Rachel Browning’s Legal Blog

        Yesterday U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the DHS would be granting deferred action for two years to widows and widowers of U.S. citizens—as well as their unmarried children under 18 years old—who reside in the United States and were married for less than two years prior to their [...]

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On Friday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a comprehensive directive on immigration and border security, requiring specific department offices and components to work together with state and local partners to review and assess the following issues and policies: criminal and fugitive aliens; legal immigration benefit backlogs; southbound gun smuggling; cooperation [...]

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One major issue many legal permanent residents (LPRs, or “green card” holders) must contend with is that of travel outside the U.S., specifically how travel abroad (for lengthy periods of time) can affect their status as permanent residents.  Often, because the process of obtaining a green card in the U.S. can last multiple years, many [...]

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This week I thought I would start a kind of “series” of blogs on some of the lesser-known visas – both immigrant (permanent) and nonimmigrant (temporary) – that are available to foreign nationals coming to the U.S. and to U.S. companies and organizations seeking to employ them.
While most individuals applying for permanent residency do so [...]

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             The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (the “Act”) allows certain foreign-born, biological and adopted children of U.S. citizens to acquire U.S. citizenship automatically. These children do not acquire U.S. citizenship at birth, but are rather, granted citizenship when they enter the United States as lawful permanent residents (LPRs).  To qualify under the terms of [...]

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