FAMILY AND INDIVIDUAL IMMIGRATION
Miller Mayer attorneys have over 25 years of experience in guiding U.S. businesses, individual clients, and families through the immigration process. We help employees and employers in start up companies, hospitals, universities, and financial and tech industries in our region and across the United States. We assist individuals in securing green cards for their life partners and family members, in naturalizing, and in obtaining a valid immigration status based on their talents and entrepreneurial endeavors. Simply put, we help our clients succeed.
Immigration is about people who make a difference. We appreciate the difference our clients make—to their employers, to their businesses, and in the lives of their children and families. We tailor services to the needs of our clients, with a high level of awareness of the challenges faced by physicians, researchers, teachers, athletes, artists, technology workers, and American families in the immigration process. We are proud to make a difference in the lives of our clients.
We are devoted to reuniting and keeping families together.
We have assisted thousands of individuals in successfully gaining green cards for family members.
Our expertise has resulted in U.S. citizenship for a multitude of grateful clients.
You can trust in our reputation and results to help you and your family through the immigration process.
WE CAN ASSIST WITH:
International entrepreneurs and foreign-born professionals have some self-sponsored options, including the National Interest Waiver or Extraordinary Ability green card pathways in addition to company sponsored visas and work authorizations such as STEM OPT, E, H, L, O, or TN. With proper preparation, waiting times are short for these types of applications.
O-1A non-immigrant visas are for individuals who possess extraordinary ability in several different categories including the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. The O-1B non-immigrant visa category is for individuals with extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry. There is also a similar green card category for people who have extraordinary ability.
Foreign business owners and employees have additional work visa options for their multinational transferees in the non-immigrant L-1 category and the permanent EB-1-C category.
We work closely with medical institutions and medical professionals on immigration issues, ranging from immigration compliance issues to navigating the complex Conrad State 30 J-1 waiver process. We advise and file J waivers, H-1B, O-1, and green card applications for these specialized employments.
Study in the United States: F-1 visas allow foreign student to study in the United States. F-1 visas are sponsored by U.S. schools for academic studies at the primary, secondary, and university level. To gain F-1 sponsorship from a qualifying school, a foreign national must satisfy admission, tuition, and other requirements. After satisfying these requirements, an admitted or continuing foreign student receives sponsorship documents from the school (Form I-20) and applies for an F-1 visa at a U.S. consulate abroad. Successful F-1 visa applicants must also demonstrate ties to their home country. We advise on F-1 visa success and compliance.
F-1 OPT: Under current immigration law, most foreign students in degree programs in the United States with an F-1 student visa are eligible for a one year work permit for optional practical training (“OPT”), which provides a foreign student with work authorization to engage in employment that is directly related to his/her major area of study. Students in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (“STEM”) degree programs may also qualify for a two year extension of the OPT period.
Professors and researchers may qualify for a number of non-immigrant or immigrant visa categories, depending on the facts and circumstances.
Foreign spouses of U.S. citizens are eligible for permanent residence (green card) based on a valid marriage without being subject to a quota delay. The only delay they face in obtaining permanent resident status is due to processing times. Visas are also available for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens. Foreign spouses of permanent residents are also eligible for green cards based on a valid marriage, but are subject to a relatively short quota delay.
Permanent residents (green card holders) can apply to become naturalized U.S. citizens five years obtaining green cards, or after a three year period for spouses of U.S. Citizens.
U.S. citizens and green card holders can sponsor their children for green cards. The length of time it will take varies, depending on the child’s age and whether he or she is married or unmarried. Parents can also sponsor adopted children and stepchildren in certain circumstances. U.S. citizen adults can sponsor their parents for green cards.
U.S. citizens can sponsor their foreign-born brothers and sisters for green cards. There is a lengthy wait for such green cards, however, because of annual quota caps.
ARTIST, ATHLETE, AND ENTREPRENEURIAL IMMIGRATION
- Our attorneys craft original and custom immigration solutions for clients who work “outside the box.”
- Our track record includes dancers, actors, coaches, trapeze artists, cigar rollers, bands and band members, and many others.
- Our entrepreneurial clients run restaurants, oversee manufacturing companies, and own ship management companies in a variety of immigration statuses including H-1B, E-2, and EB-5.
Our immigration planning is as creative and successful as our clients.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU!
To start a conversation about working with us, please contact the Miller Mayer Immigration Practice Group.
MEET THE IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY TEAM
RECENT IMMIGRATION ARTICLES AND NEWS
Miller Mayer’s Steve Yale-Loehr Quoted About Asylum Restrictions, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
Miller Mayer immigration attorney Steve Yale-Loehr was quoted by the New York Times in “Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Proclamation Targeting Some Asylum-Seekers.” Mr. Yale-Loehr said the court’s ruling shows that...
L-1 Applicants Must Be Outside of US in Order to File, USCIS Says
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a policy memorandum, effective November 29, 2018, clarifying the requirement that a qualifying organization employ a principal L-1 beneficiary abroad for one continuous...
Employers Must Post Internet Ads for Temporary Workers under “Modernized” H-2B Procedure
The Departments of Homeland Security and Labor (Departments) have published a joint notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would “modernize” the recruitment requirements for employers seeking H-2B nonimmigrant workers to...
Southern Border Update: Trump Temporarily Blocked from Altering Asylum Rules; Chief Justice Rebuffs Partisan Rhetoric; Mexico May Offer Containment in Exchange for U.S. Aid
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, of San Francisco, California, has issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Trump’s presidential proclamation and a new rule preventing certain types of asylum claims along the...
Temporary Worker Applicants May Have to Prove Merit per New DHS Proposal
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed rule on December 3, 2018, that would require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to first electronically register with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration...
Unclearly Executive or Managerial: A Review of Recent Nonprecedent EB-1C AAO Decisions
By David Wilks, Brooke Ireland, and Stephen Yale-Loehr* Executives and managers have a unique path to permanent residence in the employment-based first preference green card category (EB-1C). We sought to find examples of how foreign...