Immigration Reform

Immigration reform is a constant topic for many individuals both in the legal field and outside the field. One of the reasons it is so popular is no one knows what is going to happen or when it will happen. It is ripe for speculation. Immigration reform may be a good thing or it may be a bad thing depending on what is your perspective.

For example, if you are against immigration then the REALID Act or IRAIIRA or the Patriot Act were all good things as these all made it significantly harder for aliens to immigrate to the United States. They all imposed new burdens and hurdles that must be overcome by the alien before entering the United States. At the same time an individual who likes these reforms probably did not like the amnesty that was granted back in the 1980s. A pro-immigrant individual probably liked the expansion of the Violence Against Women Act and its use for immigration, but disliked much of the reform that has occurred over the past twenty years.

It never fails to amaze me that most people seem to think that reform will make it easy for them to immigrate to the United States. There is nothing to say that immigration reform will be a beneficial thing for you, it could be the exact opposite. For all we know immigration reform may make it incredibly difficult for an individual to immigrate to the United States. With the current economy it is extremely possible that nativist or xenophobes will do everything in the their power to prevent meaningful immigration reform that will help alleviate the problems that are facing immigrants.

Until some kind of meaningful reform is actually implemented individuals will continue to wait years and potentially decades to come to the United States legally. Once this is resolved the amount of illegal immigration to the United States should decrease significantly as people no longer resort to unsavory methods to come to a better land and make a better life for themselves.

Visa Bulletin Board for March 2010

In the family section of the bulletin Visas are being issued to 1st preference individuals who applied during 22 June 2004, 01 April 2004, 01 October 1992, 01 March 1994, and 22 June 2004 for the following areas China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively. 2nd preferences are categorized as follows: 01 April 2006, 01 April 2006, 01 July 2004, o1 April 2006, 01 April 2006 for the following areas; China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively. 2B preferences are as follows: 01 February 2002, 01 February 2002, 15 June 1992, 22 August 1998, 01 February 2002 for the following areas; China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively. 3rd family preferences are as follows: 22 May 2001, 22 May 2001, 08 October 1992, 01 March 1992 and 22 May 2001 for the following areas; China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively. 4th family preferences are as follows 15 January 2000, 15 January 2000, 08 December 1995, 01 September 1987, 15 January 2000 for the following areas; China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively.

The employment based Visas can be broken down as follows.

1st preference - current for all areas.
2nd preference - current for Mexico, Philippines, all other areas. 08 July 2005 and 01 February 2005 for China and India respectively.
3rd preference - 15 December 2002, 15 December 2002, 01 July 2001, 01 July 2002, 15 December 2002 for the following areas; all other areas, China, India, Mexico, Philippines.
4th preference - current for all areas
5th preference - current

The Diversity immigrant visa lottery is broken down as follows for November 2009.
Africa 29,600 (Except for Egypt[18,000], Ethiopia[16,950], and Nigeria[14,350])
Asia 12,000
Europe 24,700
North America 4
Oceania 880
South America and the Caribbean 985

International Adoption

This is a tricky area of the law that requires compliance with a number of different rules and regulations. Furthermore, the requirements for each country can and usually are different. In general the adoption must be made legal in the country of the child that is to be adopted. A large of number of countries have signed and/or enacted the Hague Convention which controls the means in which a child may be adopted. Countries that have not signed the convention have their own internal rules and requirements for adoption. Prospective parents must conform with the countries requirements.

Once the child has been lawfully adopted you begin the USCIS process. This process can take some time, but is generally faster than the adoption process in the home country. Once the USCIS has processed the family visa and the visa is issued the newly adopted child can come to the United States. Once the child is given the visa and enters the United States there is a good possibility the child will get US citizenship if the child was adopted by a US citizen and the child is under 16 years old.

There are other requirements that are necessary for adopting a child and if you want to adopt contact a qualified attorney or a qualified adoption agency.