Addressing the Mismatch: Eliminating the H-1B Cap to Meet Employer Demand for Employment-Based Visas in the US
The United States has long been a land of opportunity, attracting global talent and fostering innovation. However, the current system of employment-based visas falls short in meeting the increasing demand from employers. One particular visa category, the H-1B, has […]
Steve Cozzi was one of those rare people you meet in life that made you want to get to know them well, all with a handshake and a few minutes of conversation. He radiated kindness, sincerity, empathy, and genuine nature, and he believed steadfastly in justice and that the law was a positive force […]
U.S. Immigration law is an alphabet soup of visa categories and concepts, and I thought it would be interesting to try to go from A to Z and see if I could come up with something for each letter. Here goes!
A: Alien – This is the term used for any foreign national involved in […]
Immigration and Birthright Citizenship – What We Need to Do to Deal with It.
Let’s face it – this country is a disaster on so many fronts. The government finally woke up out of its century-and-a-half-long slumber to establish Juneteenth. Yes, slavery happened, and it lasted four centuries and this country was built on the […]
The Ortegas were all U.S. citizens, from the grandfather, Joaquin Sr., to his son, Joaquin Jr., and Jr.’s wife, Laura, and their three kids, including 17-year-old Joaquin III. What made this family unique was that they were all U.S. citizens, but they were all born in, and still living in, the Dominican Republic.
Joaquin Jr. […]
The recent Super Bowl ad, which had the godfather of heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne, and Paul Stanley, the face of glam rock, objecting to the use of the term “Rock Star” for non-music-related overachievers was proof positive of the modern-day ubiquity of the term to connote being at the top of your field.
In 2017, […]
The O-1 visa is a non-immigrant, or temporary work visa, which can last for up to three years at a time and has no limit on the number of extensions. Extraordinary ability visas encompass all professions, including business, science, education, athletics, and the arts.
Since ability is a subjective standard, the law requires that it […]
On April 29th President Trump released a memo instructing the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to formulate regulations that will further restrict our humanitarian asylum laws for those seeking asylum protection at the southern border.
The memo directs the implementation of regulations that will require asylum seekers to pay a fee to […]
SMA has been helping reunite and keep together families through different immigration processes since 2004. This includes bona fide marriages where one or both of the spouses lives outside the U.S., or where they are both in the U.S. It also includes U.S. citizens petitioning for their foreign parents, children or siblings. This does […]
SMA Law Firm has its origins in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where its founder, Steve Maggi, set up shop in 2004 and started offering U.S. immigration legal assistance to people and companies from his native Argentina. What developed from that was a specialization in what we call “Outside-In Immigration”. What does this mean? Essentially it […]
