Immigration

Our office handles all aspects of immigration law, including all kinds of immigrant and non-immigrant visas,
naturalization, deportation defense, deferred inspection, immigration cases appeal, suing immigration and FBI due to name check delay, etc. More specifically, our services include the following categories:

EB-1

EB-1, a First Preference Immigration Petition, is an employment-based petition for permanent residence reserved for those who are among the most able and accomplished in their respective fields such as arts, sciences, education, business, or sports. There are three types of EB-1 petitions:

a) Alien of Extraordinary Ability EB-1 (a)

b) Outstanding Researcher/Outstanding Professor EB-1 (b)

c) Managers and Executive Transferees EB-1(c)

One of the most notable advantages for those who qualify for an EB-1 petition is the lack of a Labor Certification requirement. Obtaining a Labor Certification is not only time-consuming and expensive, but also risky since an alien would be denied a Labor Certification if a technically qualified U.S. worker is available to fill the position sought by the petitioning alien, even if the alien is actually more suitable for the position based on factors not considered in the Labor Certification process.

Another advantage for qualified candidates for an EB-1 petition is that the priority date of their filing will likely be always current or at least, much more recent than other types of employment-based petitions.

National Interest Waiver:

A National Interest Waiver (NIW) petition falls into the employment-based immigration second preference category. Normally, a job offer and approved labor certification are pre-requisites to file an employment-based second preference petition. However, a National Interest Waiver (NIW) petition requests that the otherwise required U.S. job offer requirement, as well as the labor certification requirement, be waived for the sake of the "national interest."

In order to file an NIW petition, the candidate must be able to demonstrate that

a) The applicant is seeking work in an area of substantial intrinsic merit to the US .

b) The benefit from the candidate's proposed activity will be national in scope.

c) Such national interest would be adversely affected if a Labor Certification were required for the alien applicant.

Since the requirement of a job offer is waived, an individual may file an NIW petition by herself/ himself, while a U.S. employer may file an NIW on behalf of the alien as well. Mugg & Tang, LLP can assist the applicant in determining if the applicant satisfy these requirements.

Perm :

PERM is the U.S. Department of Labor's most recent program for permanent labor certification program. It was officially promulgated on December 27, 2004. These are some of the key points of PERM :

a. All labor Certification applications filed on or after March 28, 2005 must follow PERM rules.

b. The U.S. employer must pay at least 100% (instead of only 95%) of the "prevailing wage," but now four wage levels (instead of only two) will be available.

c. PERM labor certifications will be filed electronically (or by mail) directly with the DOL.

d. DOL has set the goal for making decisions on the electronically filed PERM applications at 45–60 days (instead of months and years under the RIR or "standard" processes).

Mugg & Tang, LLP’s attornies are very knowledgeable in processing PERM applications which are notoriously complicated by the above considerations.

Nurse Green Card:

Because of the shortage of nurses and physical therapists in the U.S. , the U.S. Department of Labor created a Schedule A category for qualified foreign nurses and physical therapists.

For a nurse to obtain permanent residency through the Schedule A category, the applicant must meet the following requirements:

a) The applicant must have a diploma from a nursing school in the applicant’s country;

b) Have a RN license in the applicant’s country; and

c) Have a full and unrestricted license to practice professional nursing in the state of intended employment, or a certification that the applicant has passed the examination given by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), or evidence that the applicant has passed the NCLEX-RN licensing examination but cannot obtain a license because the applicant lacks a social security number.

For a physical therapist to obtain permanent residency through the Schedule A category, the applicant must meet the following requirements:

a) The applicant must have a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy or the equivalent; and

b) Have a license to practice in the applicant’s state of intended employment; or

c) Have a letter from a state licensing agency stating that the applicant is qualified to take the state licensing examination.

Investor Immigration:

To be eligible for lawful permanent residence based on an investment the applicant must meet the following criteria:

Qualifying Investments

Job Creation: Investments in new commercial enterprises must benefit the U.S. economy and create full-time employment for at least 10 worker-authorized employees, excluding the applicant and the applicant’s immediate relatives, and persons in nonimmigrant status. Saving ten jobs may also qualify if the qualifying investment is in a troubled business.

Amount and Nature of Assets: The capital investment must be $1,000,000 in high employment areas and $500,000 in targeted employment areas. The capital may consist of cash, equipment, inventory, other tangible property, and easily convertible cash equivalents.

Commercial Enterprise : Any for profit business can qualify, including sole proprietorships, limited or general partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, business trusts, joint ventures, holding companies and wholly owned for-profit commercial subsidiaries, mutual investment funds, etc. An existing commercial enterprise purchased by the applicant can also qualify without necessity for reorganization or reincorporating, if the applicant’s infusion of capital increases the business' net worth or the number of qualifying U.S. workers employed by 40%. Pre-existing commercial enterprises also qualify if the appliant saves ten U.S. jobs by taking over a troubled business that has operated for-at-least two years and has incurred a net loss of at least 20% of net worth during one of the two years preceding the applicantr investment.

Location: The only location criteria apply to $500,000 investments in targeted employment areas, which include rural areas identified by the U.S. census or the Office of Management and Budget and areas certified by a State government to be experiencing average unemployment of at least 150% of the national average.

Qualifying Investors

Capital Contribution: The applicant must make a qualifying investment using personally owned and legally obtained assets or indebtedness secured by personal assets (i.e. not secured by the qualifying commercial enterprise).

Management: The applicant must be engaged in management of the enterprise, either through daily managerial control or through policy formulation as a corporate officer, director, or partner.

Multiple Investors: Each multiple investor in the same enterprise will qualify if he or she meets the minimal capital and job creation requirements. In cases where not all multiple investors seek to immigrate to the United States based on the investment, the job creation requirement can be met by those investors who seek to immigrate (based on the joint investment) by apportioning the total number of jobs created among the immigrating investors rather than among all investors. (Note: This apportionment among joint investors does not apply to the capital requirement.)

Mugg & Tang, LLP can assist the applicant in startup of their US firm, or in buying out an existing US firm.

Family-based Immigration

Family-based petitioners are limited by statute to a certain number of persons each year. In recent years, the number of immigrants allowed under family sponsorship was 480,000 per year. There are two main categories for family-based immigrant visas:

a) Immediate relative of a U.S. citizen; or

b) Under one of four preference immigrant visas.

There is no cap on the number of visas allowed under the "immediate relative" category. However, the numbers of immediate relatives are subtracted from the 480,000 cap on family-based immigration to determine the number of other family-based immigrants to be admitted in the following year.

If an applicant does not qualify as an immediate relative, the law firm of Mugg & Tang, LLP can help the applicant to apply under one of four categories ranked in order of preference. The first preference category consists of unmarried sons or daughters of U.S. citizens. The second preference family-based category deals with relatives of permanent residents of the United States and is divided into two subgroups each with a separate waiting list for available visas: (a) spouses and minor children of permanent residents, and (b) unmarried sons or daughters (but not their children) of permanent residents. A married son or daughter of the U.S. citizen falls under the third preference category. The fourth preference category permits U.S. citizens over the age of twenty-one to petition their brothers and sisters for permanent residence. Since numerical caps apply to these categories, visa petitions are ranked chronologically based on a "first come - first serve basis." Because of the numerical cap, there are long waiting periods to obtain a visa in most of the family-based immigrant categories.