As a Senior Associate with Deeley King Pang & Van Etten, Hawaii immigration lawyer Zhongli Yu assists companies, organizations, and individuals with a variety of immigration needs. Ms. Yu has extensive experience with immigration procedures for the following visas:

• Temporary visitors for business (B-1 Visa) or for pleasure (B-2 Visa);

• Foreign students (F-1 Visa & M-1 Visa);

• Temporary workers (H-1B, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3);

• Temporary workers in specialty occupations (H-1B);

• Registered nurses (H-1C);

• Temporary agricultural workers (H-2A);

• Other temporary workers (H-2B);

• Temporary trainees (H-3 Visa);

• Intracompany transferees (L-1);

• Treaty traders (E-1) and treaty investors (E-2);

• Aliens with extraordinary ability (O Visa);

• Athletes and entertainers (P Visa);

• Cultural/exchange programs (J Visa);

• Fiancé (K Visa);

• Family-based immigration visas;

• Employment-based immigration visas;

• Investment immigration visas;

• Diversity visas (“Green Card Lottery”)

• Asylum

Call (808) 533-1751 or e-mail us to discuss how Deeley King Pang & Van Etten, LLP can assist you with your Hawaii immigration law needs.

Below information will be used for future blog posts in order to create recent activity (improves google search results) and make the information more digestible.

1. Nonimmigrant Visas (Temporary Status)

Temporary Visitors for Business (B-1 Visa) or for Pleasure (B-2 Visa)

You may be eligible for a B-1 visa if you are coming to the U.S. for business which means a wide variety of legitimate commercial and professional activities, including negotiations, conferences, and consultation.

You may be eligible for a B-2 visa if you are coming to the U.S. for pleasure which embraces visits with friends and relatives, touring, social contacts, rest, medical treatment, amusement and a variety of other activities.

Application for the B visa is made at a U.S. consular office and requires no prior petition to another agency.

Foreign Students (F-1 Visa & M-1 Visa)

You may be eligible for an F-1 visa if you are coming to the U.S. to pursue a full course of study in any educational program.

You may be eligible for an M-1 if you are coming to the U.S. to pursue a vocational and non-academic program.

Application for the student visa is made at a U.S. consular office and requires no prior petition to another agency.

An F-1 student should be admitted to the U.S. for the “duration of status”, which is defined as the period during which a full course of studies is being pursued, and any periods of authorized practical training, plus sixty days within which to depart from the U.S.

An M-1 student should be admitted to the U.S. for the period of time necessary to complete the course of study, plus thirty days within which to depart the U.S.

Temporary Workers (H-1B, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3)

Temporary Workers in Specialty Occupations (H-1B)

You may be eligible for H-1B if you are coming to the U.S. temporarily to perform services in a “specialty occupation” which requires a university degree or its equivalence or higher, or if you are a fashion model. “Specialty occupations” here include but are not limited to accounting, architecture, engineering, physical science, medicine and health, education, law, and the arts.

H-1B visas are subject to an admission cap of 65,000 each year. The number may change.

If you live outside of the U.S., you need to file an application with the U.S. consular office after the petition is approved.

If you are already in the U.S. on another visa status, you need to apply for change of status.

Registered Nurses (H-1C)

You may be eligible for H-1C if you are a foreign trained nurse and willing to work temporarily in a health professional shortage area in the U.S

Temporary Agricultural Workers (H-2A)

H-2A is for aliens who are coming to the U.S. temporarily to perform agricultural labor or services of a “temporary or seasonal nature” that cannot be filled by unemployed U.S. workers.

If you live outside of the U.S., you need to file an application with the U.S. consular office after the petition is approved.

If you are already in the U.S. on another visa status, an application of change of status needs to be filed.

Other Temporary Workers (H-2B)

H-2B is for aliens who will be hired in non-agricultural temporary jobs that cannot be filled by unemployed U.S. workers.

If you live outside of the U.S., you need to file an application with the U.S. consular office after the petition is approved.

If you are already in the U.S. on another visa status, you need to apply for change of status.

Temporary Trainees (H-3 Visa)

You may be eligible for an H-3 visa if you are coming to the U.S. for on-the-job training provided by a U.S. company or U.S. government agency.

H-3 trainees are usually admitted for a period of time needed to complete the training program.

Intracompany Transferees (L-1)

You may be eligible for an L-1 visa if you are transferred to the U.S. to work as a manager, executive or key employee for a U.S. company which is an affiliate, branch, subsidiary of a company that already employs you outside of the U.S.

Treaty Traders (E-1) and Treaty Investors (E-2)

You may be eligible for E-1 if you, as a national of a foreign state that has a treaty of commerce and navigation with the U.S., are coming to the U.S. to carry on substantial trade in services or technology principally between these two states.

You may be eligible for E-2 if you, as a national of a foreign state that has a treaty of commerce and navigation with the U.S., are coming to the U.S. to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which you have invested, or you are actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital.

If you are outside of the U.S., an application for E visa is directly made to the consular office, and no preliminary petition to CIS is required.

If you are physically in the U.S., an application for change of status should be made to the CIS.

Aliens with Extraordinary Ability (O Visa)

You may be eligible for O-1 visa if you have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or of extraordinary achievement in motion picture and television productions, and seek to enter the United States to continue work in such areas.

O-2 is for those who are coming to the U.S. temporarily and solely for the purpose of accompanying and assisting in artistic or athletic performance.

If you live outside of the U.S., you need to file an application with the U.S. consular office after the petition is approved.

If you are already in the U.S. on another visa status, an application of change of status needs to be filed.

Athletes and Entertainers (P Visa)

You may be eligible for P visa if you are coming to the U.S.temporarily to perform in a specific competition or performance, individually or as part of a team, as an athlete, artist, or entertainer.

If you live outside of the U.S., you need to file an application with the U.S. consular office after the petition is approved.

If you are already in the U.S. in another visa status, an application of change of status needs to be filed.

Cultural/ Exchange Programs (J visa)

You may be eligible for J-1 visa if you are coming to the U.S. temporarily to work, study, train, teach, consult or observe U.S. culture in a specific exchange visitor program sponsored by schools, businesses, organizations and institutions and approved by the Department of State.

Fiancé(e) (K Visa)

You may be eligible for K-1 visa if you are coming to the U.S. to conclude a valid marriage with your U.S. citizen fiancee or fiancé.

K-3 visas are for spouses of U.S. citizens coming to the U.S. to await the approval of petition and the availability to the alien of an immigrant visa.

K-2 visas are available for the minor children of K-1 and K-2 visa holders.

A. Family-Based Immigration Visas

You may be eligible for a green card if you have a close family member who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR). The Immediate Relative category is not controlled by quotas, while Preference Relative categories are:

Immediate Relatives

They are spouses and children under 21 years old of U.S. citizens, and parents of U.S. citizens if the U.S. citizen child is over the age of 21.

First Preference

They are unmarried sons or daughters over the age of 21 of U.S. citizens.

Second Preference

They are spouses and children under 21 years old of LPRs (“2A”), and over 21 year olds unmarried sons and daughters of LPRs (“2B”).

Third Preference

They are married sons or daughters over the age of 21 of U.S. citizens.

Fourth Preference

They are brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens where the citizens are over 21 years old.

B. Employment-Based Immigration Visas

You may be eligible for a green card if you fit in one of the Employment Preference Categories.

Employment-based immigration visas are subject to the quota restrictions.

Employment First Preference (EB-1)

EB-1 is for (A) aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics; (B) outstanding professors and researchers; and (C) transferring executives and managers of multinational companies.

Employment Second Preference (EB-2)

EB-2 is for professionals with advanced university degrees and for persons of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business.

Employment Third Preference (EB3)

EB-3 is for professionals without advanced degrees, skilled workers without college degrees and unskilled workers.

Labor Certification is required.

The petitions for professionals and skilled workers take approximately a year to be approved, while for unskilled workers 6 months.

Employment Fourth Preference (EB-4)

EB-4 is for religious workers, which include ministers and religious professionals, and various miscellaneous categories of workers.

The petitions take approximately a year to be approved.

Employment Fifth Preference (EB-5)

EB-5 is for investors willing to invest a minimum of $500,000 or $1 million in a new U.S. business or restructuring or expanding one that already exists that will create jobs. The minimum investment amount depends on the location of the business.The petitions take approximately 4 months.

3. Investment Immigration Visa

(Please see EB-5 under Employment-Based Immigration Visas)

4. Diversity Visas (“Green Card Lottery”)

To diversify the nationalities of immigrants in the U.S., the Immigration Act of 1990 created this visa category to benefit aliens from countries that have sent the fewest numbers of immigrants in recent years.

Only natives of such countries are eligible to participate in the lottery.

5. Asylum

Asylum seekers who can prove that they fled from their countries for fear of persecution due to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social or political group, or political opinions, may apply for green cards.