Immigration Law Professionals
The Capitol Immigration Law Group PLLC is a boutique law firm based in Washington, DC specializing exclusively in U.S. immigration and nationality law. We serve corporate and individual clients throughout the U.S. and internationally. We are proud to be able to offer practical, prompt and professional immigration and employment compliance legal advice to our clients.
Because of our focus on business immigration law, we are able to handle competently all of our individual and corporate clients’ needs in this area. Our ability to provide quality and practical legal advice lies not only in our devotion and competency in immigration law, but also in our efforts to understand our clients’ business and to act as immigration-related business advisors.
We take great pride in the quality of our work, in our professionalism and in our expertise. We provide regular client updates on important developments in immigration and compliance law and are often invited speakers to relevant business community and other labor and immigration events.
We offer free and confidential initial evaluations and we offer competitive flat fee rates for our services. Our goal is to provide stability to our clients’ immigration and compliance needs by ensuring a combination of high level of service and predictable and transparent billing arrangements.
Our typical clients are small and mid-size companies doing business in a variety of sectors, non-profit organizations, universities and foreign investors. We consider our size an asset allowing us to provide loyal, intimate and personal legal services. In addition to corporate clients, we also represent foreign nationals from over 40 countries on individual employment-related immigration matters.
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News and Recent Articles
Automatic Visa Revalidation Program – Travel to Contiguous Territories
The Department of State rule, known as the "automatic revalidation" of visas is a rule which allows holders of almost all classes of U.S. visas to travel to a "contiguous territory" and return to the U.S. without a current valid stamp in the passport. Persons in F, J, H and O status can travel to Canada or Mexico and return to the U.S. without a valid visa stamp. Persons in F and J status can, in addition to Mexico and Canada, visit the "adjacent islands" (Caribbean islands except Cuba) and return to the U.S. without a valid visa stamp in their passport. Please read the entire article for more details on the automatic visa revalidation program.
Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) Goes Live
We have written previously on several occasions about the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) which is now live and operational. Direct link. The new system opened on August 1 and will be voluntary in nature until January 12, 2009, when it becomes mandatory for all individuals traveling under the visa waiver program (VWP). We have [...]
E-Verify – The Clock to Renew Is Ticking
The E-Verify program, as we know it and have used to love it or hate it now, is set to expire on November 1st. E-Verify and its requirements to verify the employment eligibility for all new hires is the cornerstone of many states' immigration enforcement laws. For example, South Carolina and Arizona require all or a large portion of the companies who employ workers to use E-Verify. With the Senate in recess from August 1 until September 7, and target adjournment date of September 26, there are not many days left for Congress to consider the many issues that surround E-Verify. Many senators wish to condition or structure E-Verify's reauthorization with some other immigration measures. Some of the proposed bills are likely to spur a fair amount of opposition and their passage, as proposed, is not guaranteed. Until then, E-Verify is still operational, but the limited calendar and the desire of the U.S. congressmen to push alternative immigration measures alongside E-Verify may mean that its renewal will be down to the wire. The E-Verify program, as we know it and have used to love it or hate it now, is set to expire on November 1st. E-Verify and its requirements to verify the employment eligibility for all new hires is the cornerstone of many states' immigration enforcement laws. For example, South Carolina and Arizona require all or a large portion of the companies who employ workers to use E-Verify. With the Senate in recess from August 1 until September 7, and target adjournment date of September 26, there are not many days left for Congress to consider the many issues that surround E-Verify. Many senators wish to condition or structure E-Verify's reauthorization with some other immigration measures. Some of the proposed bills are likely to spur a fair amount of opposition and their passage, as proposed, is not guaranteed. Until then, E-Verify is still operational, but the limited calendar and the desire of the U.S. congressmen to push alternative immigration measures alongside E-Verify may mean that its renewal will be down to the wire. We at the Capitol Immigration Law Group will continue monitoring the situation on behalf of our clients and report as we get updates. To receive timely updates please visit this site regularly, subscribe to its RSS feed, or subscribe to our email newsletter.
Neufield Memo on 180-day Adjustment of Status Bar Exemption
Section 245(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) allows for the adjustment of status (I-485) which so many of our clients and readers are well familiar. Section 245(c) of the INA establishes eight (8) bars to adjustment of status. However, adjustment of status based on employment-based immigrant visa are exempt from three of these bars, pursuant to Section 245(k). In a July 14, 2008, Memorandum, Donald Neufeld seeks to explain the applicability of these exemptions and provide details and clarifications on the applicability of the exemptions and the adjudication procedures. Please read the full article for details on the July 14, 2008, Memorandum and analysis on its implications.