The Concept of Dual Citizenship

Posted August 28, 2018

From the U.S. State Department.

The concept of dual citizenship (or dual nationality) means that a person is a citizen of two countries at the same time.  Each country has its own citizenship laws based on its own policy.  Persons may have dual nationality by automatic operation of different laws rather than by choice.  For example, a child born in a foreign country to U.S. citizen parents may be both a U.S. citizen and a citizen of the country of birth.

Generally, the U.S. government has looked with disfavor on U.S. citizens who maintain dual nationality.  In this regard, Congress has an appropriate concern with problems attendant to dual nationality such as allegiance and war-time support.  One who has dual nationality is potentially subject to claims from both nations, claims which at times may be competing and/or conflicting.  However, dual nationals owe allegiance to both the United States and the foreign country.  They are required to obey the laws of both countries.  Either country has the right to enforce its laws, particularly if the person later travels there.

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The U.S. Citizenship Civics Examination

Posted August 2, 2017

Clients applying for U.S. citizenship often ask with great concern, how will I pass the civics examination?  For many recent immigrants with less exposure to American society and media, the concern is valid.

The solution, however, can be easy.  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the government agency that processes applications for naturalization and administers the interview and examination, provides a study guide online, found here, that contains the set of all questions that might be asked during the interview, and the answers to those questions.  Download the study materials and see for yourself.

At the naturalization interview, the civics examination comes in the latter half of the interview and is comprised of ten questions.  In order to pass the examination, the applicant must answer six of those ten questions correctly.  A mere 60% correct is a passing score. 

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In Reply to Mitt Romney and David Frum

Posted November 28, 2011

David Frum is a former special assistant to George W. Bush and a frequent political commentator who maintains a popular online community, FrumForum.  In a recent CNN column, he weighs in on the heated immigration debate, siding with Mitt Romney in opposing Newt Gingrich’s recent assertion that some form of a legalization program must be coupled with continuing enforcement.  The following is my reply.

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I believe Gingrich is more right and Romney (and Frum) are more wrong here. There will have to be compromise in this legislation. There are very few absolutes in U.S. immigration.

Gingrich doesn’t deny that enforcement is a two-pronged approach, part securing the border, part employer sanctions.

The guest worker issue likewise requires a duality of approach that doesn’t cater to absolutist socioeconomic principles. We must address low-skilled workers, the poor tired huddled masses (as it were – now more like the guys hanging around Home Depot) as well as the engineers and scientists so valued by the business community and research institutions.

Current low-skilled guest worker visa programs that are tied to seasonal or agricultural employment are not the problem. Existing J and H categories (exclusive of H-1B) will have to become part of the solution, tweaked, bifurcated and expanded somehow to provide a semi-orderly transition from the past to the future for working illegals who would otherwise have no basis to qualify for a legalization program. Frum and Romney apparently dismiss this technocratic approach entirely, until the border is secure, and they’re wrong. First build the roads, then build the towns. Colonials had the luxury of vice versa; we no longer do.

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Practice Areas

Posted July 26, 2011

PRACTICE AREAS

 

Applications and Petitions for Visas, and Business Transactions

We represent foreign investors and workers and/or their sponsoring U.S. employers in procurement of the complete range of work and travel visas, including visas for spouses and family members, extensions and changes of status within the U.S., visa renewals abroad, and all family-related immigration matters.

We also represent small and medium-sized businesses with start-up assistance, including incorporation, business plan writing and equity and benefit plans development, as well as ongoing corporate and business transactional matters.

For accurate and timely information about non-immigrant visa categories and eligibility, see the State Department’s official website at http://travel.state.gov.

Temporary visitors (B-1/2)

Border Crossers (BCC)

Business investors and international traders (E-1/E-2)

Australian specialty occupation workers (E-3)

Academic students (F-1/F-2)

Specialty occupation employment (H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, H-4)

Chilean and Singaporean specialty workers (H-1B1)

International media and press (I-1)

Exchange program visitors (J-1, waivers)

Fiancés and spouses married abroad, dependents (K-1/K-2/K-3)

Executives, managers and specialized knowledge employees transferring to U.S. (L-1A/B)

Vocational students (M-1)

Extraordinary ability workers (O-1/O-2/O-3)

Artists, entertainers and athletes (P-1/P-2)

International cultural exchanges visitors (Q-1)

NAFTA workers (TN)

Religious workers (R)

Consular assistance abroad

Extensions and changes of non-immigrant status

Requests for Evidence (RFE), motions to reopen and appeals (AAO)

 

Applications and Petitions for Permanent Residence

Family based sponsorship (I-130, 1-485)

Marriages and adjustment of status (I-130, I-485, I-131, I-765)

Marriage interviews, best evidence and Affidavit of Support requirements

Fiancés and dependents (I-129F, DS-156K)

Work authorization documents (I-765/EADS)

Travel documents (I-765)

Removal of conditional residence (I-751)

Consular processing (DS-230)

Medical examinations (I-693)

Green card renewal or replacement

Age-out, passport and travel issues

Adoptions

 

U.S. Employers and Permanent Residence Sponsorship

I-9s and E-Verify

Department of Labor and ICE audits

Employment visas (H-1Bs, TNs, etc.), LCAs and salary surveys

Labor certification assistance and project management

Labor certification audits and appeals (BALCA)

Employer petitions (I-140, all preference categories)

National interest waivers

Health care workers

Skilled and migrant labor

Domestic workers

 

Investors, Traders and Entrepreneurs

E-1 treaty traders

E-2 treaty investors

EB-5 immigrant investors

Incorporations, share distribution, corporate record-keeping, leases and business plans

 

Citizenship and Naturalization

Applications for naturalization (N-400)

Examination prep and study material

Qualification, strategies and timing

Dual citizenship

 

Defenses to Removal and Deportation

Notices to Appear (NTAs)

Detentions and hearings

Voluntary departure

Waivers of bars to readmission

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