Immigration & Nationality
The rules that decide who may enter, stay, work, and naturalize — and what happens when a case goes wrong.
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Immigration & Nationality
Section 245(i) Grandfathering: Who Can Still Adjust Status Inside the Country
Section 245(i) allows certain grandfathered beneficiaries to adjust status in the United States despite an unlawful entry or a lapse in status, if a qualifying petition or labor certification was filed in time.
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Immigration & Nationality
Naturalizing After Three Years of Marriage to a Citizen
Spouses of U.S. citizens may naturalize after three years of residence rather than five, but only if the marriage is intact and the spouse has been a citizen throughout that period.
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Immigration & Nationality
Renouncing U.S. Citizenship: Procedure, Tax Exit, and Irrevocability
Renunciation of U.S. citizenship must be made in person before a consular officer outside the country, is confirmed by a Certificate of Loss of Nationality, and carries its own tax regime.
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Immigration & Nationality
Denaturalization: Grounds, Procedure, and What Triggers a Case
Denaturalization takes two forms: a civil suit in federal court to set aside a naturalization order, and revocation that follows a criminal conviction for unlawfully procuring citizenship.
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Immigration & Nationality
Passport Denial and Revocation: Grounds and How to Respond
A U.S. passport can be refused or revoked for warrants, court orders, certified child support arrears, and certified tax debt, each with its own route back.
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Immigration & Nationality
Applying for a Visa in a Third Country: Rules, Risks, and Refusals
A consular officer may accept a visa application from someone who lives elsewhere, but posts restrict the practice, and a refusal in a third country can leave the applicant stranded.
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Immigration & Nationality
Nonimmigrant Waivers of Inadmissibility Under INA 212(d)(3)
Section 212(d)(3) permits a discretionary waiver allowing an otherwise inadmissible person to enter the United States temporarily, without any showing of hardship to a relative.
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Immigration & Nationality
The False Claim to Citizenship Bar and the Narrow Exceptions
A false representation of U.S. citizenship made for a purpose or benefit under federal or state law creates permanent inadmissibility, subject only to a narrow statutory exception.
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Immigration & Nationality
The Adam Walsh Act: When a Petitioner's Record Blocks a Family Petition
A petitioner convicted of a specified offense against a minor cannot have a family petition approved unless the agency determines, in unreviewable discretion, that the petitioner poses no risk.
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Immigration & Nationality
IMBRA Disclosures and Filing Limits in Fiance Cases
IMBRA requires a fiance petitioner to disclose criminal and marital history to the beneficiary, limits how often the same person may file, and imposes duties on marriage brokers.
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Immigration & Nationality
Enforcing an Affidavit of Support: Suits by Sponsored Immigrants
The affidavit of support is a contract the sponsored immigrant can enforce in court, at a percentage of the federal poverty guidelines, until one of five ending events occurs.
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Immigration & Nationality
Derivative Beneficiaries: Who Can Follow to Join an Employment Petition
A spouse and unmarried children under 21 take the principal's employment-based classification and priority date, but only if the relationship existed at the right moment.
