Need Help with an Immigration Case? Hire a Local Attorney
If you’re a college student experiencing legal issues, you want to hire an attorney rather than wait for a public defender to see you. Since public defenders aren’t allowed to turn down cases they don’t have time for in 60% of the state systems, you want to have counsel available immediately. While public defenders do practice law, they do so at the behest of the court system, since you are entitled to legal representation.
Were you arrested for underage alcohol possession, a suspected DUI, or an alleged sex crime? In 2012 alone, there were over 12 million arrests made by law enforcement for these and other reasons. It is unfortunately that on an annual basis, there are believed to be around 10,000 people that are wrongfully convicted of a serious crime. If you believe you have been falsely accused, it’s even more important for you to obtain the services of an attorney at law.
Since there are different types of attorneys that practice law, you want one that is familiar with your type of case. If you are experiencing issues related to legal residency, for example, an immigration attorney will be able to advise you of your rights and responsibilities.
In 2012, around 7% of students in enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade had at least one parent that was an unauthorized immigrant. While the foreign-born population may have increased by 1 million during 2013 and 2014, approximately 47% of the immigrants living in this country were naturalized United States citizens. Currently, however, 5.1% of the labor force is comprised of unauthorized immigrants.
If you need help to obtain legal residency for you and an immediate relative, you may be interested to know that there are 480,000 family-based visas available on an annual basis. It’s possible that other family members may be granted a visa through the family preference system.
The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy reports that there were 42.2 million immigrants living in the United States during 2014. This constituted 13.3% of the total population at that time, which was 318.9 million.
There are 140,000 permanent employment-based visas granted immigrants every year. Even though there are 5 types of employment preferences, each of these has a numerical restriction. In other words, each category only allows for a certain number of visas on any given employment category.
You may be aware of the Diversity Visa lottery that was created by the Immigration Act of 1990. The purpose of this lottery was to provide a means for individuals from counties with low rates of immigration to come to the United States. On an annual basis, 55,000 visas are randomly allocated to countries that have sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants during the past 5 years.
If you have an expired work visa, are attending college with an expired student visa, or are experiencing other issues related to these matters, it’s important to find an immigration attorney to provide counsel. As was previously stated, there are different types of attorneys that practice law, so you need to find one that has experience with your specific situation.