Tara J. Goldsmith Immigration Law Blog

A lawsuit was filed last week against the State Department in federal court seeking to reinstate 22,000 potential green card lottery winners because of a government computer error. 

The United States established the green card lottery in 1990 to promote diversity in the immigrant population.  It works like any other lottery system – each year 50,000 people are selected by random draw and ultimately, if eligible, are granted a... Read More

Over the last few years the process of applying for a visa stamp abroad has become increasingly difficult.  Gone are the days when you would mail your passport to a Consulate abroad or the Visa Office and a few days later, your passport would be returned with a new visa stamp.  Now most people must apply for a visa in person at a US Consulate abroad and each consular post works a little differently.  Because of that Read More

Last week I spoke to an engaging group of foreign students at Columbia University about various options that might allow them to work after graduation.  Of course, in this job market it is difficult enough to find a job, let alone also convincing an employer to sponsor you for a nonimmigrant visa or green card.  But the bottom line is that most of these students will go on to find an employer, work on a nonimmigrant visa, and maybe even become permanents residents or... Read More

Some of our clients who sponsored foreign nationals for H-1B visas are getting “site visits” from the government and an increasing numbers are receiving “Notices of Intent to Revoke” (“NOTICE") their H-1B approvals. These site visits were initiated by the government to help relieve their concern about fraudulent applications. I’d like to tell you about one situation which was recently handled by our office and make some suggestions.

This week I received a call from a very frustrated client: "Immigration made a mistake on my I-94 and gave me the wrong expiration date."  I too rolled my eyes and cursed under my breath, until I looked at a copy of the I-94 card.  Actually, no mistake was made.

CBP (Customs Border Protection) has the right to limit a foreign national's I-94 to the expiration date of the holder's passport if the passport will expire before the period of authorized stay.  So... Read More