Blog - Kazmi & Sakata

On October 1st, 2013, the United States began taking applications for its annual Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery (DV-2015), which will actually take place in 2015. This program is more commonly referred to as the “Green Card Lottery,” and it usually attracts hundreds of thousands of applications from around the world. The DV-2015 program provides a …Read More

Mexico is not a country traditionally associated with people fleeing and seeking asylum. If anything, Mexico is known to grant asylum to people who flee totalitarian regimes and countries scarred by civil strife. Keeping this in mind, the recent wave of Mexican nationals coming to the United States in search of asylum is puzzling. Many …Read More

We have received many inquiries on how the Government Shutdown will affect their immigration cases. Many immigration services from the Department of Labor will not be available. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP)expect delays at all ports of entry to the U.S. The agency expect increased wait times at major U.S. international airports of up …Read More

In early August, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg attended the screening of a film about the struggle of life as an undocumented immigrant in the United States. Mr. Zuckerberg took the opportunity to speak about his stance on immigration reform and labor issues. Mr. Zuckerberg is very familiar with the H-1B visa experience; after all, his …Read More

The topic of possible military intervention against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has dominated Congress over the last couple of weeks, but immigration reform is an issue that is still very much on the table. In early August, Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) commented that the immigration reform debate was going in the right …Read More

A recent Visa Bulletin from the U.S. State Department has been categorized as one of the most family-friendly policies adopted by immigration authorities. Up until recently, the family-based category of immigrants abroad who wish to permanently join their relatives in the United States was subject to a waiting period longer than five years. The new …Read More

Under this new process an individual appearing at a USCIS field office for an interview or to receive evidence of an immigration benefit will have his or her identity biometrically re-verified. The purpose is to help to both defend against threats to national security and protect customers from identity fraud by enhancing the agency’s ability …Read More

Labor Day in the United States is not celebrated on the same day as International Worker’s Day, which is something that puzzles many immigrants as they adjust to their new lives. The reason for choosing the first Monday of September instead of May 1st as the Labor Day holiday dates back to President Grover Cleveland’s …Read More

Beginning next week, on September 3, 2013, the Department of State (DOS) will fully transition to an online immigrant visa application. This will apply to aliens applying for immigrant visas at consulates (via the NVC) based on family or employment preferences. Immigrant visa applicants will apply online using Form DS-260 Application for Immigrant Visa. This …Read More

USCIS recently announced that approximately 2,300 conditional permanent residence cards were issued with incorrect expiration dates. USCIS is attempting to rectify this by sending emails to the aliens to provide them with instructions on obtaining a replacement card. USCIS provided the following details regarding this situation: Between July 22 and August 8, 2013, USCIS issued …Read More