Immigration lawyers handle a variety of matters to assist individuals who need or want to come to the United States. Here is an overview of some of the most common matters that our immigration team helps clients with.

Nonimmigrant visas

Nonimmigrant visas are for international travelers coming to the United States temporarily. This visa allows the individual to travel to a U.S. port of entry and request permission from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to enter the United States.

These foreign nationals come to the United States for a variety of reasons, including tourism, business, medical treatment, and temporary work.

Nonimmigrant aliens with these visas may remain only until a predetermined date and may engage only in activities allowed for the assigned nonimmigrant classification under INA 101(a)(15). Nonimmigrant visa classification is defined by immigration law and relates to the principal purpose of travel. For an individual and or company to come to the United States lawfully as a nonimmigrant to work temporarily in the United States, a prospective employer must file a nonimmigrant visa petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Immigrant visas

Immigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals who intend to live permanently in the United States and who have a relative who is a citizen of the United States or is a lawful resident. Immigrant visas can also be granted to a prospective employers and those who have an approved petition before applying for an immigrant visa.

Employment-based immigration

Employers with U.S. immigration law legal needs may wish to sponsor skilled workers for nonimmigrant visas, including H-1B, I, E, L, O, TN, Q, R, and P visas.

Several categories of employment-based petitions can be used:

• B visas: Tourist visas
• E visas: Treaty/trader visas (E-1, E-2, and E-3)
• H-1B visas: Specialty occupation visas
• H-4 visas: Visas for dependents of H-1 visa holders
• I visas: Foreign press/media visas
• L visas: Intracompany transfer visas
• O visas: Extraordinary ability visas
• P visas: Internationally recognized athletes and entertainers
• Q visas: Visas for those participating in an international cultural exchange
• R visas: Religious worker visas
• TN visas: Visas for professionals from Canada and Mexico
• Employment Authorization Documents (EADs)
• Advance Parole

Several categories of employment-based visas are presently time-sensitive:

• E visas: Treaty/trader visas (E-1 and E-2)
• H-1B visas: Specialty occupation visas
• L visas: Intracompany transfer visas
• Employment-based green cards

Investor visas and business expansion

Businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs apply for visas to start or expand their business in the United States. These applications are made after an assessment of their goals, investment, and their timeline to develop a strategy that meets their unique circumstances.

The investor visas and business expansion visas include the following:

• E treaty/trader visas (E-1 and E-2)
• C-5 employment creation outside a targeted area
• T-5 employment creation in a targeted rural/high unemployment area
• R-5 investor pilot program not in a targeted area
• I-5 investor pilot program in a targeted area

Family-based immigration

Families may have a variety of U.S. immigration law needs. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents may wish to sponsor their spouses, fiancés, parents, and children to obtain permanent residence in the United States. These visas include the following:

• K-1, K-2, K-3, or K-4 visas for fiancé(e)s, children, and spouses of U.S. citizens

U.S. citizenship

Lawful permanent residents seeking to become U.S. citizens can apply for naturalization before the USCIS. The necessary paperwork may include the following documents:

• Naturalization applications
• Passport applications
• Consular report of birth abroad
• Certificate of citizenship

Waivers and admissibility

Foreign nationals who were previously barred (inadmissible) from the United States for different reasons, including health-related grounds of inadmissibility, prior immigration violations, and more, may need to file for immigrant and nonimmigrant waivers of inadmissibility with embassies and consulates around the world, through USCIS field offices around the United States, and through the immigration courts. These can be complicated waiver applications that require a customized strategy for each case, taking into consideration the unique circumstances to prepare the strongest possible application.

• Nonimmigrant waivers
• Immigration waivers
• Travel ban waivers

Asylum

Individuals seeking asylum in the United States use affirmative asylum processing with the USCIS.

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