Nov
26

Special Announcement for Undocumented Fathers of U.S. Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident Children: Establish Your Parental Rights!

There are many benefits to being legally recognized as the parent of a child.   In Minnesota, an unmarried father can voluntary sign a Recognition of Parentage (ROP) with his child’s mother, or establish paternity through family court.  Upon recognition or adjudication of legal parentage, a father has the right to seek custody and parenting time through family court, and be legally obligated to pay child support to the child’s mother. 

Some parents who do not have lawful immigration status may hesitate to complete paperwork or navigate the court system out of fear of contact with...

Nov
25

Announcing Deferred Action for Parents of U.S. Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents!

On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced the new Deferred Action for Parents (DAP) program.  DAP allows foreign national parents of U.S. citizen and legal permanent resident children to obtain deferred action for a period of three (3) years. 

DAP is not technically “lawful status” in the United States, nor is it permanent residency.  There are, however, very important benefits to the program:

Benefits of DAP:

Permission to stay in the US for a three-year period; Employment authorization; Through the employment authorization, an individual may generally apply for a social security...
Nov
25

Changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (a/k/a you may now be eligible!)

On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced several important changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  These changes mean more people will now be eligible for DACA.

No More Age Limit:

Those who entered the U.S. before their 16th birthday can now apply for DACA no matter how old they currently are.  Previously, applicants needed to be under the age of 31 on June 14, 2012 to be eligible, but this requirement has been eliminated.  This means that if you were born prior to June 15, 1981, you may now be eligible for DACA.

Note: This change will take effect no...

Nov
24

Immigration Policy Changes That Aim to Help Businesses and Workers

Last Thursday, President Obama announced a plan to help fix the immigration system through his executive authority that includes additional resources on the ground and elsewhere to secure the border, streamline the court process, and add more protections for crime victims. 

What do these announcements mean for U.S. business and foreign workers, however?  The announcement contained several measures designed to promote a more competitive destination for skilled workers, reduce major backlogs that force talent to leave, and modify outdated programs to better align with our modern...

Nov
18

St. Paul Skyway Arrest of Chris Lollie – Commission Declares that Use of Stun Gun was Not Excessive

Do you agree with the Police-Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission that the St Paul police officers’ use of a stun gun on Chris Lollie in January 2014 was not excessive force? As you likely remember from his video of the events of that day, Mr. Lollie was confronted by security and St Paul police officers in January for sitting in the skyway in downtown St. Paul. He was in a public area, but security personnel and police officers wrongly told him that he was on private property. When he refused to give them his name and resisted arrest, they used a stun gun on him. The City later...

Nov
17

Immigration Benefits for Military Personnel and Family Members

In recognition of Veterans Day last week, Wilson Law Group would like to send a reminder of important benefits available to certain members of the military and family of service members. 

MAVNI - Direct Path to U.S. Citizenship

MAVNI stands for “Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest.” MAVNI may be a quick path to U.S. citizenship for certain eligible foreign nations because it skips the permanent residency (“green card”) process altogether.

The MAVNI program started as a pilot program to allow certain branches of the U.S. military to recruit and enlist foreign nationals...

Nov
11

Welcome, Jaclyn E. Campoli, Associate Attorney

WLG is pleased to announce that Jaclyn E. Campoli is now an Associate Attorney at Wilson Law Group!  Jaclyn, who specializes in immigration law, recently passed the MN bar and was sworn in as a fully licensed attorney by the state of MN.  

Nov
6

Child Support: An Obligation, No Matter the Parent’s Immigration Status

Minnesota family law lawyers often hear the question from parents who live apart from their child: “How much will I have to pay for child support?” The lawyer turns to the Minnesota Child Support Calculator online and inputs the relevant information, such as the number of minor joint children, each parent’s gross monthly income, the percentage of parenting time, and the cost of medical insurance.  The client (who is often the father, but not always) may be surprised to hear that his gross monthly income is used in the calculation rather than his take-home pay, and his monthly living...

Nov
6

A Few of the Many Reasons to Become a U.S. Citizen

Citizenship offers substantially more benefits than permanent residency.  Here are a few of the many reasons to naturalize:

Risk of abandonment

Permanent residents can travel internationally, but must be cautious about spending too much time outside of the U.S.  If you spend a year outside of the U.S., you will be presumed to have abandoned your permanent residency, and you risk being placed in removal proceedings and possibly deported.

Even those permanent residents who have spent less than a year outside the U.S. might be accused of abandoning residency.  Unfortunately, there is no...

Nov
6

Expedited Tenant Remedies

People very commonly ask about enforcing their rights as tenants without having to spend five or ten times their monthly rent just to protect themselves. Whether or not they actually accomplish the intended goal, this post will briefly identify and discuss a few of the legal proceedings available in Minnesota to tenants with issues regarding rental properties or disputes with landlords. We will address four useful, but less well known, proceedings:

Unlawful Exclusion or Removal; Action for Recovery of Possession – M.S.A § 504B.375

This action applies to lock-out situations by a landlord....

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