Austin Immigration News & Legal Insights

There is a wide range of attorney's fees for representing Clients in an adjustment of status process. Here's a guide for reasonable attorney's fees for different kinds of adjustment of status cases, which DO NOT INCLUDE government filings fees, medical exams or other third party expenses such as translations, passport photographs etc. MARITAL BASED ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS For the Austin area, adjustment of status cases for marital based cases should typically be between $3,000

The current estimated processing times for U Visa Cases based on USCIS published timelines and what we have seen with Clients' U Visa cases are: PHASE ONE: Bona Fide Determination/U Visa Deferred Action: 1-5 years or longer, or never. USCIS may or may NOT issue a preliminary decision for Bona Fide Determination/Deferred Action. If a preliminary decision is issued by USCIS, you may apply for a work permit (category C14 or (c)(14)), and continue renewing it until a final decisi

I-90 Renewals: 36-month automatic extension N-400 Naturalization: 24-month automatic extension I-751 Removal of Conditions: 48-month automatic extension Legal permanent residents who file to renew their green cards will receive a receipt notice that contains an automatic 36-month extension. Legal permanent residents who file for naturalization (N-400) will receive a receipt notice that contains an automatic 24-month extension, whether or not the green card is due to expire.

Although, DACA recipients may have been granted deferred action, the Department of Homeland Security, may choose to enforce a removal or deportation order or initiate removal or deportation proceedings against someone who has been order deported/removed, arrested, or convicted of a crime. Having DACA does not guarantee protection from being removed or deported. If you currently have DACA and a removal or deportation order, you should speak to an attorney to discuss legal opt

When applying for immigration benefits in the United States, applicants often notice that their name appears slightly differently on various documents. For example, a work permit may list a shortened version of a name, a green card may omit a middle name, or a certificate may reflect a different order of names. This sometimes leads to confusion about whether the government has officially changed the person’s legal name. In reality, the U.S. immigration system does not create

If you are someone who is in the U.S. in violation of U.S. immigration law and immigration officials approach you at your private dwelling (house, apartment etc.), you are NOT obligated to open the door or allow the government to enter your home without a search warrant. Even if immigration officials or the police have a warrant for your arrest, an arrest warrant does not authorize the government to enter your home without the homeowner's consent. Often times, law enforcemen

8 USC 1357 authorizes immigration officials to question anyone without a warrant about their right to be in the U.S. It also allows immigration officials to arrest anyone they have reason to believe is in the U.S. in violation of the law. Thus, ICE can interrogate and/or arrest anyone who is in the U.S illegally without a warrant. Questioning, arresting and investigating is part of the immigration law due process, which may result in someone being detained until they can prov

Anyone claiming to be from the National Visa Center requesting missing information such as a G-28 or other forms, documents or information is a scammer. Do not disclose or provide any information to anyone over the phone claiming to be a representative from the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC does not call anyone to request missing information as all of these communications are done online through the NVC website using your NVC account number, invoice number, and your r

If you have any pending criminal charges or have been convicted of a crime, you may want to consider speaking with an immigration lawyer before traveling abroad. Although everyone is proven innocent until proven guilty, traveling while a criminal case is pending could result in being detained and re-arrested if you have an active arrest warrant or if there are serious allegations. You should always keep up to date on your court appearances even if you are represented by an at