Author: Jeff MacArthur

Some individuals with criminal convictions may be inadmissible to the U.S. no matter how long ago the offense took place or how minor the conviction was. Because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has comprehensive access to criminal records, any individual with a criminal record runs the risk of being denied entry into the U.S. […]

Q: Who is eligible to vote in United States federal elections? A: Only U.S. citizens and naturalized citizens who are 18 years of age and older can vote in U.S. federal elections. Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) and nonimmigrants are NOT legally allowed to vote in United States elections. Q: How do I know if I’m […]

This year, Oct. 4th marked the opening of registration for the Diversity Visa (DV) 2018 Program, which annually makes available up to 55,000 U.S. immigrant visas to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For many, receiving an immigrant visa to the U.S. can be a dream come true. […]

Berardi Immigration Law presented eight TN and L-1 petitions to U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) on behalf of our clients in September. We provide highlights of two of these cases below: • Applying for L-1A status in the U.S. necessitates documentation establishing that the foreign national meets all statutory requirements. In order to qualify for […]

Beginning Nov. 1, 2016, the “No Eyeglasses Policy” will go into effect. Under this policy, Consular Affairs will no longer accept photographs of visa and passport applicants wearing eyeglasses, except in rare, medically-documented circumstances. Consular Affairs will implement this policy with a soft one-month enforcement period from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, 2016, after which […]

The DOS Visa Office has recently instructed consular officers to revoke the visas of visa-holders following a DUI (driving under the influence) arrest. The previous policy simply required a visa applicant with a prior DUI conviction to provide a report from a panel physician. This new policy allows consular posts to revoke nonimmigrant visas and […]

An H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that permits a company to hire workers in specialty occupations. H-1B visas require that the foreign worker (the beneficiary) has a bachelor’s degree, and that the U.S. company (the Petitioner) can employ the worker for up to six years. Sometimes it can be unclear whether or not individuals […]

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will shortly be rolling out a mobile app and revising the I-94 website so that individuals at land border crossings (not air and sea) will be able to pre-order a paper I-94 and pay a $6 fee online. The I-94 will be ready for the individual upon arrival, provided he […]

Raza Kamran, the Senior Manager of Product Marketing at RingCentral, had an opportunity to transfer his position in Canada to a division of RingCentral located in the United States. All he needed for the move was an approved L-1A visa that would allow him to transfer from the Canadian division and successfully enter the United […]

On Sept. 1, 2016, USCIS announced the award of nearly $10 million in grants under two competitive funding opportunities to 46 organizations to help permanent residents prepare and apply for U.S. citizenship. The organizations are located in 21 states and will receive funding through September 2018. Since it began in 2009, the USCIS Citizenship and […]