Employment Visas

Starting on July 1, 2007 all individuals who have obtained Labor Certifications an apply for green cards immediately. We can help you obtain a Labor Certification and green card.

The application must include:

1. Proof that lawful status has been maintained but all 245(i) beneficiaries may file now;
2. Birth certificate;
3. Passport photos;
4. Medicals;
5. Federal income taxes and earning records;
6. Employment letter from sponsoring employer.

Please call us for more info rmation and a free case evaluation.

This means all applicants are entitled to file for permission to work including their spouses and children. After 180 days, an applicant may shift his/her employer provided the employment is in the same or in a similar field of work.

CHILD PROTECTION ACT

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), enacted on August 6, 2002 offers way for children who reach their majority (21) to still in various cases obtain their residence. A child is an unmarried person under 21 years of age.

Before, a child could not obtain permanent residence if he/she reached 21 before the parent became a resident. Now the system has changed so that a child may benefit depending on how the parents obtain residence. There are 4 categories for children to qualify in spite of their reaching 21:

1. Derivative beneficiaries of asylum or refugee applicants;
2. Children of U.S. citizens;
3. Children of permanent residents;
4. Derivative beneficiaries of family based on employment or diversity visa applicants.

ASYLEES AND REFUGEES

A child’s age is fixed on the date a parent files the asylum or refugee application even though the child may be older than 21 when the case is finally finished. When a child is in the U.S. the child may be included in the parent’s application and thus the child will obtain permanent residence at the same time as the parent even though the child is over 21 when the application is approved.

If the child is outside the U.S., the parent may still claim the child by filing a refugee/asylum relative petition within 2 years of the grant to the parent of asylum, if the child was under the age of 21 when the asylum application was first filed, and the parent has been granted asylum prior to August 6, 2002 and the child has turned 21 prior to August 6, 2002, then the child may come even though the child is over 21.

IMMEDIATE RELATIVE ‘ CHILD OF U.S. CITIZEN

The age of a child is fixed as of the date the parent filed the alien relative petition for the child. If the child is unmarried, the child will retain the status of a child even though the petition is not adjudicated until the child is over 21. If a permanent resident petitions for a child under 21, and thereafter becomes a citizen, the child’s age will be fixed on the date the parent is naturalized. If a United States parent petitions for a married son or daughter and the marriage becomes legally terminated, the age of the child will be fixed on the date of the termination of the marriage.

Lastly if the child has a child, the child of the citizen may decline to be an immediate relative and come under the 1 st preference, if the priority date is available, so as to bring his/her children as derivative beneficiaries since immediate relatives do not have this right.

CHILD OF A PERMANENT RESIDENT OR THE CHILD OF A FAMILY – EMPLOYMENT BASED, OR DIVERSITY BASED VISA

The age of a child of the above category is fixed when the visa priority petition becomes current less the days the petition has been pending provided the beneficiary applies to be a permanent resident within one year of the date the visa becomes available. The calculation is a follows:

1. The child’s age when a visa number becomes available;
2. Subtract from the child’s age the period of time the petition has been pending;
3. Did the beneficiary apply for permanent residence within one year of the visa availability date.

If you need help or advise, call us at (212)944-9420.

Our assistance is only a phone call, or e-mail communication away!