There are two methods for obtaining permanent resident status in the United States, as recognized by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). One is by applying for an adjustment of status. The other is by undergoing consular processing. Read on to discover the difference between the two and how a seasoned adjustment of status – immigration attorney in WI, at the Sesini Law Group, S.C., can help you decipher which path better suits your circumstances.

What does it mean to get an adjustment of status?

As the name suggests, an adjustment of status means that a “noncitizen” is petitioning to change their standing in the United States to a “lawful permanent resident.” This is otherwise known as the process of applying for a green card. Of note, you may be eligible for a green card through family or employment or as a special immigrant, refugee, or asylee, among other categories. Regardless, obtaining a green card starts with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.

How is an adjustment of status different from consular processing?

Similar to an adjustment of status, consular processing is a way to obtain “lawful permanent resident” status in the United States via a green card application. However, this is specifically relevant if you are the beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition and have an immigrant visa number immediately available. With this, you may file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker, or a form for a specialty category.

Overall, the main difference between the two is that you may apply for an adjustment of status while you are still present in the United States. On the other hand, you may apply for consular processing at the United States Department of State consulate in your country of current residence or your country of birth. This is to say that your preference for which path to choose may be dependent on your current residence. Otherwise, below is a short list of advantages and disadvantages for each path:

• Advantages of consular processing versus adjustment of status:
  • This process may be cheaper (i.e., no fee to $345 fee versus a $1,140 fee).
  • This process may be quicker from start to finish (i.e., five to 13 months versus 12 to 24 months).
  • This process may not require a physical examination specifically from a USCIS-approved United States physician.
• Disadvantages of consular processing versus adjustment of status:
  • This process does not offer you the benefits of a work permit or advance parole.
  • This process may bar your lawyer from attending your mandatory interview alongside you.
  • This process may require you to obtain police certificates from each country you have lived in for one year or more.

Regardless of which path you choose, you must hire a competent consular processing immigration visa lawyer in WI from the Sesini Law Group, P.C.

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If you wish to be lawfully permitted into the United States, you may effectively achieve this by expressing your interest in serving in the American workforce. In other words, you may apply for a work authorization permit. But you may stand out even more if you express your extraordinary ability in a certain field. Specifically, you may file an EB-1 visa, otherwise known as an employment-based, first-preference visa. Read on to discover how to apply for an EB-1 visa and how a seasoned work authorization permit lawyer in Milwaukee, WI, at Sesini Law Group, S.C., can ensure you do so correctly.

How do I know if I qualify to apply for an EB-1 visa?

Before all else, you must understand which individuals the EB-1 visa is designated for. Namely, this employment-based, first-preference visa type is set for noncitizens of the United States who have extraordinary abilities, are outstanding professors or researchers, or are certain multinational executives or managers. Therefore, you may apply for this visa type if you meet the eligibility requirements for any of the following categories:

• Noncitizens who have extraordinary abilities must:
  • You must meet three of the 10 criteria disclosed on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website.
  • You must demonstrate your extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.
  • You must provide evidence of a one-time achievement in your specific field.
  • You must provide evidence of your continuing work in your specific field.
• Noncitizens who are outstanding professors or researchers must:
  • You must meet two of the six criteria disclosed on the USCIS website.
  • You must demonstrate your intentional recognition for your outstanding achievements in your specific academic field.
  • You must provide evidence of at least three years of teaching or research in your specific academic field.
  • You must provide evidence of your tenure track for teaching or research in your specific academic field.
  • You must provide evidence of your job offer from a United States employer.
• Noncitizens who are multinational executives or managers must:
  • You must demonstrate your employment outside the United States for at least one year in the three years preceding your petition.
  • You must demonstrate your qualifying relationship with an entity that employed you abroad in an executive or managerial position.
  • You must provide evidence of your petitioning United States employer’s intention of employing you in an executive or managerial position.

How do I go about applying for an EB-1 visa?

Regardless of whether you have an extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or a multinational executive or manager, you may apply for an EB-1 visa via Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker.

At the same time, your petitioning United States employer may have to do some leg work. For example, the employer may have to demonstrate their continuing ability to pay their offered wage as of the set priority date. This is specifically if you are an outstanding professor/researcher or a multinational executive/manager.

Before it is too late, you must retain the services of one of the competent Milwaukee, Wisconsin immigration lawyers. Contact our Sesini Law Group, S.C. office today.

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You may have finally filled out and submitted the long, complex, and time-consuming petition for a K-1 visa (i.e., a fiancé visa). However, your job may not be over just yet. That is, your final step may be attending an interview conducted by a United States Department of State consular officer. Follow along to find out what you can expect to happen at your fiancé visa interview and how a proficient fiancé visa lawyer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at Sesini Law Group, S.C. can help you properly prep for it.

What is the purpose of being interviewed for a fiancé visa?

Your interview with a consular officer may arguably be the most important step of your fiancé visa application process. This is because, after this interview, the consular officer may get the final say on whether you should be approved or denied for this visa type.

With that being said, the primary purpose of this interview is so that a consular officer may confirm that you meet the eligibility criteria you promised in your petition. For example, they may analyze whether or not you are being truthful about having met your fiancé at least two years before filing your petition. Also, they may dissect whether or not you have met your fiancé in person before filing your petition. Lastly, they may also comb through the additional pieces of evidence you have that document your relationship with your fiancé, which they may have asked you to bring to the interview.

What can I expect to happen at the fiancé visa interview?

If you are currently staying in the United States, you may expect your local United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) field office to book a time and date for your fiancé visa interview. Here, your sponsoring fiancé must attend this interview with you. And if you are currently living abroad, then the United States Embassy or consulate in your country may schedule your interview. With this, your sponsoring fiancé does not have to attend.

In the days and weeks leading up to your scheduled interview, you may expect to have to collect the original copies of documents you submitted with your initial petition. This may include the original copies of your passport, birth certificate, prior divorce documents, etc. Also, you must gather any additional documents that the consular officer has requested of you, to authenticate your relationship with your fiancé. This may include travel itineraries for planned trips to visit one another, phone records that show your frequent communication, etc.

And at the time of your scheduled interview, you may expect a certain line of questioning. Such questioning may pertain to your personal background, your knowledge about your fiancé’s background, and your past stays in the United States, among other things. With this, you and your fiancé should refresh each other’s memories on the milestones within each of your backgrounds and your relationship.

When dealing with an urgent matter like this one, you must drop everything and call a talented family immigration lawyer in Milwaukee, WI. Our team at Sesini Law Group, S.C. can help you put the puzzle pieces together.

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You may have done everything in your power to abide by the strictly enforced application guidelines and build a strong case for your eligibility to retrieve a United States visa. So you may feel depleted and discouraged if this long and extensive process ultimately results in a denial by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). However, you may rest easier knowing this may not have been your only shot. Continue reading to learn what happens if your visa application gets denied and how an experienced waivers of inadmissibility attorney in Wisconsin, at Sesini Law Group, S.C., can help you get a second chance at legal entry into the United States.

What happens if my visa application gets denied?

At your final interview at a United States embassy or consulate, your interviewer, a USCIS officer, may get the final say on whether your visa application should get approved or denied. If they ultimately rule to deny you a visa, you hold the right to ask for their reasonings.

With this, one reason the USCIS officer might give you is that you seem to fall under one of the inadmissibility or ineligibility grounds for United States citizenship. For instance, they may be under the belief that you were previously convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude or a drug conviction. So if this is the explanation you received, then you may also hold the right to file a waiver on the grounds of inadmissibility; otherwise known as Form I-601.

How can I apply for a waiver on the grounds of inadmissibility?

First of all, you must file Form I-601, your waiver on the grounds of inadmissibility, with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Also worth mentioning, you must pay a nonrefundable filing fee of $930. Unfortunately, this must be in addition to the filing fee you paid for your initial visa application, which was also nonrefundable.

Also alongside your Form I-601, you must submit evidence that establishes why you qualify for this waiver in the first place. Now, the evidence you require may be dependent on which grounds of inadmissibility the USCIS officer stated at your final interview.

For example, if you were denied a visa due to medical reasons, you must submit additional pieces of medical documentation. Such medical documentation may show that you have received all your required vaccinations, you have attended and passed all your required medical examinations, or otherwise, it may disprove any other reasoning that you were given.

You must understand that there is no guarantee that the DHS will approve your waiver, but it always helps to completely dedicate yourself to its success. So even if you are only considering a waiver of inadmissibility, you must first consult a skilled family immigration lawyer in Milwaukee, WI, from Sesini Law Group, S.C. Contact our firm today.

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As a noncitizen of the United States, there may always be a fear, looming in the back of your mind, that you may be uprooted from your new home and sent back to your native country. Understandably so, you may never want this fear to become a reality. Therefore, you may want to do everything in your power to prevent this from even becoming a possibility. Continue reading to learn some tips for avoiding deportation from the United States and how an experienced removal & deportation defense lawyer in Milwaukee, WI, at the Sesini Law Group, S.C., can offer you additional protections.

Under what circumstances might I be deported from the United States?

Essentially, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may find it necessary to deport you from the country if you are found to violate any immigration laws. More specific examples of what may prompt a deportation and removal order are as follows:

• You may have been found guilty of participating in a criminal act:
  • You have committed a crime of moral turpitude any time after being admitted to the United States.
  • You have committed a crime an aggravated felony any time after being admitted to the United States.
• You may have been deemed to be a threat to the country’s public safety:
  • You have engaged in, or become likely to engage in, terrorist activities.
  • You have engaged in certain offenses involving firearms or other weapons.
• You may have been found to violate the terms and conditions of your visa type:
  • You have committed marriage fraud to be admitted to the United States.
  • You have falsely represented yourself as a United States citizen to reap certain benefits.

What are some tips for avoiding deportation from the United States?

You must not give the USCIS any reason to even consider your deportation and removal from the United States. Thus, in addition to being law-abiding, it is in your best interest to follow the below tips:

• You may apply to become an asylum seeker in the United States, if applicable.
• You may apply to become a naturalized citizen of the United States, if applicable.
• You may consider volunteering to exit the United States, if this is your preference.

However, say that you are already at the point where you receive notice of your possible deportation and removal. Well, this is when you may have to petition to waive this deportation and removal order (i.e., Form I-212). Evidently, this may require a certain extent of legal aid.

So whenever you are ready, a skilled Milwaukee, WI removal and deportation defense lawyer is here to provide you with legal assistance. Please schedule your initial consultation with us at the Sesini Law Group, S.C. today.

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