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OUR OFFICES:
NEW JERSEY OFFICE:
VISASERVE Plaza
487 Goffle Road
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Phone: 201-670-0006 (x107)
NEW YORK OFFICE:
108 West 39th Street
8th Floor, Suite 800
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 1-866-599-3625
INDIANA OFFICE:
Indianapolis City Center
201 North Illinois Street
16th Floor, South Tower
Indianapolis, IN 46204
INDIA AFFILIATED OFFICES:
Kaival Chalishazar, Adv.
Kaival Chalishazar & Co.
22 Vasant Kunj
New Sharda Mandir Road, Paldi, Ahmedabad 380007, India
ATT: Call Kaival at x107
(This office provides "on the ground" services to our Indian clients such as India Divorce, India Real Estate Purchase and Sale, Business Sale Purchase, Adoption, Litigation and High Court Complaints).
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Law Office of Michael Phulwani
F603 Remi Biz Court
Veera Desai Road
Andheri West
Mumbai 400 053, India
Call us at 201-670-0006 (x104) for contact details.
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We remind our readers that we will be visiting our Affiliated India Offices in Mumbai and Gujarat during late-November and early-December. If you want to schedule an appointment with one of our Lawyers in India, please contact us at 201-670-0006 (x107) and our Receptionist will work with you to schedule.
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Dear Readers:
The media is in a frenzy. Our offices' telephone continues to ring off-the-hook. Foreign nationals in the U.S. (and abroad) are confused and looking for guidance. As President-Elect Donald Trump names his choices for positions in his Administration, it seems clear that he intends to include quite a few people who subscribe to radical right political ideologies. However, we remind our readers that, in order to be a successful President (like others), Mr. Trump (and his appointees), will need to moderate
their views.
In the wake of the Thanksgiving Holiday, we remind our readers (as the top-level of the Trump team begins to assemble) that America, the house we live in, is a very diverse one. Today our families are African-American, Latino, Indian American, multi-ethnic, gay, straight and we are certain that we are better-off because of this. Our philosophy has always been, and it continues to be moderation and temperance. For that we are thankful.
We also remember during this Thanksgiving Holiday weekend that there are those without houses to live-in, whether due to natural disasters such as Earthquakes, Cyclones or Super Storms, or personal circumstances.
We know that because of who we are, there are numerous citizens who will reach out to help both on this Thanksgiving Holiday and throughout the year. That America, the house that we live in, is a nation of immigrants. That's the real reason that we are thankful during this Thanksgiving Holiday.
America has always prided itself on being a nation of immigrants. The Statue of Liberty provides eloquent testimony to that with its inscription, which reads, in part:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-toast to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
The achievements and the contributions of immigrants to the nation's success over time are legion. Famous first generation American immigrants, to name just a few, include: Albert Einstein (originally from Germany), I.M. Pei (an architect from China), Joseph Pulitzer (a newspaper publisher from Hungary), Felix Frankfurter (a Supreme Court Justice from Austria), Madeleine Albright (the Secretary of State from Czechoslovakia), Hakeem Olajuwon (a basketball player from Nigeria) and Saint Francis X, along with Mother Cabrini (a nun from Italy).
More recently, it's been Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, who came here from Russia, and two scientists, Elizabeth Blackburn (from Australia) and Jack Szostak (from the U.K. via Canada) who shared the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 2009 (along with Carol Grieder) for their chromosomal research.
The list could go on and on. Add second generation immigrants to the list, it could go on almost forever. It is unquestionable that America has been the beneficiary of an unparalleled immigrant advantage, in terms of intellectual and human capital. For that we are thankful.
It's not just the brain gain, as Darrell West of the Brooking
Institution puts it, that immigrants have provided to the development of America and advancing the America dream. It's also been the incalculable contributions that immigrants have made in doing the back-breaking work required to eke out a living to make the economy hum and make the future better for their children. For that we are thankful.
One need only visit the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and its various centers to understand the magnitude and impact of the immigration movement over time, and its continuing effect today.
The award winning documentary, "Island of Hope, Island of Tears", depicts the stories of the millions of immigrants from around the world who passed through Ellis Island between 1890 and 1920 hoping for better lives for themselves and their descendants.
At this time we wish to thank all of our clients and friends and the members of their families for all that they have done, and continue to do, for our Firm. We remind our clients, and our readers, that we are immigration and nationality lawyers. If we can be of any assistance to you, your friends or any of your family members, please feel free to e-mail us at info@visaserve.com or you can feel free to contact us by calling 201-670-0006 (x107).
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A REMINDER TO IMMIGRANTS: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER ... PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS!
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During the 2016 presidential campaign, President-elect Donald Trump pledged to crack down on immigration, deport millions of undocumented immigrants, build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and end the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative.
Though statements on President-elect Trump's campaign website support these ideas, the timing and scope of any changes to current policies are unclear. Recently AILA (American Immigration Lawyer Association) issued a Consumer Alert in English and Spanish to help educate immigrants about their rights.
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U.S. IMMIGRATION ALERT: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: EVERY ONE HAS CERTAIN BASIC RIGHTS, NO MATTER WHO IS THE U.S. PRESIDENT.
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By now everyone knows that Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States and will begin to serve his term in January 2017. No matter who is president, everyone living in the U.S. has certain basic rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Undocumented immigrants have these rights, too. It is important that we all assert and protect our basic rights. If you find you have to deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or other law enforcement officers at home, on the street, or anywhere else, remember that you have the rights described in this factsheet. The factsheet also provides suggestions for what you should do to assert your rights.
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USCIS ANNOUNCES FINAL RULE: RETENTION OF EB-1, EB-2, AND EB-3 IMMIGRANT WORKERS AND PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS AFFECTING HIGH-SKILLED NONIMMIGRANT WORKERS
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USCIS recently published a FINAL RULE to modernize and improve several aspects of certain employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa programs. USCIS has also amended its regulations to better enable U.S. employers to hire and retain certain foreign workers who are beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions and are waiting to become lawful permanent residents. This rule is due to go into effect on January 17th 2017, right before the changeover to the new Administration.
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EMPLOYER AND HR MANAGER ALERT: THE REVISED FORM I-9 IS NOW LIVE!
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USCIS published a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers may continue using Form I-9 with a revision date of 03/08/2013 N. through January 21st, 2017. By January 22nd, 2017, employers must use the revised form.
These are some of the changes in the new version:
* Employees only need to provide other last names used in Section 1, rather than all names used.
* The certification in Section 1 for certain foreign nationals takes less time to complete.
* There are additional spaces to enter multiple preparers and translators.
* There is a dedicated area to enter additional information that employers have been required to notate in the margins of the form.
TO READ MORE, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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DHS ANNOUNCES 11 NEW AIRPORTS SELECTED FOR POSSIBLE PRECLEARANCE EXPANSION FOLLOWING SECOND OPEN SEASON.
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On November 4th, 2016, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced new foreign airports, located in nine countries, selected for possible Preclearance expansion. If Preclearance operations are expanded to these airports, travelers would undergo immigration, customs, and agriculture inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection before boarding a flight to the United States rather than upon arrival.
The homeland security benefits of Preclearance include preventing high-risk travelers from boarding aircraft bound for the United States. In addition to enhancing security preclearance generates the potential for significant economic benefits for the United States and our international partners by reducing wait times at domestic gateways, creating an overall increase in clearance capacity, facilitating quicker connections to U.S. domestic flights, and maximizing aircraft and gate utilization.
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THE BIG QUESTION WE ARE GETTING: NEW Q&As ABOUT DACA WITH TRUMP AS PRESIDENT.
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Many of us are concerned about what could happen to the DACA program-and to DACA recipients-once President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January 2017. During his campaign, Trump said that he intends to end the DACA program. But since the election, he has not yet said exactly if, when, or how he might do this. Nor will we know until after January 20th, when the new Trump administration takes power, what his administration's officials might do with the information that DACA applicants have submitted on their applications.
Since DACA was created in 2012, anyone deciding whether or not to apply for it has had to weigh the benefits and risks of applying. When you provide information about yourself to immigration authorities-by submitting the DACA application-you are taking a risk. On the other hand, having DACA has brought many benefits to the people who have it, benefits that are highlighted in the recent report New Study of DACA Beneficiaries Shows Positive Economic and Educational Outcomes. Over 700,000 people have chosen to apply for and have received DACA. Many of them have, as a result, found better-paying jobs, received driver's licenses, and enjoyed other benefits.
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently released the December 2016 Visa Bulletin. This is the third Visa Bulletin for the Fiscal Year. As with other Visa Bulletins - there is some good news and there is some bad news! In the employment-based, second preference (EB-2) category, the cut-off date for India moves ahead by three months, to February 1st, 2008. EB-2 for China advances by just over two months, to September 22nd, 2012. For the employment-based, third preference (EB-3) category, India moves forward by only one week, to a new cu-toff date of March 15th, 2005. Meanwhile, EB-3 for China moves up by 10 weeks, to July 1st, 2013.
Also, and worthy of noting, is that USCIS is reporting that for the December 2016 Visa Bulletin, the following PRIORITY DATES are applicable:
For Family-Sponsored Filings:
Use the Dates for Filing Family-Sponsored Visa Applications chart.
For Employment-Based 1st through 4th Preference Filings:
Use the Dates for Filing of Employment Based Visa Applications chart.
For Employment-Based 5th Preference Filings:
Use the Final Action Dates chart.
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CHECKOUT VISASERVE'S REGULARLY UPDATED YOUTUBE VIDEO LIBRARY (SOME SELECTIONS BELOW) ABOUT U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAWS:
"IMMIGRATION NEWS AND VIEWS" - NPZ'S NEW PRACTICAL SERIES ON YOUTUBE ABOUT VARIOUS U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW ISSUES.
Check us out at . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Crfb5L_vlo
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US IMMIGRATION LAW UNDER President Trump's | 10-POINT IMMIGRATION PLAN:
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Donald J. Trump's 10 Point Plan to Put America First
2. End catch-and-release. Under a Trump administration, anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed out of our country.
3. Move criminal aliens out day one, in joint operations with local, state, and federal law enforcement. We will terminate the Obama administration's deadly, non-enforcement policies that allow thousands of criminal aliens to freely roam our streets.
4. End sanctuary cities.
5. Immediately terminate President Obama's two illegal executive amnesties. All immigration laws will be enforced - we will triple the number of ICE agents. Anyone who enters the U.S. illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country.
6. Suspend the issuance of visas to any place where adequate screening cannot occur, until proven and effective vetting mechanisms can be put into place.
7. Ensure that other countries take their people back when we order them deported.
8. Ensure that a biometric entry-exit visa tracking system is fully implemented at all land, air, and sea ports.
9. Turn off the jobs and benefits magnet. Many immigrants come to the U.S. illegally in search of jobs, even though federal law prohibits the employment of illegal immigrants.
10. Reform legal immigration to serve the best interests of America and its workers, keeping immigration levels within historic norms.
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EB-5 INVESTOR VISA PROGRAM.
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The EB-5 visa provides a method of obtaining a
green card
for foreign nationals who invest money in the United States.To obtain the visa, individuals must invest $1,000,000 (or at least $500,000 in a
Targeted Employment Area
- high unemployment or rural area), creating or preserving at least 10 jobs for U.S. workers excluding the investor and their immediate family.Initially, under the first EB-5 program, the foreign investor was required to create an entirely new commercial enterprise; however, under the Pilot Program investments can be made directly in a job-generating commercial enterprise (new, or existing - "Troubled Business"), or into a "Regional Center" - a 3rd party-managed investment vehicle (private or public), which assumes the responsibility of creating the requisite jobs. Regional Centers may charge an administration fee for managing the investor's investment.
If the foreign national investor's petition is approved, the investor and their dependents will be granted conditional permanent residence valid for two years.Within the 90-day period before the conditional permanent residence expires, the investor must submit evidence documenting that the full required investment has been made and that 10 jobs have been maintained, or 10 jobs have been created or will be created within a reasonable time period.
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