Category: Live In The US

Angela Schnell is an Associate Attorney at Berardi Immigration Law. Angela advises clients in numerous aspects of immigration law, including non-immigrant visas, family and employment-based green cards, criminal waivers and NAFTA matters. Angela also regularly represents our clients at the Peace Bridge port-of-entry to present their cases to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”). “I […]

The Individual Tax Identification Number is a tax processing number issued by the Internal Revenue Service to ensure that people (including unauthorized immigrants) pay taxes even if they do not have a Social Security Number. ITINs allow the IRS to bring in billions of dollars the federal government would otherwise have no way of collecting. […]

Beginning in November 2016, in accordance with the agreement signed between the United States and China to extend visa validity, Chinese citizens with 10-year B1, B2, or B1/B2 (visitor) visas in Peoples’ Republic of China passports, will be required to periodically update biographical and other information from their visa application. Updates will be required via […]

Slated for completion in late 2016, the new U.S. Embassy in the Nine Elms area of Wandsworth is a current project that will produce a modern, welcoming, safe, and energy efficient embassy for the 21st century. The design of the new facility was opened up to competition and Philadelphia-based architects, Kieran Timberlake, earned the winning […]

The Visa Waiver Program (“VWP”), created to allow individuals of certain pre-approved countries to enter the U.S. without first obtaining a visitor visa, was amended by Congress on December 18, 2015 as a part of the overall omnibus spending bill, H.R.2029. In response to the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, a portion of the […]

Have a question for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services? “Emma” can help. Emma, a virtual assistant recently launched on uscis.gov, is named after Emma Lazarus. Her poem, “The New Colossus,” is inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Ms. Lazarus was a writer who was also involved in charitable work for refugees. On […]

Danielle Blahowicz is a Paralegal at Berardi Immigration Law. She prepares and files Adjustment of Status applications, Waivers, NAFTA applications (TNs and Ls), nonimmigrant visas, immigrant visas, naturalization applications, and work and travel authorization applications. Ms. Blahowicz handles many of our marriage-based green card cases. “Every case is different so it’s always interesting,” Ms. Blahowicz […]

After you’ve prepared all of the necessary documents and have everything signed, sealed and delivered to USCIS for your marriage-based green card application, you may be wondering what’s next. For Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status applicants, USCIS generally takes five to six months in total to process your application. It should be noted, however, that processing […]

Samantha Murphy is a Senior Paralegal at Berardi Immigration Law. Ms. Murphy is knowledgeable in all aspects of case preparation for family and employment-based immigration matters. She prepares and files adjustment of status applications, waivers, nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions, naturalization applications, and work authorization applications, with a focus on O-1 applications and H1-B applications. […]

All foreign nationals seeking permanent residence in the U.S. are required by law to receive vaccinations to prevent diseases like Mumps, Measles, Rubella, and Hepatitis B. The vaccinations are typically administered during a medical examination by a “civil surgeon,” which is a medical professional specially designated by the USCIS. Occasionally, an applicant may disagree with […]