1.  Transferring employees within a company.

2.  Hiring an immigration lawyer outside the local area.

3.  Student marriages to U.S. citizens.

4.  The effect of past criminal convictions on becoming a U.S. citizen.

5.  Requests for additional evidence by the INS.

1.  Q:  I am the President of a U.S. company that is 100% Canadian owned.  We have an employee that is currently employed with our Canadian parent company as Vice President and CFO.  We want him in the U.S. to work as an Executive Vice President and head our accounting division.  Can we do this?

A.  Although your situation involves Canada, this answer could apply to other countries as well.  It appears that an L-1A intracompany transferee classification as a nonimmigrant is best in a situation such as this, but we need to properly evaluate the situation.  Any employee of a Canadian parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch office, who is coming to the United States to act in a managerial or executive capacity can get an L-1A nonimmigrant classification if all the other factors are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations regarding L-1A classifications is satisfied.  In this case the U.S. company is a subsidiary of the Canadian parent.

The employee must be coming to the U.S. to be employed in a managerial or executive capacity, as those terms are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations.  The employee must have been employed with the Canadian company for one of the last three years, and must also have been employed there in a managerial or executive capacity.  The employee cannot be a first line supervisor, and any employee he or she supervises must be on the professional level.  Restrictions on stay and the duties of the employee will exist and you should consult a lawyer concerning this classification.

2.  Q:  I live far away from Fargo, North Dakota.  Do I need to live near you in order to have you serve as my attorney?

A:  Many of my clients do not live near Fargo, North Dakota.  In fact, I have never met many of the people that I have assisted in immigration matters.  The clients that I have served in the past come from every corner of America and the World.  In a nutshell, immigration law is federal.  Congress makes the laws, and the INS makes the regulations.  To practice before the INS, the Board of Immigration Appeals, or the Immigration Court, one must be admitted to practice before one State Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court (with a few limited exceptions for non-profit agencies), and be in good standing with the bar.  However, I ask you to read our disclaimer carefully to examine the issue of practicing law in a state where the firm does not have a licensed attorney.  Conducting legal business before state courts is an entirely different matter than conducting business before the federal INS, Board of Immigration Appeals, or Immigration Courts.  This firm does not, will not and does not intend to imply that it will practice before any state office unless the special permission of the body overseeing the practice of law in that state grants permission to do so.  Thus, for example, representation before a state criminal court would not be undertaken without special permission from the particular state involved. 

3.  Q:  I came to the United States as a student on an F-1 visa.  I was here for six months when I met my fiancé, who is a U.S. citizen.  We have had a relationship for a year and a half, and we are now engaged to be married.  We will be getting married in 2 months.  However, we are scared about the immigration consequences that we will face.  Will we be able to stay together?  I have been told that I will need to get a visa through a consulate and that could take a very long time.  We do not want to be separated.  What do we do now?

A:  I assume that you will be in the United States until your wedding.  In that case you will not need to leave the country to get a visa.  Once you are married your spouse will petition for you to be granted the status of an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen.  At the same time you will file an application to adjust your status to that of a permanent resident.  You will also need to file for an advance parole document if you need to travel after filing for adjustment of status, and an employment authorization document if you wish to work while your application is processed.  It is very important that you not leave the United States without the travel document, as doing so would signal to the INS that you have abandoned your adjustment of status application, which means you would need to go the long route by getting a visa.  

4.  Q:  Will a past criminal conviction prevent me from becoming a U.S. citizen?  I am now eligible and would like to apply.

A:  Past criminal convictions can definitely prevent you from becoming a U.S. citizen.  You really need to speak with your lawyer before you decide to apply for citizenship.  Many people who apply for citizenship and have a past criminal conviction merely bring the conviction to the attention of the INS.  You could show up for your citizenship interview and leave in handcuffs.  The INS is overburdened with work and, thus, a citizenship interview is the perfect place to make an arrest for a crime that never came to the attention of the INS prior to the application.  In many instances there are serious implications for those with even very old criminal convictions.

Generally, even if you are not put into removal proceedings simply because of the past criminal conviction, you may not be approved for citizenship.  One important aspect of citizenship is that applicants need to have good moral character.  If there are criminal convictions in the person's background then the INS may not approve citizenship because they may conclude the applicant has poor moral character.

5.  Q:  I filed an I-130 Petition For Alien Relative with the INS to give my spouse permanent residence in the United States.  The application was sent in several months ago and now I have received a letter stating that I must submit additional information to the INS.  What have I received, and should I be worried?

A:  What you have received is generally referred to as a Request For Evidence, or an RFE for short.  When the INS officer reviewing your application finds that a portion of the law is not satisfied in such a way as to grant the immigration benefit, the INS asks for more information to satisfy the legal requirements of the regulations or the statute.  Generally, the RFE will state up front that you have not submitted enough evidence to warrant a favorable determination on the petition.  The RFE will give you a deadline to submit the information.  Be sure that you comply with this deadline and submit the application.  If the petition is so flawed that no evidence is going to fix it, you may wish to withdraw the petition and have an attorney draw up a correct one for you.  When choosing what approach to take to an RFE, you definitely should talk to counsel.