Immigration

Applicants for citizenship must meet several including residency requirements. Applicants usually must live in the US for five continuous years before they can apply for citizenship. Qualified spouses must live in the US for at least three continuous years. Continuous residence means that the applicant stayed in the country. Applicants who leave the country during…

There are many different types of visas that foreigners can seek to enter the United States for a short term or permanently. Each type of visa has its own set of requirements. The main types of immigration visas that Tennessee residents seek for relatives are immediate relative visas and family sponsored visas. Immigrant visas available…

The immigration concerns for undocumented immigrants are now extending to sponsors for undocumented children. According to Vice News, Matthew Albence, an official for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stated recently that there is a new joint memo between ICE and the US Department of Health and Human Services. That memo is an agreement, backed…

According to the American Immigration Council, non-citizens who are either discovered by, or appear before, a U.S. official “at a port of entry or near the border can be deported quickly in an ‘expedited removal’ process.” The United States is required to comply with domestic and international laws which gives asylum seekers the right to…

President Trump has substantially expanded the leeway federal immigration officers have to aggressively enforce the country’s immigration laws. The Obama administration deported some 2.7 million people over an eight-year period, but then the focus was on recent immigrants detained at the border and undocumented individuals who were convicted of serious crimes. The previous administration generally…

Undocumented workers encounter numerous challenges on a day-to-day basis. Many times they face the fear of losing their livelihood and worse – separation from their families. The difficult process of not knowing what to do in the face of potential detection by immigration authorities hangs over their heads. Understand, even if you are not a…

Now, President Trump appoints the Secretary of Homeland Security, the U.S. government department over Citizenship & Immigration Services (CIS), Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). During the 2016 presidential election campaign, then-candidate Trump uttered harsh words about immigration and immigrants. When he became President, he has followed through on his…

In the U.S., certain countries are designated as Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The designation is awarded when circumstances make it impossible to guarantee that foreign nationals could return to their home country safely. The Secretary of Homeland Security makes or removes the designation. The Secretary may designate a country for TPS due to the following…

Deportation means being returned or sent back from the U.S. to your home country. American citizens cannot be deported; however, if a person born in a foreign country fraudulently obtained his or her citizenship, he or she can be deported. Undocumented immigrants (those who entered the U.S. illegally) are subject to being deported at any…

A “sanctuary city” is not a precise legal term. A city’s residents typically do not vote to designate their city a “sanctuary city,” but its leader can. A city, town or county (or, in the case of California, a state) is designated as a “sanctuary” because it directs (or asks) local law enforcement not to…