US Government’s Discrimination of Foreign Nationals in 2021
SMA Law Firm2024-12-02T13:52:12-05:00We watch the news each day and we see a common theme in America: Marginalized groups want what they deserve: to receive the same treatment and protections as allowed by law, which translates into equal opportunities. The reality is that minorities and women do not receive the same treatment and that the law does […]
Going Down with the Ship by Steve Maggi
SMA Law Firm2024-12-02T14:20:52-05:00What does a great leader do in times of turmoil and adversity? Whatever your answer might be to that question, it is probably not that they find a scapegoat and start a hateful campaign to punish that scapegoat in all the ways they can to deflect attention being placed on them and do things […]
The hardest year in half a century for immigrants
SMA Law Firm2024-12-04T10:18:19-05:00The O-1 Visa Extraordinary Ability Visa and The Contracts Needed To Secure A Three Year Period
SMA Law Firm2024-12-04T10:31:26-05:00The 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 […]
The Trump administration further attempts to restrict rights of asylum seekers
SMA Law Firm2024-12-04T10:39:47-05:00On 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 […]
H-1B Transfer Activity Will Be Unprecedented
SMA Law Firm2024-12-04T11:05:57-05:00On May 1, prospective employers who sponsored H-1B visa candidates this year began to get receipt notices for US Masters Cap cases. In the month to follow, employers will find out the fate of the blind lottery used to determine which H-1B petitions will be adjudicated.
Every year, USCIS starts accepting H-1B petitions on April […]
Visas for Foreign Entertainers and Athletes and the Underlying Contracts
SMA Law Firm2024-12-04T11:14:35-05:00When you look at the list of concerts coming to your city or look at professional sports rosters and see unique and exotic names from other countries, it may seem normal to you as a spectator. However, for each international artist who plays a show in the U.S., or for all those great international […]
Anchor Babies, Birthright Citizenship and SMA’s Family Immigration Practice
SMA Law Firm2024-12-04T11:28:35-05:00SMA 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 […]
“Outside-In Immigration”
SMA Law Firm2024-12-04T11:34:33-05:00SMA 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 […]