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Immigrating to the USA
See our related article on Starting a Business in the USA

Finding An Immigration Attorney. Millions of people want to come to the United States each year. The individuals who are admitted to the USA get here because of their individual qualifications, legal preferences and sheer persistence in working through the requirements of U.S. Immigration law. Immigration law is comprised of formal laws, regulations and previous decisions and other varying information that provides guidance and sets precedents. The INS, like many government websites, is excellent in providing information. However, there is a lot of information to cover. You can navigate that maze yourself, but you might save significant time and frustration by hiring a good immigration attorney to get you through the passage.

Is Immigration Good or Bad? The American Immigration Lawyers Association addresses five myths about immigration on their site. We have condensed these myths so recommend that you click over to their website for more information at http://www.aila.org/.

Myths
 Myth 1: Immigrants Take Jobs Away From Americans

  • Immigrants start 18% of all new small businesses.
  • Foreign companies in the U.S. employ 2.2 million U.S. industrial workers.

Myth 2: Immigrants are overrunning America.

  • Although there are more immigrants than ever before living in the U.S., the percentage of immigrants as part of the population has dropped.
  • ¾ of all immigrants in the 1980s settled in only 6 states: California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Texas
  • Most immigrants settle in U.S. metropolitan areas, so their diversity may be more notable than if there was even distribution.

Myth 3: Most immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy. · Immigrants make an economic contribution to the U.S. economy.

  • They earn $240 billion yearly.
  • They pay $90 billion yearly in taxes.
  • They receive only $5 billion in welfare
  • Immigrants must prove that the U.S. taxpayer won't have to support them before they are allowed to reside in the U.S.

Myth 4: Immigrants aren't really interested in becoming part of American society.

  • More people than ever before are taking English as a Second Language classes.
  • After 15 years in the U.S., 75% of Spanish-speaking immigrants speak English regularly.

Myth Number 5: Immigrants contribute little to American society.

  • Immigrants value family highly.
  • Immigrants are motivated to succeed in the U.S. and statistics show that they do.
  • Many are highly educated and skilled.
  • Every American is and immigrant or descended from immigrants.

Hiring An Immigration Lawyer. Three of the states with the highest level of immigration, California, Florida and Texas, have developed certification programs for attorneys. These require examination, experience and recommendations. That doesn't mean that attorneys in other states do not have the experience and expertise to meet your needs, but it does provide a good screening device.

A good way to find an attorney is by getting a referral from their satisfied clients. Another way is to go to the Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory online at http://www.lawyers.com/ to find attorneys rated anonymously by other lawyers and judges for their legal competence and their ethics.

Anyone wishing to obtain the official list of all attorneys who are certified specialists in immigration and nationality law in the State of California may do so online.

Checklist in Interviewing An Attorney

  • Ask about education and experience
  • Find out fee structure and payment arrangements
  • What time schedule and which steps will be required?
  • Ask for an estimate of time, money and probability of success
  • Assess whether you feel comfortable in working with your attorney
  • Ask for client referrals.
Helpful Websites:
U.S. Department of State Visa Services http://travel.state.gov/visa_services.html

Immigration and Naturalization Service
http://www.ins.gov/

American Association of Immigration Lawyers http://www.aila.org/

The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory http://www.lawyers.com/

American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Rights: http://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrant/hmir.html

-Cindy Nemeth-Johannes
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