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Monday, November 26, 2012

What Are Your Immigration Options When You Are Served With a UK Removal Notice or Deportation Order?

If you had either entered into the United Kingdom without obtaining leave or your existing leave has expired, you are liable to receive a "Removal Notice". If you had been granted leave under special conditions and you had violated those conditions, you might again face the liability of removal. The notice is served by the UK Border Agency intimating you that a decision to remove you from the UK has been already taken. Once the notice is served, you might be required to leave the country very soon.

A Deportation Order, on the other hand, is normally issued to foreign nationals when they are convicted of a crime or when their deportation is conducive to the good of the public. Defined under section 362 of the UK Immigration Rules, a deportation order "requires the subject to leave the United Kingdom and authorises his detention until he is removed. It also prohibits him from re-entering the country for as long as it is in force and invalidates any leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom given him before the Order is made or while it is in force".

In case you are served a removal notice or a deportation order, you can challenge the decision through the assistance of qualified, expert immigration lawyers. But once the order is issued, you would have very little time before you are forced to leave the UK. Therefore, you need to get in touch with a reputed law firm as soon as possible if you choose to challenge the decision in court.

Removal or deportation proceedings are initiated for one of the following three reasons:

1. When the person is convicted of a crime or is arrested

2. When the person overstays in the UK

3. When they are refused an immigration application

It is vital to get in touch with a firm that has a team of professionally qualified and experienced immigration solicitors and barristers to handle your case. They would have the required expertise and experience to challenge the removal notice or deportation order on your behalf. They might find ways to help you to stay in the UK or at least prevent a ban on your reentry into the country.

If there has been an irregularity in the UK Border Agency's decision to deport you or if you have an arguable case, then you can by all means proceed to challenge the agency's order.

Immigration For Medical Professionals: Permanent Residence Status Making an Application Under Skilled - Independent (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 175) Bucking Congress, President Pushes Immigration Reform Through Exercises of Executive Discretion Children of Green Card Holders to Be Given Priority for US Residency

Expat Counseling Reduces Stress Of Change

Many countries in the world have welcome immigration, skilled or unskilled to boost their economy. They welcome expats as refugees of war or natural disasters. People can move around easily with all forms of transport and communication opening the doors to opportunities.

For example Canada, The United States of America, and Australia, are relatively new countries in the English speaking world, that grew and prospered from various waves of immigrants from different countries. People have always been on the move from their country of origin, to ancient established countries in Europe, Middle and Far East, Asia, and South America. They move individually, or as whole families. The reason for the global movement of people is as varied as the people who move. It can be for financial gain, fleeing political or religious persecution, loss as a result of disasters, war and famine, to connect with other family members, or just for fun!

Change is a normal process of growing up, growing older, raising a family working in the world. Change can bring stress which can be 'good stress' that energizes, inspires, excites and stimulates creativity. Change can also be acutely stressful in a negative way, causing anxiety, depression and other emotions and destructive behaviors such and aggression or substance use, that impact the body and mind and others around.

Immigration to a new country for an individual or a family can bring many problems of adjustment and the negative effects of change. If the expats speak the same language as the majority, then it is somewhat easier. If a new language has to be learned there is added pressure. People often leave some family or friends behind so there may be a sense of rootlessness, and loss of human connection and support, so essential for happiness. Depression, anxiety and anger and grief are common emotions as a result of loss that many expat immigrants may feel. If fleeing as result of war other can be post traumatic stress issues to deal with. This can impact the person's adjustment to a new life and put stress on the family. Professional help is often needed.

Many immigrants may hold tightly to customs they hold dear that bring comfort and reminders of their past life, finding it hard to adjust to the new culture. Some family members may never learn the new language. This may cause isolation and unhappiness. This could be common for the first generation of immigrants. The second generation if immigrants, their children, often will be very well assimilated into the local culture and community. This can bring tension within a family as the new customs want to be adopted by teenagers. Recently the news has been filled with parents taking the laws of their own culture into their own hands, such as punishing girls wanting freedom to dress and date outside their cultural traditions. This can be a life or death issue. The strain in a family can be immense. The availability of confidential private online counseling could prevent tragedy.

I have experienced my own issues of being an expat and transiting to a new country. My language expression is somewhat different from that spoken locally and I still was perceived as different and not quite belonging for many years. Miscommunication can be difficult or humorous! It takes time to adjust.

As people now become more comfortable with the electronic form of communication, via computer, internet, Facebook and phone, communication with one's far flung family can become easier. However the immediate needs for local community, comfort and support may not be available. Expat Counseling and Online Counseling is a way for people to privately talk about their problems in their own language and find relief from the stress of the immigrant, expat experience.

The Sin of Unlawful Presence in the United States

On April 1, 1997 Congress changed the immigration law to punish foreign-born individuals who decide to stay in the country without documentation, such as a visa, green card, or other forms of permission to legally stay in the country. The penalty that Congress created to punish this sin is known as the three and ten year bars. The penalty is imposed based on the amount of continuous unlawful presence a foreign individual manages to accumulate in the United States. For instance, if a person accumulates more than six months of continuous unlawful presence in the country, that person can be barred from returning to the United States for a total of three years. If the unlawful presence is for twelve or more continuous months, that person can be barred from returning to the country for a total of ten years.

It's important to know, however, that this time bar does not apply to everyone who has lived in the United States unlawfully. The three and ten year bars only apply to a person who first was in the United States and who entered with or without inspection, leaves to travel oversees voluntarily for any reason, and is attempting to return to the country to take advantage of a possible change in his/her immigration status.

While it does not apply to individuals who are already in the United States lawfully or who entered with inspection and are the immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen because of the availability of the adjustment of status procedure, for individuals who entered the country without inspection, despite already being here with no need to leave, to get their green cards, they must leave the country and apply for their immigrant visa while overseas through a U.S consulate because they are not eligible to take advantage of the adjustment of status procedure under current immigration law. In other words, the 3- and 10-year bars do not take effect if the person never leaves the United States after accruing the six to twelve months of unlawful presence; however, if that person decides to remain in the country and is unable to adjust his/her status, that person cannot become legalized under the current immigration law.

While certain waivers are available to some individuals who are not eligible to adjust their status while in the United States, such as the husband and wife of a U.S citizen, the child of a U.S. citizen, the child of a permanent resident, those waivers for the most part are extremely difficult to obtain. To successfully obtain a waiver, an eligible individual would have to convincingly demonstrate that if that person is deported, the U.S. spouse or parent would suffer extreme hardship. Under immigration law, this is a very tough burden to satisfy.

Nonetheless, if you are an individual who may be impacted by this provision in the immigration law, you should be aware of a few exceptions that might apply to you:

1. The accumulation of unlawful presence only apply after April 1, 1997, the date the law went into effect; 2. Unlawful presence when a person was a minor does not count to trigger the three and ten year bars; 3. The unlawful presence has to be continuous for either six or twelve months; 4. It does not apply to battered spouses and children if there is substantial connection between the unlawful presence and the abuse; 5. It does not apply to certain individuals with "bona fide" asylum applications pending unless the person was employed without authorization during that time; 6. It does not apply to lawful permanent residents seeking readmission to the country.

So, if you are residing in the United States and are eligible to adjust your status, it may not be in your best interest to leave the country under any circumstances to avoid being subjected to the three or ten year bars while you are oversees. You should stay here, file your application, and wait until your application is approved and you have your green card in your hands, then you can travel outside of the country with peace of mind. If you are residing in the United States unlawfully but are not eligible to adjust your status, your best option at this time would be to consult an immigration attorney to help you explore the possibility of you being able to return to the United States in the event that you were to leave to go through consular processing, or are unsuccessful with a waiver application.

How to Get a Competent Immigration Attorney?

Being an immigrant in a foreign country has a few drawbacks and one of those drawbacks is that you have to get through a tiresome, time-consuming and difficult immigration process. The immigration process is not something that an immigrant can ever take lightly. Their life depends on it at times, because they just cannot go back to their home country. Hence, it is best to hire a good and competent immigration attorney who can ensure a good result. Hiring a competent immigration attorney is also crucial because of the fact that the immigration law changes often. Hence, whenever you are hiring an attorney to fight for your case, you must search for a competent one. Here are a few steps to help you through the process.

First of all, you must carefully analyze all the details of your own case. You must be familiar with the in-depth details as well as the requirements. Understanding your case will help you to figure out your needs according to your case and helps you to know what functions your attorney has to perform for you. For this purpose, you can search the internet and the government website and its immigration pages. It will also help you in understanding which particular branch of immigration law your case belongs to. Since immigration law itself has many branches such as employment visas, family immigration and citizenship, it is important to understand the category of law that your case belongs to. The immigration attorney focuses on just one branch in most of the cases. Therefore, you will be able to hire a more competent attorney, if you know which facet of immigration law your attorney must be experienced in. Hire an attorney who specializes in dealing with your concerned branch of immigration law and has many years worth of experience.

If you are an immigrant you might have acquaintances who have been through the same process. A few people in your social circle might have had an experience of dealing with an immigration attorney. Ask such individuals to give you a few recommendations regarding the most competent immigration attorney in the local region. This source of referrals can turn out to be very informative. Another source of referral regarding a competent immigration attorney is the internet. You must visit various blogs, forums or message boards. People usually post their experiences and hence you can pick up a few valuable names and tips from their experience. A few websites on the internet also provide a service of locating an immigration attorney in your region.

The internet is amazing when you need details and experience regarding an immigration attorney that you think might be a competent one. On the internet you can find lots of information like qualification, experience, background and the field of immigration law he or she specializes in. Some websites might also give information regarding the fee they charge.

From all these sources listed above, you must draw up a list of the attorneys that you think might be valuable ones. From this list you must then schedule a consultation with each of the immigration attorney. An attorney can agree to have a consultation by email or phone, but not necessarily in person. When you are scheduling consultations, remember that you do not have to restrict yourself to local attorneys. However, in some cases you might have to hire a local immigration attorney.

Immigration For Medical Professionals: Attending Medical School In the US

Foreign nationals who wish to attend medical school and/or practice medicine in the United States have a number of avenues available to them through U.S. immigration. In this brief article we will discuss the F-1 and J-1 student visas, as well as H-1B professional worker visa.

In order to practice medicine in the United States, a physician must graduate from medical school, complete a U.S. residency program, and pass licensing examinations. If you are a foreign national who wishes to attend medical school in the U.S., you can do so under an F-1 student visa. This visa allows you to stay in the U.S. so long as you are enrolled full-time in medical school and for up to a year after graduation to complete additional practical training. However, to complete a medical residency program, you must obtain a J-1 exchange visa or H-1B visa. Likewise, if you are a foreign national who has graduated from a medical school outside of the U.S., you can come to the U.S. to complete a medical residency program under the J-1 exchange visa or H-1B visa.

Some of the differences between an F-1 visa and a J-1 visa are as follows:

Eligibility for an F-1 visa comes with no restrictions on your funding, be it personal, outside funds, or a combination of both. To be eligible for a J-1 visa, a substantial portion of your funding must come from non-personal sources, such as from your program in the U.S., your home institution, or your government.

Under the F-1 visa, F-2 classified dependents are not eligible for employment. Under the J-1 program, spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age, regardless of nationality, are entitled to J-2 classification and are entitled to work authorization; however, their income may not be used to support you.

Under the F-1 visa, you are not required to return to your home country after completion of your studies. Under the J-1 visa, you must return to your home country for two years after completing residency (the two-year foreign residency requirement).

It should be noted that a "J-1 Physician" cannot remain to work in the U.S. immediately after completion of medical residency. For many foreign born physicians this is no doubt quite an obstacle. However, there are a number of methods to obtain a waiver of the two-year foreign residency requirement. In addition, some foreign nationals avoid this hurdle altogether by completing their medical residency programs with a visa for professional workers (H-1B) (as opposed to the J-1 exchange visa). It appears more and more residency programs will sponsor a foreign born physician for an H-1B professional worker visa so you need to understand the special challenges that occur with H-1B status. We will discuss this in our next article.

In Plain English: Arizona V United States, Who Won?

Who won in Arizona v. united States? It's a tie. Sort of.

This gets complicated.

In the national debate that has engulfed the topic of immigration, Arizona v. United States was seen as a decision that could declare a winner in the "conservative v. liberal" debate over exactly how (and how far) States could respond to protect their own borders. Were the States strapped with whatever the federal government provided (even if it was a poorly funded, inefficient, mismanaged system of laws), or were the States able to defend themselves and take matters into their own hands by writing law that intruded upon an already-existing federal scheme?

The debate had essentially two teams. Team Brewer, lead by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and those (conservatives?) who rallied to the cry that the federal system was not doing enough for Arizona. And there was Team Obama, lead by the President and those (liberals?) who rallied to the cry that the Arizona law was the product of discrimination against the Arizona Latino community.

After the Supreme Court published it's decision, President Obama said:

I am pleased that the Supreme Court has struck down key provisions of Arizona's immigration law. What this decision makes unmistakably clear is that Congress must act on comprehensive immigration reform. A patchwork of state laws is not a solution to our broken immigration system - it's part of the problem.

Then, the Obama Administration took swift action, hampering Arizona's ability to implement its "show me your papers" provision and further emphasizing who is really in control in matters of immigration. Two days ago, the Department of Homeland Security announced it had rescinded agreements, know as 287-g Agreements, that empowered local Arizona law enforcement officials to collaborate with the federal government to enforce federal immigration laws.The Department of Homeland Security, said that the agreements just do not work with States who have Arizona-like laws.

Without an agreement in place with the federal government, Arizona law enforcement agencies and jails are stopped from working "with" the Federal government in matters pertaining to immigration. And this is no small deal. As detailed by the DHS, currently "the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has 287(g) agreements with 68 law enforcement agencies in 24 states." DHS also notes, "since January 2006, the 287(g) program is credited with identifying more than 279,311 potentially removable aliens - mostly at local jails.

For her part, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said her team won. She described the decision as:

[A] victory for the 10th Amendment and all Americans who believe in the inherent right and responsibility of states to defend their citizens. After more than two years of legal challenges, the heart of SB 1070 can now be implemented in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.

And she was really upset that the President's Administration pulled the agreement with Arizona:

They arbitrarily singled out Arizona and sent a bomb, if you will, across our bow and made Arizona once again a target.

At least in public, nowhere was anyone talking too much about the Supremacy Clause or field preemption - except of course in the chambers of the United States Supreme Court.

So from a political standpoint, it's a tie. Both teams won enough to appease their constituents and declare themselves the winner. But from a national point of view, we all won. The Supreme Court honored the rules that were designed hundreds of years ago to keep our Nation together at times like this, when one State or another is unhappy with the way the federal government is addressing a local problem.

By telling Arizona that it had gone too far in most of what it had passed, and by noting that the remaining provision had not yet shown itself to be in conflict with federal law, the Supreme Court preserved more than a political win for those who need that sort of thing. It defended the laws which bind us together, for good or for ill, as a Nation.