USA Immigration and Green Card
Lottery Information
The US is home to many immigrants
including immigrants from Middle Eastern and Muslim countries.
The events of 9/11 made the laws tougher and maed it more
challenging for people from the Middle East and Muslim countries
to get visas.
The green card serves as a proof that its
holder, a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), has been officially
granted immigration benefits, which include permission to reside
and take employment in the USA. The holder must maintain his
permanent resident status, and can be removed if certain
conditions of such status are not met.
An alien with a green card application can
obtain two important permits while the case is pending. The
first is a temporary work permit known as the
Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which
allows the alien to take employment in the United States. The
second is a temporary travel document,
advance parole, which allows the alien to re-enter
the United States. Both permits confer benefits that are
independent of any existing status granted to the alien. For
example, the alien might already have permission to work in the
US under an
H1-B visa.
Although people should refer the US
Immigration's site for updated immigration laws, some of the changes
in recent years include the following:
J1
students must leave the US within a few days after the end date of
their degree / non-degree programs
Changes in the status of your education (change of university,
program, etc.) may require that you notify the immigration
officials
New
tax rules may necessitate filing of taxes and reporting of income
even by international students
New
proposed immigration changes give much more emphasis to a person’s
education and job skills levels. This supposedly makes the
immigration process easier for new intending immigrants. The US
like many other countries may start a point system to evaluate the
qualification of new immigrants.
The
new laws eventually may limit “chain immigration”. This refers to
immigration based on kinship. This may make it more challenging
for siblings and adult children to get permanent residence in the
United States.
