Congratulations - Same-Sex U.S. citizen partner obtained green card. / March 28, 2014 by Timothy Bakken

Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act).

Among its other benefits, this decision paved the way for foreign nationals married to same-sex U.S. citizen partners to obtain green cards.

I am happy to say that since the demise of DOMA I have represented several same-sex married couples who have successfully completed the U.S. green card process, including most recently a green card issued yesterday; great evidence of increasing equality and fairness in our country in general and our immigration system in particular.

See Marriage Equality for additional information and resources about same-sex marriage issues.

Timothy R. Bakken

USCIS to Accept H-1B Petitions for Fiscal Year 2015 Beginning April 1, 2014 / March 25, 2014 by Timothy Bakken

BAKKEN LAW: Today the USCIS issued a press release projecting it will receive enough H-1B petitions to reach both the “normal” H-1B annual cap and the U.S. Master’s Degree annual cap by April 7, 2014.

The first date USCIS will accept H-1B petitions for both caps is Tuesday, April 1, 2014 and USCIS states that it is “prepared” to use a random lottery to select H-1B petitions for adjudication, though it does not exactly state the parameters of a random lottery; in past years, the USCIS has considered petitions filed in the first 5 days of the annual cap filing period as timely filed for purposes of inclusion in the random lottery. In addition, USCIS is temporarily delaying the premium processing rules due to an expected high number of H-1B petitions being filed with a request for premium processing. Specifically, USCIS will begin premium processing of cap-subject H-1B petitions “no later than April 28, 2014”.

Stay tuned for more details!

Timothy R. Bakken

Bakken Law thoughts about recent deportation study / March 21, 2014 by Timothy Bakken

Following on my posting of this study yesterday, a careful review of the results indicates that a large majority (67%) of deportations in 2013 were of people with no criminal convictions or misdemeanor convictions.

Those who say President Obama has not been tough on immigration enforcement should look at the ICE statistics which show his administration has deported far more people than prior administrations.

This study shows that the current strict enforcement policies affect huge numbers of individuals with no criminal convictions or minor criminal records, notwithstanding existing immigration laws that include provisions allowing many such people to obtain lawful permanent resident status based on long-term residency in the U.S., strong ties and benefits to the U.S., and close U.S. citizen relatives (children, spouses, parents) who will suffer extreme hardship if the non-U.S. citizen relative is deported.

Timothy R. Bakken

Congratulations! / March 7, 2014 by Timothy Bakken

I would like to share another happy result for one of our clients. This gentleman, a talented Industrial Engineer from the Philippines, had been waiting over 7 years for his green card – believe it or not, this is a normal waiting time simply because of his Filipino nationality.

I am very happy for this client and his family, all of whom are hard-working and productive members of American society. But, the long wait they had to endure exposes one of the problems with our current employment-based immigration rules, which delay the immigration process for educated professionals based solely on country of nationality. (Nationals of India, China, and Mexico in this employment-based category for professionals with Bachelor’s Degrees must also wait years and years to complete the green card process.)

Timothy R. Bakken

Congratulations! / February 28, 2014 by Timothy Bakken

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Another remarkable musician granted permanent resident status. Congratulations to Bakken Law client, Nicolo Spera, whose green card application as an “extraordinary ability” Classical Guitarist was approved by the USCIS this week!

Dr. Spera is an Instructor in the Music Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder – see his bio and samples of his music here.

Timothy R. Bakken

Congratulations! / February 20, 2014 by Timothy Bakken

Congratulations to our client, Dr. Ysmael Reyes, a world-renowned flutist and now a permanent resident of the United States!

This week, USCIS issued Dr. Reyes a green card based on his extraordinary ability in his field. Check out www.ysmaelreyes.com to learn more about Dr. Reyes and to listen to selections of his beautiful playing.

Timothy R. Bakken