Alan Lee

Top rated immigration attorney in New York, New York

Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law
Alan Lee
Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law

Practice Areas: Immigration

Licensed in New York since: 1982

Education: Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Selected to Super Lawyers: 2011, 2013 - 2023

Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law

408 8th Avenue
Suite 5A
New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-564-9496 Email: Alan Lee Visit website

Alan Lee exclusively practices immigration law and covers the spectrum from non-immigrant visas such as H-1B and L-1, to federal court litigation including employment and family-based matters, investment immigration, asylum, and citizenship. He holds an AV preeminent rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and is on the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, the highest rating in both legal ability and ethical standards as judged by his peers. He has successfully concluded cases before USCIS, DOS, DOL, Consuls, Immigration Courts, Federal Circuit and District Courts, BIA, BALCA, USCIS Appeals Adjudication Office, and Regional Commissioners. Mr. Lee has authored approximately 2,040 legal writings in newspapers and journals on immigration, including Interpreter Releases, Immigration Daily, and Chinese language dailies World Journal and Sing Tao. His staff has fluency in multiple dialects of Chinese.

First Admitted: 1977, Ohio

Professional Webpage: https://alanleelaw.com/about-the-firm

Verdicts/Settlements:
  • BIA Affirms IJ Grant on Certification on Crime, Overbroad Statute, and Second Circuit Changed Law In Our Case (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 8/16/22, AILA website postings, #22081700(8/18/22), Benders Immigration Bulletin daily edition, 8/18/22,  in an unpublished decision, In re A079 683 165, August 1, 2022, the BIA affirmed on certification the favorable decision that we received from the immigration court in one of our cases terminating proceedings against a permanent resident with a Virginia burglarious tools possession conviction. The issue was whether our client had to show that someone was actually prosecuted under the facially overbroad Virginia statute for the type of conduct which was not an immigration crime under the federal definition. The Board concluded that “the respondent was not required to make the showing, as the statute was facially overbroad and this case is under the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.” It further said that “The Second Circuit has interpreted the realistic probability test as being inapplicable if a state statute is facially overbroad” and “as the Immigration Judge correctly recognized, the Second Circuit has extended its case law to depart from the Board’s requirement of prosecution to satisfy the realistic probability test.”
  • Matter of Leacheng International Inc., 26 I&N Dec. 532 (AAO 2015); Firstland International v. INS, 377 F.3d 127 (2d Cir. 2004);  Chavan v. Drysdale, 513 F.Supp.990 (NDNY 1981). 
Honors/Awards:
  • Rated AV in Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory since 1994, AV Preeminent rating since 2010 with legend of highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards, & in the Bar Register of Pre-eminent Lawyers since 2011.  Also named Client Champion Platinum 2018 - 2021 by Martindale-Hubbell. Awarded twice by the government of the Republic of China in 1985 for outstanding work in immigration and human rights affairs; selected for Who's Who in American Law; honorary editor of newspaper, Pakistan Calling; Sidney A. Levine Award winner at Cleveland Marshall College of Law for best legal writing in 1976/77. Recognized as one of New York area's "Top Rated Lawyers" by Martindale-Hubbell for 2012, 2014 - 2021., Martindale-Hubbell
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
  • Lectures before student groups at universities, colleges, and institutes on immigration laws.  Approximately 2,025 legal writings in newspapers and journals on immigration law; and a regular contributor to Martindale-Hubbell's Ask-a-Lawyer program.
Educational Background:
  • B.A. graduate in English of UCLA 1973 and J.D. graduate of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, 1977. Ohio bar, 1977; New York bar, 1982.
Pro bono/Community Service:
  • Appearances before community groups, universities, colleges and institutes on immigration issues of interest to them. Participant in Ask-A-Lawyer program of LexisNexis/Martindale-Hubbell since 2013.   Before moving to New York, staff attorney in Bowling Green, Ohio, for Ohio Migrant Legal Action Program (OMLAP) & then lead attorney in Bowling Green for its successor, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE).
Other Outstanding Achievements:
  • Firstland Int'l v. INS successfully challenged Legacy INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approval of immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of law.  It was short-lived, however, as it was legislatively overturned by the Bush administration. Yet Firstland lives on as precedent that the government must comply with nondiscretionary duties established in law, and such failure is reviewable in federal courts.
  • Matter of Leacheng International Inc. established nation-wide standards on the definition of “doing business” for multinational executives and managers to gain immigration benefits.
Newsletters:
  • News blurbs/Q&As are posted on our website, http://www.AlanLeeLaw.com on a weekly basis
Bar/Professional Activity:
  • Panel expert in seminars of the Immigration Law Weekly in areas of labor certifications and litigated employment cases.
Representative Clients:
  • Withheld for client privacy
Special Licenses/Certifications:
  • Practice before governmental agencies dealing with immigration law such as Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of State, and Department of Labor - including Visa Office and consul posts, Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), and Board of Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA).  Licensed to appear before Southern, Eastern and Western District Courts in New York and Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Transactions:
  • SEACHANGE IN LINE FOR N-648 MEDICAL CERTIFICATION FOR DISABILITY EXCEPTIONS ADJUDICATIONS BY ALAN LEE, ESQ. (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 11/7/22, aligns the new changes in form and policy guidance by USCIS with historical past practices not conducive to use of the form in calling the changes encouraging and a possible seachange in the way that the applications will now be adjudicated., 2022
  • “USCIS RECOMMENDATIONS ON FILING PAPER PETITIONS AND APPLICATIONS - WHAT WORKS AND WHAT NEEDS SOME THOUGHT” (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 12/6/22, explores the recommendations for submitting paper petitions and applications to USCIS put out by the agency on 11/16/22 and praises, pans, and requests clarifications on them. The author’s major concern is that in the haste to simplify filings by not binding documents, there may not be sufficient safeguards to ensure that the applications and petitions remain complete or parts adequately separated or highlighted before they are adjudicated., 2022
  • "IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – USCIS PRONOUNCES FINALITY TO H-1B SELECTIONS; CONSULAR PRACTICE; HAPPINESS OR SADNESS WHEN IJ’S DISMISS CASES; LITTLE TO DO IN OFFICE WITH SEPTEMBER VISA CHARTS; NRC NEWS; ETA 9089 FILLING WHERE NO SUNDAY NEWSPAPER."  (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 8/23/22, sundry news including a very interesting article from the Wall Street Journal on the National Record Center, a place that in the past has been the graveyard of cases and from where it is very difficult to retrieve cases that are required to continue processing of applications; that NRC in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, is the central hub of storage, preservation, and overall management of A-Files prior to their long term, inactive storage in a NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) Federal Records Center and eventual permanent transfer to the National Archives. The WSJ article was occasioned by a suit for delayed citizenship revealing that citizenship officers are required to look through the histories when considering an immigration application; and that before the pandemic, USCIS routinely requested immigration histories from the archives in Kansas City without issue, but due to COVID and to minimize the time employees spent underground, the National Archives stopped responding to all but emergency requests. Finally in March, the archives fully reopened its facilities and as of May, it was processing all incoming requests. At the time of writing, there were 87,500 pending requests for immigration histories, down from a high of 350,000 in January. , 2022
  • IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE: USCIS DOES THIRD ROUND OF H-1B PICKS FOR FIRST TIME; FILING ADDRESSES EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO; EAD CHANGES FOR H-4, L AND E DEPENDENTS; DECEMBER VISA CHART HOLDS A FEW BRIGHT SPOTS; NEW YORK DISTRICT OFFICE/CONTACT CENTER MEETING POINTS.  (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 11/23/22, highlighting the mixed emotions that individuals have over the third round of H1B selection on November 19, 2021, as some are happy that they have another chance at being selected, but pointing out the downside of a number of organizations that might not be so willing and able to sponsor as they were earlier in the year and that the selectees may have moved on to other jobs, gone back to school, taken other nonimmigrant/immigrant options, or left the country., 2022
  • IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – NEW H-1B CAP SEASON RAMPING UP; DROPBOX USE EXPANDED FOR US VISAS OVERSEAS; F, M and J VISA APPLICATIONS MADE EASIER; MFL TERMINATION LETTERS AND NVC NEED FOR QUALITY CONTROL; FLEXIBILITY EXTENDED FOR TIME TO RESPOND TO USCIS ACTIONS; VISA PROBLEMS WHERE APPLICANTS LEAVE US BEFORE DECISIONS ON EXTENSION/CHANGE OF STATUS REQUESTS. (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily,  1/18/22, including alerting readers of a seeming need at the NVC for quality control as even we have been receiving MFL termination letters where we timely requested extensions from the agency; and the problems that applicants can face where they have filed timely request for extensions or changes of their stay and then leave the US before a decision is made – a situation made more common by scarcity of flights and cancellation of many during the time of pandemic., 2022
  • IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE: CAP H-1B SELECTION PROCESS ANNOUNCED COMPLETE; EB-5 REGIONAL CENTER REAUTHORIZATION/REFORM LAW TO BEGIN IN MAY; TITLE 42 NEWS INCLUDING UKRAINIANS; NO MORE PAPER I-94S AT THE BORDER; THE DEPARTURE OF EXPANDED EXPEDITED REMOVAL. (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 3/31/22, alerting readers that the selection process for H-1B’s for FY-2023 was announced complete by USCIS on 3/29/22; that the EB-5 investor regional center reauthorization and reform law is to begin on 5/14/22, 60 days after the President’s signature; that under a CBP 3/11/22 memorandum, Ukrainians have gained an exemption from the pandemic bar of Title 42 to enter the US at the border in reaction to the invasion of their country by Russia; that CBP announced by notice on 3/18/22 it will no longer issue I-94 entry cards at land crossings on the border; that under a new 3/21/22 regulation, expanded expedited removal is rescinded so that it will be generally applied to individuals caught within 100 miles of the border or who have not yet been in the US for two weeks. The expanded Trump rule had applied to individuals who could not prove that they had been in the US for two years., 2022
  • IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – SOME MOVEMENT ON JULY VISA BULLETIN; RENEWED GUIDANCE ON DISTANCE LEARNING; CHANGED LOCKBOX FOR SOME I-485 EB FILINGS; NVC CURRENT PROCESSING TIMES; USCIS SAYS “GO FISH” (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 6/20/22, highlights USCIS guidance on 5/31/22 that the policy of allowing schools and students to engage in distance learning in excess of regulatory limits due to Covid-19 only applies to students who were actively enrolled on 3/9/20, and have continually complied with the terms of their nonimmigrant status. Students enrolling after 3/9/20 must adhere to the existing regulations regarding online learning. Under the March 2020 guidance, active F and M students are permitted to temporarily count online courses towards a full course of study in excess of the regulatory limits. Under the regulatory limits, online courses cannot count toward a full course of study for M and English language training students, and only one online or distance learning class can count toward a full course of study for an F-1 student during each term or semester., 2022
  • IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – CONTACTING USCIS ON REJECTED AND NO RECEIPT CASES; 3/10 YEAR BARS CAN BE SATISFIED IN SOME CASES WHILE LIVING IN US: NYC CIS DISTRICT OFFICE POLICY CHANGES COMING; FLEXIBILITY PERIOD FOR RFE’S, RFI’S, NOID’S, ETC. LIKELY AT AN END; AUGUST VISA CHART SHOWS MULTIPLE FB AND FEW EB CHANGES. (2022) – Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 7/22/22 , educates readers on a little-known procedure on how to contact the agency on rejected filings and those on which no receipt is received; how individuals who are barred from returning to the US for three or 10 years can actually satisfy those bars while living in the US; new changes coming to the New York District immigration office on how it conducts adjustment of status interviews involving marriages by allowing “Stokes” type interviews to be conducted on the first interview and that it will require individuals to bring their own interpreters rather than using its own interpreters as in the past., 2022
  • “New Texas Preliminary Injunction Against Prosecutorial Discretion Focused on Detention Only; Visa Chart Largely Humdrum for September Except for Indians – Will There Be an October Surprise? H-1b Restrictions Continuing under Biden Administration; Multiple Reports on Dearth of F-1 Visa Interest Around the World; Congressional Research Service Report Shows in Absentia Rate for Hearings Only 17%.” Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 8/25/21, looks at multiple topics including the misleading way that the Executive Office for Immigration Review counts those not showing up for hearings to make it appear higher than the actual total, and how and why H-1B restrictions are continuing under the Biden Administration., 2021
  • “IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – NEW STUDENTS FROM CHINA TO BE ADMITTED AND GUIDANCE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING, EOIR RE-OPENINGS, H-1B REGISTRATIONS FOR 2021 AN ALL-TIME HIGH, SSA NO MATCH LETTERS NIXED”, ENTREPRENEUR PAROLE PROGRAM RETURNS, EXPANDED BIOMETRIC RULE NIXED, BIDEN BACKUP PLAN FOR LEGALIZATION, TIPS IN DEALING WITH THE NVC” Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 6/1/21, highlights the bar being lifted on entry for new students from China and the biometrics rule being abandoned that might even have forced US citizens sponsoring persons financially to submit to having fingerprints and photographs taken., 2021
  • “S386/HR1044 – Passed By Senate – Goes to Conference with Part That Must be Fixed” Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 12/7/20, outlines the flaw in the proposed legislation that would have basically given most of the employment-based immigrant visa numbers to one nationality in future years., 2020
  • Recommendations for U.S.C.I.S. Reopening Offices During Covid-19  Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 5/7/20, gives a list of recommendations on how USCIS can reopen its offices as safely as possible during the pandemic including how to handle the lines, elevators, contacts between USCIS staff workers and between USCIS and the public., 2020
  • The Importance of Setting the Record Straight on East Coast Infections – It’s the Europeans; Why not just excuse the LCA posting requirement during the Pandemic? Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 4/16/20, takes a look at the true cause of the East Coast Covid-19 infections as being European-based in the author’s attempt to tamp down the rising anti-Asian sentiment being egged on by the Trump Administration., 2020
  • Coronavirus China Travel Ban Reveals Prejudice Against Parents And Six Nation Ban Hodgepodge Thinking  Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 2/5/20, considers the coronavirus travel ban and that the Trump Administration devalued the worth of parents of US citizens by placing them under the ban while US immigration law has always regarded parents as invaluable as being part of the “immediate relative” category to US citizens (parents, spouses, and children under the age of 21 and unmarried)., 2020
  • S.2603, The Relief Act, In The Season Of Hope; Two Proposed Regulations Likely To Become Law; December Visa Chart Movement And Prognostication; Stockwell Lives. Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 12/4/19, a multi-topic article highlighting a visa bill, S.2603, that would have fairly distributed and increased the number of immigrant visas, but was ultimately not passed by Congress., 2019
  • "Naturalize Now!" Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 7/30/19, seeks to encourage everyone who is eligible to begin the naturalization process now as USCIS announces changes to the naturalization civics test with an implementation date in December 2020 or early 2021 as there is a presumption that in the age of Republican politics and a president wishing to reduce immigrant voting that the test will be much harder to pass, and even USCIS’s memorandum describing the change purpose is filled with phrases and sentences hinting that adjudication of the test will be harder. It is now taking a year or more in many USCIS offices to complete the naturalization procedure., 2019
  • "Examination of EB-2 Visa Demand Vis-a-Vis H.R. 3012," Alan Lee, Interpreter Releases, Vol. 89, No. 10, 3/5/12; "Important Developments in Labor Certification Applications," Alan Lee, Interpreter Releases, Vol. 88, No. 6, 2/7/11; "The Renewed Hope for Immigration Legislation in 2011," Alan Lee, Interpreter Releases, Vol. 88, No. 2, 1/10/11; "Legalization is Alive but has a January 31, 2010, Deadline in Underpublicized "Known to the Government" Settlement," Alan Lee, Arthur Lee, and Melissa Paquette and edited by Robert Pauw, Interpreter Releases, Vol. 86, No. 47, 12/14/09;  "In Absentia Hearings and Proper Service of NTAs and NOHs with Emphasis on Second Circuit Law Development, Alan Lee, Interpreter Releases, Vol. 84, No. 37, 9/24/07;  "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis," Alan Lee, Interpreter Releases, Vol. 81, No. 15, 4/12/04, 2012
  • “I-601A Expansion Rule Comes Out To Cover All Case Classes with Eligibility to Immigrate Including Family Members And Those with Removal Orders” Alan Lee, The Immigration Daily, 8/1/16; “The Peter Liang Case – A Potential Horror for Democrats and Immigration Reform” Alan Lee, The Immigration Daily, 2/22/16; "You Can And Should Have Input On U.S.C.I.S.’s Upcoming “Extreme Hardship” Interpretation For Its Policy Manual" Alan Lee The Immigration Daily, 11/12/15;  "Landscape for Undocumented Immigrant Relief Appearing Bleaker - I-601A Looking Brighter" Alan Lee, The Immigration Daily, 6/2/15., 2016
  • “A Sense of Timing on Available Numbers under Senate Bill 744 (Comprehensive Immigration Reform” Alan Lee, Interpreter Releases, Vol. 90, No. 20, 5/20/13, 2013
White Papers:
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 10/12/22, explains the current situation of why many family-based visa numbers have gone unused in recent fiscal years due to the pandemic, shortages in consular staff since most family-based cases are processed overseas, and Department of State priorities, and the reasons for which these cases can move forward in this fiscal year (10/1/22-9/30/23) with the renewed staffing and, hopefully, more attention being given to them by DOS., FAMILY-BASED PREFERENCE CASES TO PROGRESS IN FY-2023?, Immigration, 2022
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 10/6/22, points out the confusion in the latest immigration court procedure memorandum and asks for better guidance from The Executive Office for Immigration Review on court room procedures as the memo authorizes immigration judges to each control the medium and mode of appearance of immigrants and lawyers. The article also highlights the new public charge rule which focuses on the prima facie acceptability of I-864 affidavits of support rather than attempting to highly scrutinize and impose liability upon financial sponsors; and asks if America should now move in the same direction as Canada which has lifted vaccination requirements on travelers to improve its economy citing reasons such as low rate of infection and a highly vaccinated population.   , IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – CONFUSION IN THE IMMIGRATION COURTS; NEW PUBLIC CHARGE RULE ON RESPONSIBILITY OF AFFIANTS GIVING I-864 SUPPORT; US – CANADA TAKING SEPARATE COVID PATHS, Immigration, 2022
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 7/18/22, gives the short history of the Kerry Doyle prosecutorial discretion memorandum, multiple challenges against it in the circuit courts leading to a circuit split, and that the vacatur of the Doyle memo by the Fifth Circuit was headed to the Supreme Court on an emergency basis by the Biden administration. (After the release of the article, the Supreme Court upheld the vacatur temporarily and will take up the case later this year). The article served to alert readers that there was controversy and risk in applying for prosecutorial discretion based upon the memorandum., DOYLE PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION MEMO SEEMINGLY HANGS IN THE BALANCE, Immigration, 2022
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 5/18/22, includes the author giving favorable approval to the new USCIS policy of automatically giving 540 day extensions for employment authorization document renewal applications in which employment authorization is allowed during the pendency of applications but that had only been given previously for 180 days, and questioning whether the new USCIS way of informing the public of its processing times is anything more than a cosmetic change pointing out that it would be better for USCIS to work with Congress on the humanitarian reinstatement rule which can only be used following the death of the petitioner if the petition was previously approved and citing the published processing times of immigrant visa petitions, especially the F-4 category for brothers and sisters of US citizens which is listed as 138.5 months or 11 ½ years, and to be more tolerant in allowing motions to reopen where individuals say that they never received communications from USCIS and where their cases were denied for lack of response., IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – DOYLE MEMORANDUM GIVES HOPE TO THOSE IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS; JUNE VISA CHART BIG EFFECTS; NEW 540 DAY EXTENSIONS FOR MANY EAD RENEWALS; MORE STATS ON H-1B SEASON; IMPROVEMENT ON USCIS PUBLISHED CASE PROCESSING TIMES?, Immigration, 2022
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 2/14/22, questioning various practices and mistakes of both USCIS and the Department of Labor and the controversies behind them. K-3 nonimmigrant visa petitions were instituted as a practice where I-130 immigrant visa petitions for spouses of US citizens were taking too long – we question whether they must come back into vogue because of the long backlogs and processing of I-130 petitions at the current time; in permanent labor certification applications, the Department of Labor in the past had allowed alternate requirements to be used in employers identifying the qualifications that they required in a candidate such as a bachelors degree +2 years of experience or in the alternative Masters degree, and in the past had only said that it would count the primary requirement in setting the wage for the case – however, under a rule change by FAQ in July 2022, DOL said that the alternate requirement would now count and in the above case, the employer’s wage would have to be much higher because of the alternate requirement of a Masters degree – and we question why such a policy would be set by FAQ forcing an employer to pay higher when it tries to find more qualified candidates and especially during a time of inflation when such low adds to the inflationary pressures.   , WILL K-3s COME BACK INTO VOGUE? WHY BASE PERM PREVAILING WAGE DETERMINATIONS ON ALTERNATIVE REQUIREMENTS NOW? WHY 10 YEAR LPR INSTEAD OF 2 YEAR CPR CARDS FOR THOSE MARRIED LESS THAN TWO YEARS? PHOTOS NEEDED AT NATURALIZATION OATH CEREMONIES? NEW FORMS FO, Immigration, 2022
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 12/20/21, an article advocating that the Democrats either come up with an alternate immigration plan to give relief to many of the undocumented in the US or band together on a common bill and overcome the congressional parliamentarian’s position that the proposed legislation does not qualify under the budget reconciliation bill rules since the advice of the parliamentarian is only advisory in nature., IS THERE A PLAN D? IF NOT, CAN OR WILL DEMOCRATS IGNORE THE PARLIAMENTARIAN TO OBTAIN IMMIGRATION RELIEF FOR MILLIONS?, Immigration, 2021
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 10/19/21, highlights multiple immigration topics including reasons why the visa bulletin retrogressed in the employment based categories and new efforts to protect immigrants on state and federal levels., IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – NATURALIZATION PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE; THE NOVEMBER RETROGRESSIVE VISA CHART; H-1B BY HIGHEST SALARY STILL BEING ADVOCATED BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION; BAN ON TRAVEL FROM CANADA AND MEXICO ENDING IN STAGES; NEW YORK STATE A, Immigration, 2021
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 9/16/21, goes over the Democratic budget reconciliation package’s immigration provisions to be presented to the Senate parliamentarian along with a proposed settlement beneficial to H-1B market research analyst cases which have been highly susceptible to denial among other topics., IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – OCTOBER “SURPRISE” IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AS DOS FAILS TO PARTNER WITH USCIS; PROOF OF COVID VACCINATION BEGINNING OCTOBER 1 APPEARS ONLY PROSPECTIVE; $3.5 TRILLION RECONCILIATION PACKAGE HAS HOPE FOR MANY UNDOCUMENT, Immigration, 2021
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 7/12/21, points out routes to follow when attempting to preserve a preference category where naturalization is disadvantageous for the pending petition, or where I-601A applicants are stymied by the inability to have removal cases administratively closed by the Atty. Gen. decision in Castro-Tum among other items., Immigration news that you can use-Preserving F-2B preference at the NVC or consulate; Immigration video interviews; New ground for denying China NIV applications; New policies on EAD’s, RFE’s, and expedites; Possible actions for I-601A cases stymied by Ca, 2021
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 4/27/21, explains the change of procedure in immigration courts allowing for challenges to removability to be litigated before immigrants have to put in all applications for relief, among other topics., IMMIGRATION NEWS THAT YOU CAN USE – CHANGE IN CASE FLOW PROCESSING BEFORE THE IMMIGRATION COURTS; SWORN STATEMENT SAMPLE WITHOUT NOTARY IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC; KEEPING F-2B CATEGORIZATION WHEN PETITIONER NATURALIZES; H-1B COMPUTER CASE TREATMENT THIS YEA, 2021
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 2/23/21, a look at the Biden framework of a plan to legalize undocumented immigrants that would later fall by the wayside., BIDEN PLAN FOR UNDOCUMENTED AND THOSE WITH REMOVAL ORDERS IS GENEROUS, 2021
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 1/2021, looks at the important things that a Biden administration should take care of in the first days of the administration in the immigration context., Article “BIDEN TO DO LIST – TWO VERY IMPORTANT ITEMS, 2021
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 12/7/20, remarks that – on the bill that would shift most of the employment-based visa numbers to India-born for a number of years yet allow for early filing of I-485 adjustment of status cases with work and travel authorization, a crucial late amendment punishing possibly millions of Chinese nationals with inadmissibility and bar against adjustment of status to permanent residence should be stricken as the just approved Senate Bill goes back to the House for reconciliation before passage., S386/HR1044 - Passed By Senate - Goes To Conference With Part That Must Be Fixed, 2020
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 12/3/20, comments on the above proposed regulation which would allow USCIS to first give favor to the selection of H-1B registrations or petitions (if the registration system is suspended) on the basis of petitioners offering higher wage levels – that there is no correlation of wage to what is a specialty occupation; that this blatantly prices small companies out of the H-1B market; that small companies are drivers of the American economy and innovation; that this works discrimination against US workers on the same level who could earn less than their H-1B counterparts for no other reason than this bill; and that the Administration has proposed this regulation with intent to damage the H-1B program., Comment on USCIS proposed regulation, “Modification of Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking to File Cap Subject H-1B Petitions”, RIN 1615-AC61, 2020
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 10/19/20, critiques as heavily flawed these rushed through regulations which were finalized without OMB review or period of notice and comment, and that in the last desperate days of the Trump presidency, it has become increasingly clear that the administration sees the handwriting on the wall and is speeding up actions to indelibly stamp the nation with regulations thrusting the nation backwards on immigration, race relations, the environment, women’s rights, gay rights, foreign relations, and America’s role on the world stage., Interim Final Regulations (IFRs) on Wage Hikes by DOL and on H-1Bs by DHS and Some of the Flaws of Their Logic, 2020
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 9/23/20, looks at the plight of undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children (DACA members or Dreamers) following the passing away of Justice Ruth Ginsburg - such ensconcing a conservative majority on the Supreme Court so that relief there is blocked, and noting that the only solution for relief now appears to be political, and that the reelection of Donald Trump would ensure that they would either be used as the ultimate bargaining chip for a Trump administration to ram through its entire program of immigration restructuring or failing that, all would be subject to removal proceedings., WITH JUSTICE GINSBURG GONE, DREAMERS DESPERATELY NEED A POLITICAL SOLUTION, 2020
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 8/14/20, compares the state of America in the world during the Trump presidency to an American fort at dusk where all the inhabitants look inward while trying to repel the rest of the world and where he tries to turn back the clock to an earlier era replete with discrimination, Jim Crow laws, and white supremacy while ceding America’s number one position in the world to other countries by allowing Russia to move unimpeded in conflict zones and becoming the feared powerbroker in the Middle East, acting as a paper dragon against China’s march to dominance over much of Asia and parts of Africa, and by hobbling the actions of the U.S. Armed Forces., Fort USA Arises In The Gloaming, 2020
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 3/20/20, calls upon President Trump to stop calling the novel coronavirus the “Chinese virus” citing the long history of racism against Chinese in the United States; how his repeatedly saying it such has inflamed Americans against persons of East Asian origin in the country to the point of racial violence; and that his assignment of blame is in truth a diversion from the horrible job that he has done from the very beginning to control the virus., REPEATEDLY CALLING IT A CHINESE VIRUS IS RACIST AND A DEFLECTION OF BLAME, 2020
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 1/2/20, discusses the progress on both bills designed to give relief for retrogressed visa categories, especially EB-2 and EB-3 preferences for those with advanced degrees and those with bachelors degrees or two years relevant experience respectively. The article especially focuses on The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act which saw a recent Senate compromise under which aliens who are eligible for adjustment of status except for visa retrogression would be allowed to file for early adjustment of status and gain employment, job transferability, and travel privileges while their applications are pending. They would not receive green cards until their priority dates became current. The compromise was necessary as the legislation would have skewed employment-based immigration heavily in favor of one country to the disadvantage of the rest of the world. The leading senators plan to obtain a unanimous consent in the Senate before having the House vote on the new amendments (the House previously passed the legislation in 2019), and if compromised and passed, the Fairness legislation would go to President Trump for signature., Intersection of the Relief Act and Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, 2020
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 1/23/19, looks at the partial government shutdown by President Trump, the disaster of risking the livelihoods of 800,000 federal workers in an extended shutdown to obtain funding for the promised wall for his base, the political maneuvering going on, his lack of leverage, and suggests possible solutions to entice Democrats such as permanent status with or without road to citizenship for an expanded 1.8 million DACA class, or offering the present 700,000 DACA members permanent status with the road to citizenship and some status for the 300,000 TPS members for the next 3 years., The Art Of The Deal In Making The Wall, 2019
  • Alan Lee, Immigration Daily, 7/31/17, postulates that the forces that came together for a Trump victory in 2016 will no longer be present in 2018 and 2020 for the midterm and presidential elections, and that the Republican Party will have to change direction and oppose President Trump for it to have any chance at all for victory. The article looks at the uncovered lies of the president that his health care plan would be cheaper and cover more people when the opposite was revealed by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) figures, and on his campaign focus to rid the country of violent lawbreaking undocumented immigrants when his actions have been to remove all of the undocumented as lawbreakers. It also enumerates other reasons for which Mr. Trump and the Republicans were elected and that actions to resolve those reasons have not been satisfactory. Moderate whites, blacks, Hispanics, Bernie Sander supporters, and LGBT community members lulled by broken promises to them and uninterested in voting or reluctant to vote for Mrs. Clinton will not be there to support Mr. Trump in either upcoming election, and the Republican Party will lose barring reversal of its strategy of appealing only to “angry white guys” to keep control of Congress., Why the Trump/Republican Party Grand Plan Won’t Work – A Prelude To 2018 and 2020, Immigration, Politics, 2017
Industry Groups:
  • Immigration Law
  • Nationality Law

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408 8th Avenue
Suite 5A
New York, NY 10001

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