Category: Immigration

A removal hearing immigration court proceeding starts long before anyone sits in front of a judge. It starts with a Notice to Appear, the charging document under INA § 240 that lays out why the government believes someone is removable and orders them to appear in immigration court. What happens between that notice and a…

The naturalization requirements n-400 applicants have to satisfy come down to two numbers most people underestimate: continuous residence and physical presence. Under INA § 316, meeting the residency length doesn’t automatically mean you’ve met the physical presence test too. They’re separate calculations. A lot of travel abroad can quietly break one without you realizing it…

A marriage based green card process splits into two very different tracks the moment a couple decides how to file. One track, adjustment of status, works for a spouse who’s already living in the U.S. in a lawful status. The other, consular processing, applies when the spouse is living abroad. Both end in the same…

A family based green card immediate relative petition moves through the system faster than almost any other category. There’s one specific reason why. Under INA § 201(b), immediate relatives of U.S. citizens aren’t subject to the annual numerical limits that create years-long backlogs in every other family-based category. That single distinction is why two people…