Immigration Lawyers Serving Rockville, Maryland

Citizenship and Naturalization

Eligibility for citizenship and naturalization requires a thorough understanding of the immigration process. You must meet these requirements to be eligible.

• You can read, write, and speak English.
• You understand U.S. history and the government and pass the U.S. Naturalization Civics Test
• You’re at least 18.
• You’ve been a law-abiding permanent resident for five or more years.
• You’ve been physically present in the U.S. for at least 30 months of those five years.
• You’ve continuously resided in the U.S. with no more than one year of absences.
• You’ve lived in a USCIS district or state for three years before applying for citizenship.

EB-5 (Investment Immigration) Cases

An EB-5 visa allows foreign investors, their spouses, and unmarried children under 21 years of age to come to the U.S. with conditional permanent residency if they invest in commercial industries or create U.S. jobs. The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program requires these investors to meet one of the following two options:

1. Invest $1,050,000 or more into a commercial enterprise.
2. Invest at least $800,000 in a rural area with high unemployment rates (150% or more of the federal unemployment rate).

After two years, the investors and their family members can become lawful permanent residents if they have maintained that active investment and created at least 10 jobs.

Employment/PERM Labor Certification

PERM Labor Certification is an option where foreigners can come to the U.S. to fill jobs where there are not enough U.S. workers. Around 140,000 immigrant visas are made available each year using employment-based immigration. 

An employer first fills out an application with the U.S. Department of Labor. After this, the employer files Form I-140 with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence. If you are an employer, reach out to our law firm to determine how we can help you with filing the paperwork.

National Interest Waivers

National Interest Waivers (NIW) are another employment-based category. To qualify for an NIW, you must have an advanced degree that benefits U.S. citizens. Benefits include improving wages and working conditions, education, health care, affordable housing, or the environment.

Family-Sponsored Immigration

Family-based immigration is available to allow permanent residence to a citizen of another country. One of the most common is a spouse coming to the U.S. after marriage. Permanent residence status can be taken away if the marriage doesn’t last. Other family-based immigration categories are prioritized and may not be available immediately.

• A U.S. citizen’s unmarried children under the age of 21
• A permanent spouse’s unmarried children.
• A citizen’s married children over the age of 21
• A U.S. citizen’s brothers and sisters who were born in another country

Waiting periods for the final family-sponsored category may exceed 10 years.

Non-immigrant (Temporary) Visas

Temporary visas are granted to certain individuals. WA Law helps with the following:

• E-2 Visa: Investor visa for specific countries
• H-1B Visa: Specialty occupation visa
• L-1 Visa: Employment visa for transferring executive, managerial, or specialty workers from a foreign office to the U.S
• O-1 Visa: Visa for people with extraordinary abilities in arts, business, education, sciences, or sports
• R-1 and J-1 Waivers: Temporary visa for religious professionals (R-1) and exchange visitors such as a foreign exchange student