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Beach-Oswald is a full-service law firm, concentrating
on immigration law. We have special expertise in work visas, family
based visas, visa waivers, green cards through family and employment
and asylum. We have staff members who speak many different languages
to assist you.
We succeed
when others don't!
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Major Changes for
Religious Worker Visas
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 The new rule for the religious (R-1) visa program is
designed to detect and deter fraud and maintain the integrity of the religious
worker program.
There are two major changes to the religious visa program.
(1) Previously,
religious workers were able to request an R-1 visa at a consular post
without USCIS reviewing the job offer or the religious organization
where the applicant planned to work. The new rule, however, requires
USCIS to verify that the job offer and the petitioning organization
are legitimate before a religious visa can be issued. Therefore,
applicants will now need to provide an approved Petition for Alien Worker
(Form I-129) at their consular post before a visa will be issued to
them.
(2) The new rule
also reduces the period of admission to 30 months instead of three
years. The religious workers will be allowed to extend their visas
one time for up to 30 additional months.
If you would like to find out more about how to obtain a religious
worker visa, please schedule a consultation with one of our
attorneys.
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Honduran TPS
Beneficiaries Will Have Their EADs Automatically Renewed
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 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has come to
the realization that it will not be able to process and re-issue new
Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for those Hondurans taking
advantage of the extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Therefore, rather than have Honduran applicants follow the normal
procedure of filing for an extension of their EAD, DHS announced that
it will automatically extend the EAD's by their January 5, 2009
expiration date for all Honduran nationals that have been granted TPS
until July 5, 2009.
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Virginia Softening Its Stance on Immigration
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 A recent article in the Washington Post points out
that Virginia,
which has been notorious for its hostility toward illegal immigrants,
may be softening its views. A statewide survey revealed that 44% of
Virginians surveyed believe that illegal immigrants should be allowed
to become citizens if they're employed (29% oppose citizenship for
illegal immigrants). The attitude is also apparent in the outcome of
the recent elections - 10 out of 13 House Republicans who lost their
seats were fervently opposed to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Furthermore, the Virginia Commission on Immigration, which was tasked
with studying immigration for over a year in order to make policy
recommendations for the state, is going to recommend that the
Virginia "offer more English classes, make it easier for
immigrants to receive Medicaid benefits and offer in-state college
tuition rates to qualifying immigrants." The Commission has
rejected anti-immigrant proposals that have been popular in the past,
such as the proposal to require immigrants to carry special
identification cards. Click here to read the full Washington Post
article.
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Tips for Prospective
Adoptive Parents
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In honor of
National Adoption Awareness Month, USCIS has published a reminder on
their website, reminding prospective adoptive parents that all
adoptions from foreign countries now need to comply with the rules of
the Hague Convention, which went into effect on April 1, 2008. If
adopting a child from a country that is a party to the Hague
Convention, prospective parents will need to file Form I-800A
(Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a
Convention Country) and then Form I-800 (Petition to Classify
Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative). Although more than 1300
adoption applications have been received since the Hague Treaty went into effect,
USCIS has noted that a majority of the applications were incomplete,
requiring prospective parents to submit additional documents and thus
significantly delaying the adoption process. Therefore, if you are
planning to adopt a child internationally, we urge you to carefully
review all of the requirements before submitting the necessary
paperwork. The USCIS website has some helpful resources: click here
for the Frequently Asked Questions on international adoptions.
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Immigration Reform
Will Be a Top Priority for Lawmakers
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 According to a recent report from the Immigration Policy Center,
both Democrats and Republicans have signaled that they are dedicated
to addressing immigration issues, and it looks like comprehensive
immigration reform will be a priority for the 111th Congress. Voters
have also shown their dedication to immigration reform -- in 19 out
of 21 "battleground" races, the House and Senate seats were
won by candidates that were pro-immigration reform as opposed to
those who were pro-enforcement only. To read the article click here.
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The
information contained on this email is for informational
purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The transmission
of information to or from this email does not create an
attorney-client relationship between the sender and receiver. We take
our privacy policy seriously and will never sell, rent or share our
email list. View our Privacy Policy here. To schedule a consultation
with one of our immigration lawyers, please click here.
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Expedited Processing of Work Authorization
Applications Pending at NSC
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The Nebraska Service Center (NSC) has recently
announced that it will accept requests to expedite the processing of
an Employment Authorization Application (Form I-765) if the
application has been pending for 75 days or more.
If you have an I-765 application that has been pending at the NSC for
75 days or more, please call one of our experienced attorneys so that
an expedite request can be made on your behalf. Click here to schedule an
appointment.
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Obama Appoints New Immigration Leaders
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President-Elect
Obama has named Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (D) to be the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary. Immigrant advocates,
including the Immigration
Policy Center, are applauding the
selection of Napolitano, believing that she will reverse policies
that unnecessarily punish illegal immigrants. Click here to read the Washington Post article
about Ms. Napolitano's nomination.
Barack Obama has also appointed two immigration
experts to head the Immigration Policy Working Group - T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Dean of the Georgetown
University Law Center
and Executive Vice President of Georgetown
University, and Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, a
professor at Stanford
Law School.
The Immigration Policy Working Group is one of seven policy working
groups that will be charged with developing policy proposals and
plans to fix our nation's immigration system during the Obama-Biden
administration. To find out more, click here.
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