Richard A.C. Alton, P.A.
Attorney at Law
1102 East Moody Blvd.
Bunnell, FL 32110
ph: 386.586.6985
fax: 386.586.6978
Immigration Law
| Richard A.C. Alton, P.A. deals with a wide variety of complex and difficult immigration | ||||||
| matters on a daily basis. Our office prides itself on staying abreast of all of the government's | ||||||
| new regulations. As the government seeks to adapt its immigration outlook to our current | ||||||
| condition there are many things Mr. Alton cannot predict, but here is a few of the things Mr. Alton | ||||||
| does know. | ||||||
| Our office helps its clients with a wide array of non-immigrant visas, here is a sample of the | ||||||
| non-immigrant, individuals wishing to visit, work, or go to school in the United States for | ||||||
| a temporary period, visas available. | ||||||
| B-1/B-2: | This temporary visa allows foreign nationals to visit the United States for up to | |||||
| six months at a time for either limited business operations or pleasure. It is | ||||||
| important to note that you cannot work or go to college on a B-1/B-2. | ||||||
| (Take note! Haitians have over a fifty percent refusal rate for B-1/B-2 visas) | ||||||
| E-1/E-2: | Treaty Trader and Treaty Investor visas are for those foreign nationals | |||||
| wishing to invest money in the United States in order to promote trade | ||||||
| or to employ eligible United States citizen workers. | ||||||
| (Take note! Only certain countries have the requisite treaties with the U.S.) | ||||||
| F-1 | A visa designed for foreign nationals desiring to take a course for over 18 | |||||
| weeks, used by foreign nationals desiring to study at a qualified educational | ||||||
| school. | ||||||
| (Take note! Some qualified students are eligible to work in 2nd year of study) | ||||||
| H-1B | Visas for persons who are coming into the United States to work in a | |||||
| speciality occupation. | ||||||
| (Take note! There are a limited number of these visas issued each year) | ||||||
| K-1/K-3 | The visas of love and marriage, these visas are designed to allow | |||||
| a United States citizen to bring in their fiancé or spouse. | ||||||
| L-1 | The L-1 is for intercompany transferees who have been employed for at | |||||
| least one out of the last three years for a foreign company, that now wishes | ||||||
| for the transferee to operate out of a branch office in the United States. | ||||||
| (Take note! L-1 allows for a start up branch office) | ||||||
| O-1 | This visa is tailored for foreign nationals with extraordinary ability in | |||||
| the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. | ||||||
| TN | The Trade NAFTA visa applies to nationals of Canada and Mexico, and | |||||
| allows visa holders to work in the United States. | ||||||
| (Take note! TN's for Canadians require less documentary evidence) | ||||||
| Richard A.C. Alton, P.A. also assists its clients in adjusting their status to that of a Lawful | ||||||
| Permanent Resident, more commonly called the Green Card. | ||||||
Family Based Immigration Preference Categories
Immediate Just as the name applies those who qualify as immediate relatives are immediately Relative: eligible to file for their Green Card. Immediate relatives include the spouse, children and parents of a United States citizen. (Take note! Those spouses who enter without inspection may not qualify as an Immediate relative) Unmarried Those sons and daughters of United States citizens who are now over Son or Daughter the age of twenty one and are unmarried no longer qualify as immediate of U.S. Citizens: relatives and fall into the first preference catergory. (Take note! Your child may qualify under the Child Status Protection Act) Spouse of a Marriage to a Lawful Permanent Resident will place you in the Lawful second preference category. To move to an immediate relative, the Lawful Permanent Permanent Resident spouse needs to naturalize. Resident: Married Son or Those sons or daughter of United States citizens who are married fall into Daughter of a the third preference category. They are eligible to apply for the Green Card, but U.S. Citizen: face longer delays. Sibling of a U.S. The final preference category for family based immigration are the brothers and Citizen sisters of United States Citizens. (Take note! Some nationals face longer delays based on their country of origin) Employment Based Immigration Preference Categories
Immigration through employment can result in a variety of ways and each method contains very unique requirements. Employment based immigration is extremely multifacted and requires through preparation. With that said however many employment based applications follow a three step process termed P.E.R.M. 1. The first step is receive a certification from the Department of Labor acknowleding that the sponsoring employer has a position open that no eligible worker in the United States can fill. 2. The second step is to receive approval from the Department of Homeland Security acknowledging that the select foreign national can fill the position offered by the sponsoring employer and that sponsoring employer can pay the proffered wage. 3. Once the priority date becomes current with the Department of State the foreign national is eligible to file for the Green Card. Seems easy and straight forward however, the simple fact that these applications are very lengthy and require extreme detail. There are several preference categories for Employment Based immigration EB-1 Priority Workers: These foreign nationals must either have extraordinary abilities, be an outstanding professor, or intercompany transferee managers and executives. (Take note! The L-1 is one of the few visas that can lead to the Green Card) EB-2 Advance Degree Professionals or Exceptional Ability: These foreign nationals must have exceptional abilities, an advance degree, or some doctors serving in qualifying areas. EB-3 Skilled or Professional Workers: Foreign nationals with a bachelor's degree, a minimum two years of training, and unskilled workers fall into this category. EB-4 Special Immigrants: Former U.S. government employees and foreign religious workers fall into this final preference category. The final employment based category is more commonly referred to as the Jumbo Visa. EB-5 To qualify the foreign national entrepeneur will need to invest $1,000,000 in a commercial enterprise which creates at least ten full time jobs. (Take note! At the time of this update Palm Coast qualifies for the lesser $500,000 investment based on it being a region of high unemployment.) Immigration Court
Unfortunately some of our clients find themselves in removal proceedings. Removal proceedings are a series of adminstrative hearings designed to remove a foreign national or Lawful Permanent Resident from the United States. It is not the end of the road for our clients however, as there are many forms of relief available in the Immigration Court. A few of those forms of relief are Cancellation of Removal, Asylum, Adjustment of Status, and Voluntary Departure. Richard A.C. Alton, P.A. reviews each case in depth before advising the client as to whether they should retain our services for representation. In order to help viewers our website here are some helpful terms to keep in mind as your traverse the often difficult path of U.S. immigration. Petitioner: The Petitioner is the U.S. or Lawful Permanent Resident who sponsors their relative's immigrant petition. The Petitioner also can be the sponsoring employer. Beneficiary: The foreign national receiving the benefit of an application. Overstay: A foreign national is considered an overstay when she makes a lawful entry into the United States and then stays beyond the time allowed on her visa. EWI: An acronym that stands for Entering Without Inspection and referes to foreign nationals who did not make a valid entry into the United States. Unlawful If a foreign national spends over 180 days in the United States without status Presence: they face the 3 year bar from ever returning to the United States if they depart. If the foreign national spends over 1 year without status they face the 10 year bar. Priority Date: A priority date is assigned to each approved family and employment based immigrant application. That priority date controls when the beneficiary can apply for the Green Card. 245(i) If a beneficiary has an immigrant based application filed on their behalf before 4/30/2001 which was approvable at the time, they can now file for the Green Card if eligible to do so.
1102 East Moody Blvd.
Bunnell, FL 32110
ph: 386.586.6985
fax: 386.586.6978
