Our attorneys have worked with many clients who are U.S. citizens that want to help their spouses or family members share in the American Dream. Family-based immigration law applies to the visa application process of the spouses, children, siblings, and parents of United States citizens or legal permanent residents (LPRs). The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 provides an unlimited number of immigrant visas for immediate relatives, but other kinds of relatives will be subject to country and category limits on the number of visas that are available each year.
Immediate relatives include:
- Spouses of United States citizens
- Unmarried children of United States citizens who are under 21 years of age
- Adopted children of United States citizens who were adopted before 16 years of age
- Parents of United States citizens when United States citizens are older than 21 years of age
Family-preference immigrants, in order of preference, include:
- Unmarried sons and daughters of United States citizens and their minor children
- Spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters 21 years and older of LPRs
- Married sons and daughters of United States citizens and their spouses and children
- Brothers and sisters of United States citizens, and their spouses and minor children, when United States citizens are at least 21 years old
Foreign employees or employers need work-based visas to reside and work/operate businesses in the U.S. The United States has five categories of employment-based immigrant visas for those seeking to immigrate based on their job skills. Here’s a breakdown of all five categories:
- First Preference EB-1 visas: for noncitizens of extraordinary ability, outstanding professors or researchers, or certain multinational executives or managers
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- Second Preference EB-2 visas: for members of professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalents, or people of exceptional ability
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- Third Preference EB-3 visas: for skilled workers, professionals, or other workers performing unskilled labor requiring less than two years training or experience and not of a temporary or seasonal nature
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- Fourth Preference EB-4 visas: for special immigrants who are either religious workers, Special Immigrant Juveniles, certain types of broadcasters, certain types of retired officers, or employees of a G-4 international organization or North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-6 civilian employees and their family members, certain employees of the United States government who are abroad and their family members, members of the United States armed forces, Panama Canal company or Canal Zone government employees, certain physicians licensed and practicing medicine in a state as of January 9, 1978, Afghan or Iraqi translators or interpreters, Iraqis who were employed by or on behalf of the United States government, and Afghans who were employed by the United States government or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
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- EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program: allows investors (and their spouses and unmarried children under 21) to apply for Green Cards (permanent residence) if they make necessary investments in commercial enterprises in the United States and have plans to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified American workers.
Title 8 U.S. Code § 1227 identifies multiple classes of deportable aliens. These are some of the most common grounds for removal proceedings that we’ve handled for our clients:
- Violation of visa conditions
- Being deemed a threat to public safety
- Criminal charges, such as marriage fraud or aggravated felonies
- Staying in the U.S. without proper documentation
The process begins when United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) accuses a noncitizen of being removable. When a person is placed in deportation proceedings, they are scheduled to appear before an immigration judge who decides whether to order the person to be deported.
Other removal proceedings may include expedited removals for people who are in the United States without documentation. They may also remove those who have misrepresented material facts in order to obtain admission, or reinstate the removal of those who were ordered deported but returned to the United States without permission. After an adverse immigration decision by a judge, parties have the right to appeal.
If you are facing removal, it’s in your best interest to contact a Chicago immigration attorney as soon as you can. Our dedicated Chicago immigration attorneys work ‘round the clock to establish strong legal defenses for our clients.
Tell our immigration attorneys more about your situation so our legal team can establish the best removal defense. Our firm attorneys have won numerous deportation cases, allowing our clients to remain in the U.S. We’ve also helped clients who previously lost their cases by filing timely, detailed appeals.
Some immigrants experience unusual delays or issues with the Department of Homeland Security. Do you have a naturalization law issue that hasn’t been resolved, or has your citizenship law matter been pending for a long time? If so, it’s best to hire immigration lawyers to ask the federal courts for a decision.
Consult our immigration lawyers to find out if filing a lawsuit would be beneficial in your situation. For naturalization applications, our legal team can file a lawsuit only after 120 days have passed since your interview during the application process.
For other petitions, there are different periods that must pass before a Chicago immigration lawyer can file a lawsuit. We encourage you to contact our law firm, so we can assign an experienced immigration lawyer in Chicago, IL to your case.
