John Valdez’s Legal Blog

Every once in a while, a little good luck finds its way to immigrants.  On April 18, 2008, F-1 students seeking H-1B visas received a pleasant surprise when the USCIS announced that it would allow student winners of the H-1B lottery to request a change of status instead of leaving the country for consular processing.
In […]

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Few announcements garner attention as regularly as the monthly release of the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin.  Thousands of foreign nationals anxiously look forward to its publication with longing eyes that sometimes find joyful news; other times, news leading to continuing dispair.  But just what is this all important bulletin? 
To understand the Visa Bulletin, one must have an idea of our […]

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My wife and I love to do everything we can to make our daughter happy, healthy, and well-educated.  When she was born 10 years ago, we gladly put aside many of the things we loved to do together because we had a new order of preferences.  Parties, dances, and romantic get-aways were set aside for Disney movies, children […]

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“A good person follows the law” seems like a reasonable maxim; but what if the good person cannot find it! 
I think this is an especially good question for those trying to navigate the immigration laws without counsel.  The Immigration Code is second only to the IRS code in length, which in itself makes it difficult to find particular immigration laws.  Making […]

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The recently released joint statement from the USCIS and FBI on a plan to eliminate delays on immigration applications caused by FBI name checks contains a good deal of backslapping for the two agencies.  UCSIS Director Emilio Gonzalez says of the plan: 
“This plan of action is the product of a strong partnership between USCIS and the FBI to […]

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