The so-called “Muslim ban,” first went into effect in January, 2017 and became one of Trump’s signature immigration policies. This Ban went through multiple iterations before it was finally upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.
The original ban affected people from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, and North Korea.
The ban was amended several times in the face of numerous court challenges. The list of countries changed over the court battle.
The ex-president Trump expanded the ban last February to include additional restrictions on citizens of six more countries: Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania. The ban has slowed or altogether halted legal immigration from certain countries.
Recently, on January 20, 2020 the new President issued an executive order to end travel ban on non-citizens from mostly Muslim countries. From now, travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries will be allowed entry to the United States. This has brought considerable hope to nationals of those countries and their families.
Moreover, the next step is to devote resources and develop a process to address the status of thousands of people, who are held up in backlogs caused by the additional checks needed to obtain waivers from the above-mentioned ban.
In addition to this, Department of State need to provide a remedy, so that people whose visas were denied because of these bans do not have to start their applications from the scratch.
People, who already applied for a visa had already been an exhausting application process, including traveling for the interviews, going for medical screenings, and filing tons of paperwork and now the Department of State has to find the way for people not to do that all over again.
Biden has ordered the State Department to develop a plan within 45 days to address these issues. The DOS should ensure that people affected get relief quickly.
References:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/muslim-ban-gone-now-what
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After a 5-year dispute between USCIS and EB-5 Investors, a three-judge panel in D.C. Circuit court issued a decision on 10/27/2020, which allows use of unsecured loans to fund EB-5 investments.
In the last five-years, USCIS had disputed validity of source of funds where all or part the investment included an unsecured loan, resulting in denial of those Investors’ EB-5 Petitions.
However, today’s statement by Judge Gregory G. Katsas rings in a new era for EB-5 Investors:
“The buyer’s source of cash — whether paycheck, gift, or loan — makes no legal or practical difference.”
Therefore loan proceeds now qualify as cash rather than debt.
Since 2015, USCIS has been steadfast in its position, which misinterpreted unsecured loans as indebtedness, rather than cash, forming its basis for denying numerous EB-5 Petitions. However, a Chinese and a Japanese Investor (Huashan Zhang & Masayuki Hagiwara) sued USCIS in 2015, after receiving denials based on use of unsecured loans.
In 2018 a D.C. Federal decision ruled in favor of Investors and granted them a Class-Certification. Said favorable ruling was again challenged by USCIS, and today’s historic decision solidified the 2018 D.C. Federal Court Decision in favor of Investors.
USCIS had argued that use of unsecured loans is akin to a third-party “buying” a Green Card for another Investor. The judges today rejected USCIS’ arguments and most remarkable was Judge Katsas’ remarks, stating that:
“As far as the enterprise is concerned, whether or how the investor’s loan was secured makes no difference; it can deploy the cash either way, and it faces no exposure if the investor defaults on any obligation to a third-party lender.”
In other words, a loan, secured or not, is cash, which can be used by the EB-5 Project, regardless of how it was procured. See Huashan Zhang v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, No. 19-5021 (D.C. Cir. 2020)
Conclusion
Today’s Decision prevents USCIS from denying EB-5 Petitions on the basis of how the loan was obtained (secured or not). Up until now, USCIS had only allowed use of loans secured by Investor’s own assets (such as a mortgage on a property owned personally by the Investor)
But today’s Decision opens the door to many other avenues of funding for potential Investors as now they have the ability to use unsecured loans as their source of funds.
Moreover, this Decision is a welcome-news to the United States, and EB-5 Regional Centers which should expect an increase in the number of applicants given today’s Decision.
It is important to note that Investors are still not allowed to secure a loan on the assets being used for their EB-5 project, and today’s decision has not changed that.
Given the complexity of this area of law we highly recommend consulting a qualified EB-5 Attorney prior to making any decisions.
Disclaimer: The content in this newsletter should not be construed as legal advice. We encourage you to contact an Immigration Attorney for any immigration law questions you may have. Furthermore, the content herein is the work product of LAWMAKS and should not be copied or redistributed in any form or fashion by any individual or entity.
On August 3, 2020 USCIS published a final rule “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements” implementing the changes to the fee schedule for certain immigration benefits, as well as new editions for certain immigration forms.
Additionally, the rule removes certain fee exemptions, changes fee waiver requirements and alters premium processing limits. According to the USCIS, the fees are being adjusted for an average increase of 20 percent.
As such, the rule contains substantial increase of the fee changes for certain immigration forms, such as I-129 Petition for a Non-immigrant worker, I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, I-526 Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor and I-539 Application to Extend/Change Non-immigrant Status and more.
On the other hand, the fees for few other popular USCIS forms are planned to be decreased, for example the fee for I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker is now $700, however according to the Final Rule is planned to be changed to $555.
Additionally, USCIS was planning to release new editions of the USCIS forms, including I-129, I-764, I-912 and N-600/N-600A. Moreover, USCIS has separated the form I- 129 by the categories of the benefit granted (ex. L, E, H1, O, etc.).
The final rule was scheduled to take effect on October 2, 2020. However, on September 29, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Immigration Legal Resource Center et al., v. Wolf, et al., 20-cv-05883-JWS preliminarily enjoined USCIS from implementing or enforcing any part of USCIS Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements rule.
For now (until the injunction is in force) the USCIS will continue to accept the current editions and current fees.
As such, if you are planning to apply for your relative abroad or want to obtain L-1 or E-2 non-immigrant visa, but do not wish to pay more or be involved in more complicated procedures, call Lawmaks at 212-500-0905 to schedule personalized consultation for your case.
Disclaimer: The content in this newsletter should not be construed as legal advice. We encourage you to contact an Immigration Attorney for any immigration law questions you may have. Furthermore, the content herein is the work product of LAWMAKS and should not be copied or redistributed in any form or fashion by any individual or entity.
WASHINGTON D.C. –– Today, the U.S. District Court for the District Columbia issued a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump administration from denying immigrant visas to 2020 diversity visa winners. In its ruling, the court ordered the administration to process all 2020 diversity visa applications as quickly as possible before September 30.
The court ruled on diversity visa applications for five consolidated cases, including Gomez v. Trump, which is litigated by a civil rights coalition including the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Justice Action Center (JAC) and Innovation Law Lab, with pro bono support from Mayer Brown LLP. Diversity visas are granted to those who come from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S.
A presidential proclamation on immigration was initially signed on April 22, and was expanded in scope and extended through the end of 2020 on June 22. The ban halted virtually all immigration, and is indefinitely separating hundreds of thousands of families and throwing the business plans of companies into chaos.
With Gomez v. Trump, the civil rights coalition filed the first lawsuit challenging the entirety of the Trump administration’s immigration ban. In addition to diversity visa winners, plaintiffs include family-based visa applicants and businesses who employ temporary foreign workers.
We celebrate this victory for all diversity visa applicants, and vow to continue to fight for the rights of all immigrants.
Jesse Bless, AILA’s Director of Federal Litigation said, “Thankfully, we saved this year’s diversity visa winners, but at the same time, we know full well that our other plaintiffs and thousands of other families, employers, and individuals will irreparably suffer due to the President’s visa bans. The President has unilaterally rewritten immigration laws in a way that does not reflect our country’s commitment to family unity and the employment of highly-skilled foreign nationals.”
Karen Tumlin, Founder and Director of Justice Action Center said, “Diversity visa applicants can finally exhale today. This court decision will result in these immigrants being able to pursue their dreams in the United States, and help boost our economy. The diversity visa lottery has allowed for substantial diversification of legal immigration, especially from Africa, and we’re thankful the court is protecting that. We’re disappointed, though, that the court didn’t block the ban for our other plaintiffs who are suffering. But this isn’t over. We won’t rest until the entirety of the immigration ban is stopped.”
“Today’s ruling is an important victory in the fight to protect fundamental principles on which our Nation’s immigration system is based, including promoting diversity, creating fairness, and preventing Executive overreach in areas that Congress has already spoken,” said Nadia Dahab, Senior Litigation Attorney at Innovation Law Lab. “But our fight continues. This President cannot rewrite decades of Congressional judgments with the stroke of a pen, and he cannot continue to separate families to serve his xenophobic political agenda.”
Today’s decision is online here.
More information about the lawsuit, including case filings, can be found here.
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), founded in 1946, is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.
Justice Action Center (JAC) is a new nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for greater justice for immigrant communities by combining litigation and storytelling. There is tremendous unmet need in the litigation landscape for immigrant communities. JAC is committed to bringing additional litigation resources to bear to address unmet needs in currently underserved areas. There is also untapped potential in how litigation can be combined with digital strategies to empower clients and change the corrosive narrative around immigrants.
Innovation Law Lab is a nonprofit organization that leverages advocacy, technology and law to fight for immigrant and refugee justice. By bringing technology to the fight for justice, Innovation Law Lab empowers advocates to scale their impact and provide effective representation to immigrants in detention and in hostile judicial jurisdictions across the country so that every claim that should win, does win, everywhere, every time.
Disclaimer: The content in this newsletter should not be construed as legal advice. We encourage you to contact an Immigration Attorney for any immigration law questions you may have. Furthermore, the content herein is the work product of LAWMAKS and should not be copied or redistributed in any form or fashion by any individual or entity.
Few days ago Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak extended the previous Proclamation 10014 which banned entry until June 22, 2020 for the rest of the year in 2020. More importantly, as anticipated by a number of US Immigration Lawyers, the ban expanded the categories affected.
Thus, this time not only immigrant visas, but also some other popular non-immigrant visas, but also certain categories of the non-immigrants, who want to come to U.S. are banned from entrance up until December 31, 2020.
The newly effected categories are H-1B for specialty occupations and fashion models and H-2B visas for non-agricultural workers, J visa, to the extent the alien is participating in an intern, trainee, teacher, camp counsellor, au pair, or summer work travel program and also L, Intracompany Transferee visa categories.
The Derivative Beneficiaries of said visa categories are also adversely affected. Therefore, major categories of employment based non-immigrant visa categories are being affected by the renewed, June 22nd Travel Ban.
Very noteworthy is that the Travel Ban does not affect E-2 Treaty Investors. This is particularly beneficial for those who want to come to the United States to develop and direct their own business in the United States.
However, the E-2 Visa applicants must be from certain countries holding a Treaty of Amity with the US. For example, countries like Pakistan & Egypt have said Treaty while India and Mainland China do not.
Citizens of Non-Treaty countries can entertain the idea of participating in the CBI (Citizenship by Investment) where a second citizenship may be procured very quickly via either Investment or Donation options to countries like Granada or Turkey which do have the required Treaty of Amity with the US. In order to undergo an evaluation of your options, in light of the latest Travel Ban, please feel free to contact LAWMAKS.
Disclaimer: The content in this newsletter should not be construed as legal advice. We encourage you to contact an Immigration Attorney for any immigration law questions you may have. Furthermore, the content herein is the work product of LAWMAKS and should not be copied or redistributed in any form or fashion by any individual or entity.
After about a month delay the results are in! On Sunday, June 5, 2020, the U.S. Department of State posted the results of the Diversity Visa Lottery (DV Lottery), known as the Green Card lottery, one of the most popular visa programs. This year’s result was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
All the diversity visas available this fiscal year, must be issued no later than Sept. 30, 2021. The State Department has also stressed the Entrant Status website is the only way the lottery winners are announced. Notification letters will not be mailed to selectees and embassies and consulates will not provide a list of names. All applicants must go to the online Entrant Status Check website at https://dvprogram.state.gov/ as soon as possible to reserve your place in line.
Albeit a major step, this is just the beginning. Each year between 10-20 Million applicants apply for the DV Lottery, and approximately 100 Thousand applicants are selected at this stage. About half of the applicants will meet all the qualifications necessary.
Therefore around 50-55 Thousand will ultimately be eligible to live in the United States as a permanent resident. This year, lottery winners will face added challenges due to the new Public Charge laws as well as the newer Travel Bans related to COVID-19.
Contacting an immigration attorney is recommended to increase chances of being able to legally immigrate to the United States and achieve the American Dream with a green card in hand in 2021.
Disclaimer: The content in this newsletter should not be construed as legal advice. We encourage you to contact an Immigration Attorney for any immigration law questions you may have. Furthermore, the content herein is the work product of LAWMAKS and should not be copied or redistributed in any form or fashion by any individual or entity.
