by Justin Tollefsen | Jan 8, 2015 | Immigration
USCIS Issues Fliers About Executive Actions on Immigration Immigration services has just released the first official rules for the President’s new immigration programs. (en Español as well!) They are providing the first concrete rules of what the President proposed last November. Among the highlights: DACA applicants can now be any age, instead of being limited to those born after June 15, 1981. So if you’re 34 or older, you can now apply for DACA as well. Our first solid rules governing who can apply for DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of American citizens and legal permanent residents), such as their children having to be born before November 20, 2014 and that the parents need to have continuously resided here in the states since January 1, 2010. An expansion of the Provisional Waiver for Unlawful Presence program to people related to lawful permanent residents (Previously, the program only applied to people related to US citizens). A promise to work on the work Visa system to clarify and provide guidance for businesses and applicants. It’s all very exciting news. I can’t wait to learn more about these programs as they start to come online. (Remember: the expanded DACA doesn’t open up for applicants until late- February and DAPA won’t open until late May). In the mean time, talk with a lawyer about what you can do to get ready to...
by Justin Tollefsen | Nov 14, 2014 | Blog, Federal Law, Immigration
The number one thing that I tell my clients who come to me with immigration matters is this: Have patience. It is the first rule of handling an immigration matter. I say this because not a lot of people know just how long the process can be to get a visa or to get a hearing time. It’s common for immigration matters to take a minimum of a year to resolve, whether it’s waiting to hear back about an application or to have your hearing date set to get out of detention. And those are ideal scenarios! for some people, they’ve been waiting 20 years for a green card. Why is this? What has caused such a backlog of immigration work? I think there are three reasons: Immigration is a massive segment of the US Government, the entities that make it up have been underfunded for years, and congress has limited the number of people that can be admitted each year. Immigration is a truly massive entity in the Federal bureaucracy. The three big organizations, USCIS, USICE, and USCBP have a combined budget of $12 Billion dollars and employ more than 96,000 people. They are in charge of 57 immigration courts, monitor 8,000 miles of our borders, and naturalized more than 1.4 million people in the last two years alone. Entities this large have many layers of management and require more time to accomplish tasks than smaller entities. Added on to this is the fact that these are also public organizations, whose oversight by Congress adds another layer of decision making that most private entities don’t have to deal...
by Timothy David Knowles | Apr 24, 2013 | Blog, Business Law, Entrepreneurship, Immigration
Mr. Knowles is an EB-5 immigration attorney who works with Tollefsen Law from time to time on EB-5 projects. He can be reached at (360) 933-1612. Contact Tollefsen Law regarding potential EB-5 project What is EB-5 Capital? The Immigration Act of 1990, as amended, permits foreign nationals to earn a green card (permanent resident visa) for themselves and their immediate family by investing a minimum of $500,000 in a qualifying business enterprise that will create 10 new U.S. jobs or save 10 existing jobs. Regulations permit the State Department to issue 10,000 EB-5 visas each year in this category. Investors approved by USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) receive a conditional green card, that requires them to make a subsequent filing within 21 – 24 months of landing in the U.S. The filing must prove that the Investor sustained the investment, and that the investment created the 10 jobs required. Regional Center is an investment promotion entity (public, private or non-profit) approved by USCIS to offer qualifying investment opportunities in a defined geographic area, in specific industrial/commercial categories, that comply with the EB-5 program. There are now over 125 approved regional centers in the U.S. In FY 2009-10, 1274 EB-5 petitions were approved by USCIS generating $700 million in project investment. It is projected that as much as $1 billion in investment dollars will flow into the U.S. through this program in FY 2010-11. Jobs may be created directly (actual employees employed by the recipient of the invested capital) OR indirectly (the direct, indirect and induced employment impact as measured by an econometric study) if invested through a regional...
