Immigration Blog

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...

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...

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...

We are happy to report that Wilson Law Group received a “TPS as status” adjustment approval from the USCIS office in Bloomington, Minnesota. The person never traveled with parole, and relied exclusively on this TPS status to assert he could proceed under section 245 to adjustment his status to a lawfully admitted permanent resident with an approved immediate relative I-130 petition.  This is a complete change in the government's approach to temporary protected status and the ability to apply for residency.  

Now, one approval is not a pattern of acquiescence; however, it is a harbinger...