PRACTICE AREAS

Family Based Immigration

Employment Based Petitions and Labor Certification (PERM)

Consular Visa Practice

Work and Student Visas

Naturalization and U.S. Citizenship

Asylum Law

Deportation and Removal Defense

Detention and Bond

Vehicle Seizures

Green Card Lottery Applications

FAMILY BASED IMMIGRATION   >Top

Foreigners with relatives in the United States may be able to acquire permanent residence through these relationships. The relationships that can lead to permanent residence can be divided into two categories: immediate relative and preference categories.

Immediate Relatives   >Top

The immediate relative category refers to the spouse, parents, and children of United States citizens. A child is defined as a person under age 21 who is unmarried and is a natural child or adopted child as long as the adoption took place before the child turned 16. Stepchildren, children of a spouse, are also immediate relatives if the marriage of their parent and stepparent took place before they reached age 18. Visas are immediately available for those in these relationships and as a result application for permanent residence can be made without any waiting. Upon filing the alien can receive employment authorization - a work permit. There is still an additional wait until an interview and the actual granting of a permanent resident visa.

In addition to immediate relatives, there are four preference categories. They are:   >Top

1st Preference: Unmarried sons and daughters of citizens. A son or daughter is distinguishable from a child as a child is less than 21 years old and a son or daughter is 21 years old or older.

2nd Preference:

2A: Spouses and children of permanent residents

2B: Unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residents

3rd Preference: Married sons and daughters of citizens

4th Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult citizens. An adult citizen is one who is at least 21 years of age.   >Top

The preference categories are subject to limitations on the number who can immigrate each year. This results in wait lists that vary from between two and twenty-one years depending on the preference category and the country from which the family comes. The wait lists are much longer in some categories for Mexicans and Filipinos than for persons from the rest of the world. In the Links section, a link to the Visa Bulletin, provided by the Department of State, is provided which shows the dates being processed in the various preference categories.

A curious wrinkle in the law is that a person immigrating or adjusting status in a preference category can bring his spouse and children with him at the time of immigrating or they can adjust status with him, procedures referred to as "accompanying" or "following to join" the principal immigrant alien, while an immediate relative cannot. Thus, should a United States citizen petition to immigrate his father (an immediate relative) and stepmother (who married the father after the child turned 18) and children of the father, to the United States, the father can immigrate without any wait (other than processing times) but the stepmother and the children will then have to be petitioned for by the father once he immigrates. In contrast, if a United States citizen petitions for his brother, a preference category, once the brother's visa is current, the brother can immigrate accompanied by his wife and children.   >Top

A study of the preference categories leads to certain realizations. A permanent resident cannot bring his or her parents to the United States as permanent residents. A permanent resident cannot bring his or her married children to the United States. Finally, while a permanent resident can bring his or her spouse and children to the United States, there will be a wait of at least five years to do so.

Before any relative can immigrate to the United States, the relative is screened to insure that he or she is admissible. Having committed certain crimes, drug arrests or use, and certain conduct contrary to the immigration laws render a person ineligible to obtain permanent residence. A careful review of a person's life, immigration history, and criminal history is necessary before deciding to obtain permanent residence for the relative. In addition, the petitioner, the citizen or permanent resident requesting that the foreign relative be permitted to obtain permanent residence must demonstrate the ability to support the foreign relative. The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and Department of State require that particular forms, affidavits of support, be filed and documents provided to prove financial ability to support a relative. The petitioner must also show that he or she will reside in the United States at the time the relative is being granted the permanent residence visa.   >Top

Attaining permanent residence can be done two ways, either in the United States if the relative is in the United States through a process called adjustment of status or through a United States Consulate abroad, in a process referred to as immigrating. There are many questions that need to be examined before determining which option is available, including whether the foreign relative is in the United States or abroad, whether the relative is lawfully in the United States, whether the relative entered the United States lawfully, and whether the relative has ever left the United States. Because of a series of strict rules that came into effect on April 1, 1997, if a person has been in the United States and accrues unlawful presence (another technical term) of more than 180 days and departs the United States, he or she may be barred from coming back for a substantial period. Further, if a person entered the United States without inspection and no one ever petitioned for him in the past, the past date varying as Congress moves it up from time to time, he or she will be barred from adjusting status in the United States. Thus, there are situations where a foreign relative is both unable to adjust status in the United States and unable to immigrate through a United States Consulate. A careful analysis should be made before making any decisions about whether to choose immigration or adjustment of status and deciding whether or not to come to the United States or to depart the United States to obtain a visa abroad. A link provides additional information regarding labor certifications courtesy of the U.S. Department of Labor.    >Top

EMPLOYMENT BASED PETITIONS AND RIR LABOR CERTIFICATIONS   >Top

Employment Based Visas   >Top

In addition to obtaining permanent residence through relatives, it is often possible to obtain permanent residence through employment or special abilities and skills. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for obtaining permanent residence through a process referred to as Labor Certification. In addition, permanent resident visas without going through the labor certification process are available for three categories of workers it calls "priority workers," aliens of extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers.

Labor Certification (PERM)  >Top

Most foreign nationals who secure permanent residence through their work do so with job offers. When one has a firm job offer, a labor certification is first required in order to obtain legal, permanent residence. The labor certification demonstrates that: a valid job exists; that there are no qualified, able and available U.S. workers to fill the position based on duties and requirements that we delineate; and that the hiring of the foreign worker will not negatively affect the US labor market.  The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), independent of the Citizenship and Immigration and Services (CIS, legacy INS) grants the labor certification. Upon approval of the labor certification, it is submitted to CIS (and possibly the Department of State, DOS) as the basis for permanent residency.

The application process has dramatically changed as a result of "PERM". This new process condenses to 90 days what used to be a six month to three-year process of the first step toward permanent residence. Time frames and recruitment requirements will no longer vary as they do, depending on where the case is filed. The regulations for the first time mandate a decision by the government in 90 days and specify the types of advertising and other recruitment types and amounts. The form can be electronically filed and does not change the substance of existing labor certification work "behind the scenes". If anything, there is more work as the form is much longer, and each question relates to a specific issue of law. But it makes the processing far more consistent and concrete. For the past two and a half years, we have been living with the prospects of a proposed PERM regulation that was far more restrictive than existing case processing systems. The final PERM regulation is more generous than any system, past or proposed. This makes life much clearer for case processing. Not only shortening the processing time, the recruitment time frame before filing is also condensed, and may be completed in as short as two months, compared to the six months under the old Reduction in Recruitment rule. 

The electronic form, the Application for Permanent Employment Certification, Form ETA 9089 combines two former forms by including both employer and employee information. The old forms were four pages. The PERM form is 10 pages. The form will not be signed until it is received back from the Department of Labor, before filing with the CIS. In general, the form consists of the details of the employer, the job offer, and minimum requirements for a qualified person to engage in the position (education, experience and any special required knowledge, skills, use of tools, etc.), the recruitment done, prevailing wage information (which is a minimal wage required to be paid for a particular case), and information about the alien personally and his/her qualifications for the position offered. 

As mentioned above, the principle object of the labor certification is to ensure that the alien will not displace any U.S. workers. For this reason, the application requires the employer to conduct pre-filing recruitment for the position. No longer will the DOL, after much work and time, be able to say that the recruitment was insufficient, so long as the employer advertises, as rules require. The position will be advertised in two Sunday newspaper ads and a job order will be posted in your state's employment services website. In addition to these two means, other recruitment may be necessary, depending on whether the job is professional or not. Professional jobs will require an addition three types of recruitment such as job fair, on campus recruiting, employer website posting, ad with a trade or professional organization, job search website, employee referral program and local or ethnic newspaper. When the employer can demonstrate that no U.S. worker is qualified for the position and that the job offered otherwise meets DOL regulations, a labor certification is issued. A great benefit of PERM allows unskilled jobs which there was viewed as in abundance in the job market to be the subject of labor certification. In the past, certain positions could not be certified at all. Now, all jobs in the U.S. are certifiable. However, just like before under the old Labor Certification system as well as RIR, in all cases, the employer must demonstrate that it is offering the employer the prevailing market rate AND that he/she or it has the “ability” to pay that wage.  

The underlying work that the attorney handles has become more time consuming under PERM. However, PERM simplifies the paperwork that the government receives. The form acts as an attestation rather than filing extensive proof of fulfilling the requirements. Instead, the documentation will be maintained at the employer's place of business, ready in the event of an audit. The PERM regulation will be enforced by audit. Approximately 20% of cases are anticipated to be audited for cause and at random. If a case is audited, a response must be submitted in 30 days. The recruitment report, evidence of the recruitment methods, resumes of job applicants, criteria for rejecting US workers, information about the employer's business, the need for any special requirements that require justification, and the like, submitted under the old rules will have to be provided along with other extensive documentation to back up what was attested to on the form. As a result of the deadline, an attorney can prepare cases in anticipation of audit. This is necessary as there will be little time to submit everything to the government. If a timely response is not received, the employer will be considered to have refused to exhaust administrative remedies and no review, whether administrative or judicial is possible. Also, at the discretion of the Certifying Officer, the Employer may also be required to conduct supervised recruitment for any future labor certification filings for up to two years. Upon submission of the back up documentation, either the certification will issue, or it is possible that no certification will issue. Additional recruitment may be required. One labor certification is required per employee. We first analyze the job offer as compared to the alien's background, articulate the minimum education, experience and any special requirements for the position, and obtain the prevailing wage for the appropriate job offer from the State Workforce Agency. Recruitment is done, the back up documentation prepared and retained by the employer, and the case, is electronically submitted.

There are many thousands of cases left over from the regular labor certification and RIR processes that could affect processing times of those cases. It is possible to re-file a new PERM case for an identical pending case. Pending cases have been relegated to Backlog Reduction Centers, which, in anticipation of PERM were created to handle and bring up to speed, existing cases. With attention on PERM though, it is unclear that reduction will occur quickly on pending cases. It is currently anticipated that it will take 24 - 30 months for cases to clear through backlog reduction. Pending labor certification cases could actually take longer with PERM. Also, there is a law referred to as section 245(i) that created a bubble of cases in April 2001 that we are now seeing are beginning to oversubscribe immigrant visa availability. That means that as time goes on, over the next 10 or so years, as I predict, while a PERM labor certification part of a person's case will go quickly, things will bog down in time at CIS. This is because there are a limited number of immigrant visas available annually. When supply is outstripped by demand, a person must wait until his/her "priority date" (filing date of the labor certification) to become available again. We have seen retrogression begin in the Employment Based, Third Category (EB-3) already. The EB-3 category has become “unavailable”, but should be “current” again in the beginning of the government’s new fiscal year 2006 (which starts on October 1, 2005). How much time the EB-3 category will remain “current” after that date, before it is backlogged again – “current” again cannot be known as the problem with oversubscribed priority dates in the future is only just beginning. The negative affect of retrogression is that permanent residence cannot be approved until visa numbers become available. This can sometimes be a period of protracted years. In most cases, however, people pending EB-3 petitions will be able to renew their Non-Immigrant visas or status, on a yearly basis, until their category becomes current again and they can adjust to permanent residence (green card.)

What happens after a labor certification is certified?

After labor certification approval, there are two more applications: the petition to Immigration Service (CIS), and the acquisition of green card status by adjustment of status through the CIS or visa processing through the DOS at an Embassy or Consulate abroad. The petition affirms the relationship between the employer and the employee: that the employer is capable of hiring the employee in a permanent fulltime position through a showing of other payroll employees and financial viability to hire the alien and that the employee qualifies for the position by meeting or exceeding the requirements for the job on the labor certification. The adjustment of status in the U.S. or visa processing from abroad qualifies the alien as one who is admissible for immigration and consideration of a person's health (communicable diseases make a person inadmissible), criminal record, likelihood to become a public charge, and such are examined.

Priority Worker Visas   >Top

Permanent resident visas are available without going through the labor certification process are available for three categories of workers the immigration law calls "priority workers," aliens of extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers.

Aliens of Extraordinary Ability   >Top

Aliens of extraordinary ability is a category for foreigners who have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation. A person of extraordinary caliber eligible for this type of visa does not need to have an employer to sponsor him, but must demonstrate that he intends to continue his or her work in which he or she is extraordinary in the United States and that the person's presence in the United States will be of future benefit to the United States.

Outstanding professors and researchers is a category for foreigners recognized internationally as outstanding with three years of experience. They are able to become permanent residents based on an employment offer from a university or institution of higher learning on a tenure track, a research position at a university or institution of higher learning, or a private employer with a research department that employs at least three persons full time to conduct research and has achieved documented accomplishments in an academic field.   >Top

Certain multinational executives refers to foreigners who have worked for one year of the last three years for a foreign corporation or other legal entity as a manager or executive and will work for a United States affiliate or subsidiary owned by the same person or persons as the foreign business organization.

Foreigners who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability may also be eligible for visas. This category provides permanent resident visas for foreigners who are professionals and have advanced degrees. In addition aliens who have exceptional ability in the science, arts, or businesses are potentially eligible for this visa. Foreigners seeking this type of visa must show that they will substantially benefit the United States economy, cultural or educational interests, or the welfare of the United States. Though the visa requires a job offer, a National Interest Waiver is available if an alien can demonstrate that his presence is in the national interest, the employment requirement can be waived. While in the past this type of visa was granted quite often, changes in the policy of the CIS has made it more difficult to receive this type of visa. The CIS has indicated that it prefers that foreigners seek visas through the labor certification process.

Investor Visas   >Top

Also excused from the labor certification process are foreigners who invest money in the United States may be able to obtain permanent resident visas through these investments. Temporary or nonimmigrant visas based on investment or business are discussed in the section Work and Student Visas in the discussion of E-1 and E-2 visas. Foreigners must be willing to invest $1 million dollars in the United States in a new commercial enterprise or a troubled business and must create full-time employment for ten U.S. workers. The permanent resident visa is issued conditionally. After two years, upon showing that the investment was established and in continuous operation during the applicable period, the condition will be removed. The $1 million amount is not fixed. The Immigration Service has the discretion to lower the amount to $500,000 for "targeted employment areas" (rural and high unemployment areas) and $3 million in "high employment areas."

Because of the inflexibility in this type of visa, the lengthy processing times, strict requirements regarding putting the money at risk, and hard-to-prove requirements regarding proving the source of funds, very few are approved each year and it is not a recommended first-choice for an avenue to seek to immigrate to the United States.   >Top

CONSULAR VISA PRACTICE   >Top

Foreigners wishing to apply for a variety of non-immigrant visa categories (or to renew them), including F-1 & M-1 Student; H-1B Professional Worker; R-1 Religious Worker, L-1 Multinational Executive, etc., have the option to apply for a visa directly to U.S. consulates located in either Canada or Mexico, without the need to return to their country of residence. We assist those clients with a full range of non-immigrant visa application options at U.S. Consulates in either Canada or Mexico, with monthly attorney accompanied visa application trips to U.S. Consulates in Canada and Mexico. Our office also files E-1 Treaty Trader and E-2 Treaty Investor visa applications with U.S. consulates around the world.

WORK AND STUDENT VISAS   >Top

NATURALIZATION AND U.S. CITIZENSHIP   >Top

Naturalization   >Top

A foreigner who has had permanent residence for five years is often eligible to apply for naturalization and thus become a United States citizen. However, not all permanent residents are eligible to naturalize. Care must be taken to insure that there are no criminal problems, conduct problems, or issues regarding absences that will lead a person to be denied naturalization or worse, to be placed in removal proceedings because of absences, criminal activity, or improper conduct. In such cases, a person would be better off not applying to naturalize. If a permanent resident is married to a United States citizen, the wait from the time of becoming a permanent resident to applying to naturalize may be less than five years, and as little as three years if the permanent resident is married to a United States citizen and was married to the United States citizen when he became a permanent resident. Special procedures exist for naturalizing the children of United States citizens.

Citizenship   >Top

A person born in the United States is a citizen from birth. In addition, however, citizenship can be conferred at birth through parentage. If a foreign born person's parent or parents are citizens, it is possible that the person is a citizen from birth. Much depends on the residence of the parents before the birth of the child, whether it is the mother or father or both who are citizens when the child is born, what year the child was born, whether the parents were married when the child was born, and other factors as well. If a person is born of a citizen parent, it is worthwhile to analyze the relationships to determine whether the person may be a United States citizen. Further, contrary to popular conception, marrying a United States citizen does not confer citizenship, nor does being adopted by a United States citizen confer citizenship. Adoptees and their adoptive parents need to be careful to analyze the immigration status of their adopted children and to take steps to insure that the children are present in the United States in lawful status and become citizens, if that is the parents' goal. Insuring that your adopted child is a United States citizen is very important because of the harsh consequences to non-citizens of illegal conduct that can lead to being placed in removal proceedings. Children who celebrated or will celebrate their 18th birthdays before February 27, 2001, who are lawful permanent residents, and who have a parent with whom they have lived who is a United States citizen, are automatically United States citizens. Proof of citizenship can be obtained form the CIS or by obtaining a passport.

Military Naturalization   >Top

A foreign national who has served in the United States military during a period of military hostilities on active duty and was discharged under honorable conditions is often eligible to naturalize. Vietnam War and Gulf War service are considered wartime service. So is service in the war on terrorism. The foreigner need not have served where the war was being fought to qualify. Certain crimes may bar a service member from applying for naturalization if they were committed after November 29, 1990. Further, the applicant for naturalization must demonstrate good moral character for the year period before making application. In addition, the foreigner must have enlisted or reenlisted in the United States or a U.S. territory or ship or have become a lawful permanent resident. Being in removal proceedings does not preclude seeking naturalization under these provisions for soldiers who served in the United States military during a period of military hostilities. The relevant dates are:

1. World War I (specifically, between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918).

2. World War II (specifically, between September 1, 1939, and December 31, 1946).

3. the Korean hostilities (specifically, between June 25, 1950, and July 1, 1955).

4. the Vietnam hostilities (specifically, between February 28, 1961, and October 15, 1978).

5. Persian Gulf Conflict (specifically between August 2, 1990, and April 11, 1991).

6. September 11, 2001 to the present (Pursuant to Executive Order 13269 of July 3, 2002).

ASYLUM LAW   >Top

International Law and United States immigration law provides for the protection of foreigners who fear returning to their homelands. There are several categories of protections that can be applied to different situations.

Asylum   >Top

One avenue for being permitted to stay is by applying for asylum, which allows a foreigner to stay in the United States because of a well-founded fear of persecution in their homeland. Persecution must be based on a well-founded fear of persecution on account of the following five bases:

1. Race

2. Religion

3. Nationality

4. Membership in a particular social group

5. Political opinion.

Withholding of Removal   >Top

Foreigners in the United States may be able to apply for withholding of removal if it is "more likely than not" that they will be persecuted on account one or more of the five bases listed above. This form of protection may be available in circumstances when asylum may be unavailable, such as if the foreigner had convictions for serious crimes or if the foreigner has been in the United States for more than a year and has not applied for asylum without an extraordinary circumstance explaining the failure to file or when there was no changed circumstances that explain late filing.

Convention against Torture (CAT)   >Top

Foreigners may be eligible for protection in the United States under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, CAT. The foreigner must establish that it is more likely than not that he or she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal. The government must be the source of the torture. his type of relief is available to foreign nationals who face the likelihood of torture for whom asylum and withholding of removal are unavailable. This would be in the case of persons who face the likelihood of torture for reasons other than on account of one of the five factors. Also this would be the case for foreigners who failed to file asylum applications within one year of admission or have committed serious crimes that render them ineligible for asylum or withholding of removal.

DEPORTATION AND REMOVAL DEFENSE   >Top

Termination of Proceedings   >Top

A non-citizen of the United States, including lawful permanent residents (green card holders), can be deported (under current law deportation is called "removal") for violating the terms of his visa, for committing certain crimes, or for certain types of conduct contrary to the immigration laws, like alien smuggling or using false documents. A person trying to enter the United States can be arrested, denied admission and excluded from the United States as well. However, just because the government claims that a foreigner is excludable or deportable does not mean that he or she is. The foreigner can fight his case in Immigration Court and it can sometimes be terminated because the government's claim of deportability or excludability cannot be proved. Being a citizen protects a person from being deported or excluded. Sometimes a person is a citizen without being aware of it. If an Immigration Judge is presented evidence that shows that the person is a citizen, removal proceedings will be terminated.

Suppression of Evidence   >Top

In presenting its case to deport someone, the government often has a burden of producing evidence of deportability. If the evidence the government submits to prove its case is illegally obtained and the illegality amounts to an egregious constitutional violation or, in the case of testimony, is untrue, evidence may be suppressed. If a foreigner arrested by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security (BTS) makes statements as a result of coercion through the use of or threats of use of force, prolonged detention, inducements to lie, threats of prolonged detention, or deprivation of food, sleep, or medical care, that put in serious doubt the truthfulness of the statements, the statements may be suppressed as well. If the government's case relies on the suppressed evidence, suppression could lead to termination.

Cancellation of Removal for Certain Permanent Residents   >Top

Certain foreigners in removal proceedings may be eligible for a pardon that will prevent removal. One such form of relief is Cancellation of Removal for Certain Permanent Residents. This relief is for lawful permanent residents (Green Card Holders) who have had their permanent residence for five years and have acquired seven years of residence in the United States after being admitted in any status. The seven years of residence sometimes stops accruing when a removable offense is committed and always stops when a charging document from the government charging the alien with removability is given to the alien. An Immigration Judge's decision to grant a pardon is made based on a weighing the positive and negative equities in a case.

Cancellation of Removal and Adjustment of Status for Certain Nonpermanent Residents   >Top

In the case of foreigners who have been in the United States for more than ten years and have committed no crimes (with some exceptions), relief from removal may be available if the foreigner can show exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his spouse, parent, or child who is a citizen of the United States or a lawful permanent resident.

Adjustment of Status   >Top

In certain situations, a foreigner who has been placed in removal proceedings can receive a visa and permission to reside in the United States from an Immigration Judge. This option is sometimes available to foreigners who have committed some specific types of crimes in the United States. Sometimes a criminal ground that would bar a foreigner from obtaining permanent resident status in the United States can be waived based on the existence of hardship to the foreigner's spouse, parents, son, or daughter who are permanent residents or citizens. Certain acts of fraud that make a foreigner ineligible for a visa can also be waived if denying the foreigner the ability to stay in the United States would be a hardship to the foreigner's spouse or parent.

Voluntary Departure   >Top

In the case of a foreigner who must leave the United States, it is sometimes possible to receive a grant of voluntary departure rather than a removal order. Voluntary departure allows for an alien to obtain a visa outside the United States to return to the United States without any of the penalties attached to having been removed, which range from a five year bar to a permanent bar to ever returning to the United States depending on the basis for and circumstances of the removal.

Legal Defenses   >Top

For many foreigners there is no defense to being deported under the current interpretations of the law. This does not mean that nothing can be done. There are many challenges to the current harsh removal laws. Some persons in removal proceedings have opted to challenge the legitimacy of the statutes and interpretations of the statutes that threaten them with removal from the United States. Those that stand and fight can have a positive impact on the law and may be able to preserve issues in their own cases so that they will ultimately be victorious and defeat the government's attempt to remove them. Some of the harshest provisions of changes in the law in 1996 have been overturned because some people fought rather than simply left.

DETENTION AND BOND   >Top

Many foreigners who have committed crimes are often taken into custody. In recent years the laws have been toughened considerably regarding detention and the courts have also hardened in their views regarding the legitimacy of detaining foreigners who have completed their criminal sentences and paid their debts to society. Also, aliens who arrive in the United States without what the government considers proper documentation are taken into detention while the government decides whether to return them, allows them into the United States for later examination, or decides whether they have a credible fear of returning to their homelands. Those whom the government believes have such credible fear are often detained while the government determines if they are eligible and deserving of protections under the asylum/human rights provisions of the law through asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture.

Release is often possible for detained foreigners. Those who have been released from criminal custody for many crimes after October 8, 1998, the government insists are subject to mandatory custody. The courts have decided that mandatory detention does not apply to permanent residents. The government may detain others based on a discretionary determination that they do not merit release because they are dangers to the community or flight risks. Aliens not caught at the border can ask for a bond hearing before an immigration judge to request bond or to have an excessively high bond lowered. The government can sometimes be persuaded to lower the amount of a bond it sets when evidence is brought to its attention.

VEHICLE SEIZURES   >Top

The former Immigration and Naturalization Service (currently, Department of Homeland Security) and the Customs Service are authorized to seize vehicles at the Ports of Entry as well as inside the United States based on probable cause that the vehicle is being used for illegal purposes. Often a vehicle is seized when contraband is found in the vehicle or foreigners without proper papers to enter or be in the United States are found in the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle can seek to have his vehicle returned. By filing petitions for remission or mitigation owners of vehicles may be able to have their automobiles returned to them. When an owner of a vehicle can show that he or she was unaware that his or her vehicle was being used for illegal activity, it is possible to have the vehicle returned without paying penalties. When the owner is partially or totally responsible for the illegal activity he or she may still be able to recover the vehicle after paying a fine, based on mitigating circumstances. The assessment of a fine is not automatic and may be avoided if there is a properly prepared petition for mitigation. The process of seeking the return of a vehicle is lengthy and can become quite complex. The best results are obtained by vehicle owners who preserve the right to prove their cases in the federal court system by paying a bond at the initial stages of the procedure rather than relying solely on the favorable discretion of the CIS and Customs officers who decide the cases. Observation of strict deadlines is crucial.

GREEN CARD LOTTERY APPLICATIONS   >Top

Each year, the State Department conducts a lottery through its Diversity Visa (DV) program to distribute applications for 50,000 U.S. immigrant visas. Winners of the lottery have a chance to apply for an immigrant visa, which can be used to enter the U. S. Winners are selected randomly, and there currently is no fee to enter the lottery.

Starting in 2003, entries to the DV lottery must be submitted only through the internet application procedure and only during the application period, which typically starts in the fall of each year. Paper entries or mail-in requests are no longer accepted. Lottery entrants must include a passport-style digital photograph and separate digital photographs of any spouse and children under 21 years of age. Group photographs are not allowed.

Applications for the Green Card Lottery are accepted every year for a limited time.   >Top

Entrants may submit only one entry during any particular DV lottery; those who submit more than one entry will be disqualified. Spouses may submit separate entries, however, if each meets the eligibility requirements. If only one spouse qualifies to apply for the lottery as being the national of a country eligible to participate in the DV lottery, the other spouse may enter in the application of the Diversity Visa the country of nationality of the eligible spouse.

The DV lottery has two eligibility requirements:   >Top

1. The entrant must be from an eligible country. You must have been born in an eligible country, or have parents who were born in eligible countries and who were not residents of your country of birth, when you were born. For example, your parents might have lived temporarily in the ineligible country because of their jobs.

Every year, the State Department announces the countries whose natives are ineligible for application. For the DV-2005 lottery, natives of the following countries were not eligible to apply: Canada, China (excluding Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Applicants should check with the State Department to determine the ineligible countries for future DV lotteries.

2. Entrants must meet an education or training requirement. You will have met the education requirement if you have a high school education or have successfully completed a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education. You will have met the training requirement if you have at least two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform.   >Top