How to Become a U.S. Citizen

Would you like to become a U.S. citizen?  In this article, we’ll describe the path for green card holders (and U.S. military members and their spouses) to become U.S. citizens.  This process is called “naturalization.”

Many folks wish to become U.S. citizens for peace of mind and sense of belonging, to gain the right to vote, and to have the opportunity to sponsor family members to live in the United States.

If you have a green card, you are a lawful permanent resident; lawful permanent residents, who are age 18 or older, apply to become U.S. citizens with the form N-400.  You must be eligible to apply and be accepted.

U.S. Citizen Requirements

Unsure if you’re eligible to become a U.S. citizen through the green card holder naturalization process?  Here are the requirements:

  • You must be a lawful permanent resident (i.e. green card holder.)
  • If you are not married to a U.S. citizen, you must have had your green card for a least the past 5 years.  If you are married to a U.S. citizen, you must have had your green card for at least the past 3 years.
  • You must be at least 18 years of age when you apply for citizenship.
  • You must be able to read and write English, with three exceptions.
    • Unless physically or developmentally unable to do so.
    • Unless you are over the age of 50 and have lived in the U.S. for 20 years
    • Unless you are over the age of 55 and have lived in the U.S. for 15 years.
    • You must have a general understanding of U.S. history and government.
    • You must be of good moral character and be willing to abide by the principles of the U.S. Constitution.
    • You must pass the properly fill out the application and supply all documentation; you must pass the citizenship test and the background search.

Military Service Exception

Important Exception:  There is an exception to this naturalization process for war time U.S. military members.  If an individual was in the United States and enlisted in the U.S. military, he or she can apply for citizenship without first becoming a green card holder. 

In addition, if you are currently serving honorably (or have been honorably discharged in the last 6 months) in the U.S. military, with at least 1 year of service, you can apply for citizenship without being a green card holder.

Moreover, if you are the spouse of a U.S. citizen, who served in the U.S. military during a past war or is serving currently in combat, you may be able to file for citizenship without meeting the waiting times.

Where to Get Help if You Want to Become a U.S. Citizen

Your next step is to contact our office:  513-791-1673 or Thomasjr@geygan.com.  We will gently walk you through the naturalization process, helping you to become a U.S. Citizen.  In addition, we explain immigration laws; represent you in front of the Department of State, as needed; and aggressively fight for your legal rights.  Contact us if you or a loved one want to become a U.S. citizen.

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Bringing a Family Member to the United States, to Stay

Under section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), there is a minimum number of annual family-sponsored visas (226,000 family member visas.)  You can bring a family member to the United States; and, when your family member attains a Green Card, he or she has many rights.  Your loved one can enter, re-enter after a relatively brief absence, work, study, and travel in the United States.

We commonly help people bring fiancés/ fiancées, spouses, children, children of spouses, parents, and siblings to the United States by filing a K visa and by filing form I-130 and waiting for its determination.  A K-1 visa is appropriate for fiancés/ fiancées; a K-3 visa is appropriate for a spouse; a K-4 visa is appropriate for the children of spouses.  For siblings and parents, the form I-130 is appropriate.

The processes for bringing fiancé/ fiancée to the United States on a K-1 visa are similar to bringing a spouse, spouse’s children, or your children to the United States.  You must:

  • ·         Be a United States citizen
  • ·         Meet or exceed certain income criteria (125% of the national poverty level.)
  • ·         Prove that your fiancé/ fiancée must have not violated any immigration or criminal laws.
  • ·         File the K-1 visa petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS.)
  • ·         If approved, your fiancé/ fiancée will be permitted to enter the United States for a period of 90 days.  During which time, you must get married.

After the marriage you then:

  • ·         File for lawful permanent residency (i.e. Green Card) for your spouse.
  • ·         The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will investigate to determine whether you have a true marriage, other than for immigration purposes.  

Where to Get Help Bringing a Family Member to the United States, to Stay

Want to bring your family member to the United States?  We can guide you through the maze of immigration matters and procedures, selecting the best path for your immigration and your family’s.  For more information on K-1 visas please click here.  For other family members, if you are a lawful permanent resident (have a green card) click here; or if you are a United States citizen please click here.

Immigration is a very specialized area of law; so, be sure your attorney focuses his practice on immigration and protecting your legal rights.  We focus our practice on immigration law and help people just like you every day; you can reach us at 513-793-6555 or Thomasjr@geygan.com

We will gently walk you through the immigration process and aggressively fight for your legal rights.  Call Geygan & Geygan today:  513-793-6555.  Your next step is to contact us.

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3 Tips to Working with an Immigration Attorney

3 Tips to Working with an Immigration Attorney
The results of your immigration case are incredibly important.  Your case may determine whether you or a loved one is allowed to enter, stay, or work in the United States.  It may determine whether you are together with your loved ones, or split apart.  Or, it may determine whether you go to jail or are deported, or not.  This is why it’s important to work with a qualified immigration attorney and to do it well; here are 3 tips to working with an immigration attorney.
1.  Disclose All Information to Your Immigration Attorney.
It’s imperative that you disclose all requested information to your attorney, even if you think the information may make you look bad or hurt your case.  Just like your doctor can only help you if he or she knows all about your symptoms, your immigration attorney can only give you good legal advice if he fully understands your situation.  All conversations with your attorney are kept strictly confidential.
2.  Tell Your Attorney Whenever You Receive Paperwork from the Citizenship & Immigration Service (CIS) or Department of Homeland Security.
The CIS has a new procedure (as of September 12, 2011) and they are now sending original approval notices to petitioners and applicants directly, instead of to the attorneys of record.  Attorneys of record, with properly filed Forms G-28, now receive unofficial “Courtesy Copy” approval notices, not all notices.
The problem with this is that your attorney is best able to evaluate to determine that the documentation is legitimate and error-free.  You may receive documents from a scam artist or they may contain an error or be sent to the wrong address.   In addition, your attorney needs to evaluate if you need to provide further documentation or appeal.  If the documentation isn’t provided or the appeal isn’t made within the required time period, your immigration status may be affected.
3.  Follow Your Attorney’s Advice
You pay your attorney for his or her good advice, so be sure to take it.  For example, if your attorney tells you that you have a meeting with a CIS representative, be sure to be there on time and bring whatever documentation is required.  Or, if you’re attorney asks you to provide certain documentation, do so in a timely manner.  This helps your attorney help you.
Importantly, only take advice from your immigration attorney.  Your friends, family, social workers, or, even, a general practice attorney may all mean well; but, they don’t know all the facts about your case and they don’t concentrate on immigration law every day.
Where to Get Help with Immigration Issues
We focus our practice on immigration law and help people just like you every day.  We will listen to your concerns and answer your questions; you are not alone.
Your next step is to contact our office:  513-791-1673  or Thomasjr@geygan.com.  We will gently walk you through your immigration issues, guiding you and your family, and even aggressively representing you in court and before the Department of State.

Thomas J. Geygan, Jr. has been a member of AILA since 1998, and has been a speaker at National Conference as well as many other professional and community organizations. Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. represents clients around the world for immigration, but we enjoy the cases where we can sit down face to face with our clients the most.

 

 

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2 Significant Parts of Draconian Alabama Immigration Law Blocked



You may have seen headlines or heard about Alabama’s new draconian immigration law on the news.  We’ve addressed the new law in several of our blog articles.  Alabama’s immigration law makes the news again because a court has blocked enforcement of two significant parts of the law.  The United States Justice Department continues to fight the law in court.

The New York Times reports, “The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued a preliminary injunction against a section of the law that requires schools to determine the immigration status of children who are enrolling, as well as the status of their parents. It also blocked a section making it a state crime for illegal immigrants not to carry registration documents.”

Alabama and other states such as Arizona, Georgia, Utah, Indiana, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia have struggled with immigration laws because Congress has, thus far, failed to pass a workable immigration law.  Most state laws are directed at making life difficult with illegal immigrants; but, they often backfire.

For example, as predicted, there has been an exodus of workers from Alabama; and, also as predicted, American workers have not stepped up in their place; food is rotting in the fields.  This has happened in state after state.  What will happen to food prices?  Unfortunately, state lawmakers, feeling the pressure from constitutes and having no good answers, pass laws that enforce an already broken immigration system, instead of developing an immigration system that works.  But, as in Alabama, jails are full; what are the police to do with everyone they arrest? 

CNN reports, “And in Utah, politicians, business leaders, law enforcement and faith groups came together to enact legislation that went beyond enforcement only.”  Though still controversial on implementation details, Utah is developing a state guest worker system which provides that legal immigrants can be hired when there are not enough American workers to fill the job.  Illegal immigrant workers are replaced under this system. 

Where to Get Help with Immigration Issues

We focus our practice on immigration law, current immigration policies, and helping people just like you, every day.  We will listen to your concerns and answer your questions; you are not alone.

Your next step is to contact our office:  513-791-1673;or Thomasjr@geygan.com.  We will gently walk you through your immigration issues, guiding you and your family, and even aggressively representing you in court and before the Department of State, as needed. 

 


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White list for Advocate

Email Whitelist Instructions

Since your ISP probably uses some type of spam filter we ask that you add us
to your trusted list of senders, contacts or address book. All also known as
whitelisting.
If you do not see an email from Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. in
your inbox, due to the overzealous filtering by ISPs my email may have
mistakenly been sent to your spam folder. Please open your spam
folder
look for it there, open it and mark it
as “not spam”
Click the link to your ISP or email client to Whitelist [Advocate
Newsletter] Advocate
, from: Geygan & Geygan,
Ltd.
.

AOL back to top

To make sure email gets delivered to your AOL inbox, you must add the email
address or corporate domain of the sender to your Address Book or Custom Sender
List.
  1. Click the “Spam Controls” link on the lower right side of your inbox screen.
  2. When the “Mail & Spam Controls” box appears, click the “Custom sender
    list” link.
  3. Choose the “allow email from info@geygan.com” option.
  4. Add the domain or email address you would like to receive mail from, then
    click “Add”
  5. Click “Save”

AOL Web Mail back to
top

If using AOL web mail replying to an email from Geygan & Geygan,
Ltd.
will also work.
Email from that domain will now be delivered straight to your Inbox.

Yahoo! Mail back to
top

If you�re not receiving email you are expecting, there are two things you
can do:
  1. Use the “Not Spam” button in your Bulk folder.
  2. Create a filter to automatically send email from certain domains to your
    Inbox. This is the only way to really ensure delivery.

Report as “Not Spam”

  1. - Check your Yahoo! Bulk folder
  2. - If you see the email from Geygan & Geygan, Ltd.,
    highlight it and click “Not Spam”
  3. - This does not guarantee that your mail will be delivered in the future,
    but it does help.

Create a Filter

  1. Click “Options” in the top right navigation bar
  2. Select “Mail Options” from the list that drops down
  3. Choose “Filters” located on the left side of the page
  4. Click the “Add” button on the Filters page
  5. Choose the field you want to match in the incoming message. For example,
    “header” or “to”.
  6. Choose the criterion by which you want a match to be made, such as
    “contains”
  7. Enter the text string to compare. For example: [Advocate
    Newsletter]
    from Geygan & Geygan, Ltd.
  8. Choose the destination folder to which you would like the message delivered.
    For example: Inbox

Hotmail Live, Windows Live and MSN back to top

In the new Hotmail you must “Mark sender as safe” to enable hyperlinks even
in text emails and images in HTML emails.
Entering the email contact in the address book or contacts no longer
whitelists the sender
To ensure messages from specific email addresses are not sent to your Junk
Email folder, you can do one of two things:
  1. Check the “Junk” folder if you do not see the Advocate in
    your inbox
  2. Click the “Mark as safe” link
  3. Add info@geygan.com to your Safe List

    Mark Sender as Safe

    Attachments,
    pictures, and links in this message have been blocked for your safety. Show content

    Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. info@geygan.com – Advocate

    From: info@geygan.com
    You may not know this sender. Mark as safe | Mark
    as unsafe
    Sent: Thu 6/14/07 12:00 AM
    Reply-to: info@geygan.com
  1. Click “Show content” to view the body of the email if it contains images and
    HTML
  2. Click “Mark as safe”
  3. Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. will now be added to your list of
    “Safe senders”

Manually Add to Safe List

  1. Click “Options” in the upper right corner of your Hotmail screen
  2. In the Body of the page under “Junk e-mail” click the link “Safe and blocked
    senders”
  3. Click the link “Safe senders”
  4. Enter the email address “info@geygan.com
  5. Click “Add to list”

Gmail back to
top

To make sure email gets delivered to your inbox, you must add the email
address info@geygan.com to your contacts list.
  1. Click the drop down arrow next to “Reply” in the upper right side of your
    inbox screen.
  2. Click the “Add Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. to Contacts List”
    from the list that appears.
  3. You will now see Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. appear under the
    link “Contacts” on the left side of the page.
  4. Click the link “Contacts” and the in the “Search Contacts” form field.
  5. Now you can select to move Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. to a contact list of
    choice and edit any details.

Outlook 2003 (or higher) back to
top

Because of the various email platforms that can work with Outlook, it is
tricky to tell you how to recieve all email to your Outlook inbox. We can tell
you, however, how to make sure you can see all the emails you receive as they
were intended to be seen – with images. If a company is not in your address book
or “Safe Sender” list, your HTML images will not display.
To have HTML display correctly, users can:
  • Change their automatic download settings
  • Add sender to your address book
  • Add your email or domain to their approved sender list

To change settings:

  1. Right click on a non-displaying image in an HTML email
  2. Choose “Change automatic download settings” option
  3. When the popup comes up, uncheck the first box in the list that says
    “don�t download pictures or other HTML content automatically
  4. Click “OK”

To add sender to address book:

  1. Open the email
  2. Right click on the from address
  3. Choose “Add to contacts” option

To add domain to safe sender list:

  1. Right click on a non-displaying image in an HTML email
  2. Choose “Add the domain to the safe sender list” option
If you are not receiving email at Earthlink, there are two actions you can
take.
  1. Check “Suspect Email” folder
  2. Add to your address book
With Earthlink, if you have SpamBlocker turned on, suspect messages are
automatically send to your Suspect Email folder if the domain is not in your
address book.

Suspect Email Folder

  1. While in the “Suspect Email” folder, if you see Geygan & Geygan,
    Ltd.
  2. Select the “Move to Inbox and Add Contact” option from the pull down menu.
  3. This will add info@geygan.com to your Address Book for
    future email delivery assurance.

Address Book Inclusion

  1. Open the email.
  2. Click “Add to Address Book” in the email header.
  3. Use the “Address Book Editor” to verify the sender’s contact details and
    click “save.”
  4. Fill in info@geygan.com as the email address of the sender.
  5. Any mail sent with the same domain (right of the @ sign) will now be
    delivered to your Inbox.

AT&T back to top

  1. Open the email message from the sender you want to add to your address book.
  2. Click on the “Save Address” link (below) next to the “From Address.
  3. Check the “Add to Contacts” box (below) and click “Save.

Comcast back to
top

  1. Click on the [Save
    Address]   link at the top of this message (it’s next to From Address).
  2. For the field titled First Name, please enter Geygan & Geygan,
    Ltd.
  3. Then click Save Entry and you’re all done.

BlackBerrys back to
top

  1. Scroll up to the message header
  2. Get to the field where info@geygan.com is listed, click the
    Berry button and then click Show Address
  3. Click the Berry button and then click Add to contacts

Mozilla Thunderbird back to
top

  1. Click the Address Book button
  2. Make sure the Personal Address Book is highlighted
  3. Click the New Card button. This will launch a New Card
    window that has 3 tabs: Contact, Address and Other
  4. Under the Contact tab, copy and paste the “From” address,
    info@geygan.com into the email dialogue box
  5. Click OK

Norton AntiSpam back to

top

  1. Start up Norton AntiSpam
  2. Click the Status & Settings tab
  3. Click AntiSpam
  4. Click Configure
  5. Click Allowed List tab
  6. Click Add button
  7. In the ‘Email Address’ box, enter info@geygan.com
  8. Click OK
  9. Click OK

Trend Micro back to
top

If you received an email message that was incorrectly moved to the Spam Mail
folder by the Anti-Spam Toolbar you can prevent this from occuring in the
future.
The Anti-Spam Toolbar detects spam by looking for certain keywords in the
email’s subject or body and matching it with the anti-spam pattern file.
Occasionally, it may detect what you consider legitimate email as spam.
To prevent this from occurring you can do either of the following:
  • Add the sender to the list of Approved Senders
  • Decrease the Spam Email Filter Strength
Note: You can also select the email and click Not Spam to
report it to Trend Micro. However, this feature serves only as a reference when
we develop our spam database, and it may not have an effect on how the toolbar
detects spam.

Add the sender to the list of Approved Senders

  1. Open Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.
  2. Click the Spam Mail folder then select the legitimate email detected as
    spam.
  3. Click Approve Sender on the toolbar.
  4. Click Yes when the confirmation message appears.

Decrease the Spam Email Filter Strength

  1. Open Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.
  2. Click Trend Micro Anti-Spam then click Settings.
  3. On the Spam Filter tab, move the slider bar to select a lower filter
    strength.
  4. Click OK to save your settings.

McAfee Spamkiller back to
top

  1. Select Friends from the McAfee SpamKiller sidebar.
  2. Click Add a friend.
  3. Make sure All users at a domain is selected under Friend type:
  4. Type the domain name you want to whitelist under Address:
  5. To whitelist all our newsletters, type
  6. Optionally, enter a Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. to help you
    recognize the domain under Name:
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click OK.

Barracuda Networks back to
top

The Barracuda Spam Firewall is a popular spam filtering solution. Barracuda
uses several algorithms and processes to determine whether emails are spam.
Occasionally, it will mark a legitimate message as spam. There are two methods
to whitelist email senders so that the firewall will not quarantine future
email.

Whitelist Quarantined Senders

  1. Open your email client. Barracuda should send you a summary each day listing
    quarantined items. Choose the most recent Barracuda email message.
  2. Locate the email from Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. and the
    sender email address info@geygan.com that you do not want
    quarantined in the future. Click on the word “Whitelist,” which is in green
    print to the right of the email title. This will open your list in a web
    browser.
  3. Click the box to the left of the email that you would like to whitelist. At
    the top of the page, click “Whitelist.” Barracuda will not block or quarantine
    the sender whose email address appears on the whitelist.

Whitelist Senders and Domains

  1. Open your web browser. Navigate to your company’s Barracuda firewall
    homepage.
  2. Click on the “Block/Accept” tab.
  3. Choose “Sender Domain Block/Accept.” Enter the domain name from
    info@geygan.com to whitelist. For example, you can enter
    aol.com to allow all AOL addresses. You may enter a comment to remind you why
    you allowed this domain. Click “Add.”
  4. Click your mouse on the “Email Sender Block/Accept” tab. Enter the email
    address of an individual sender that you want to whitelist, such as
    info@geygan.com” Include a comment. Click “Add.” In the
    future, Barracuda will not block emails from this sender.

Cloudmark SpamNet back to
top

  1. Select Cloudmark | Options… from the Cloudmark SpamNet toolbar in Outlook.
  2. Click Advanced.
  3. Go to the Whitelist tab.
  4. Click the Add button.
  5. Type: info@geygan.com
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click Yes.
  9. Click OK.

Mailblocks back to
top

  1. Click the Addresses tab.
  2. Click New.
  3. Type: info@geygan.com
  4. Make sure ‘Accept Mail From This Address’ is selected under Receiving
    Options.
  5. Uncheck ‘Display in People Picker’ under Other options.
  6. Click Submit.
  7. Click OK.

MailShield back to
top

  1. Click Friends from the toolbar.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Type: info@geygan.com
  4. Click OK.

MailWasher back to
top

  1. Click Tools, then Blacklist & Friends.
  2. Click Add… on the right, the Friends list side.
  3. Make sure Plain email address is selected.
  4. Type: info@geygan.com
  5. Click OK.
  6. Click OK.

Oddpost back to
top

  1. Check your ‘Probably Spam’ folder.
  2. If you see that Advocate was incorrectly filtered out
  3. Select it Click the ‘Move to Inbox and Mark as Not Spam’ button.

SpamAssassin back to
top

  1. Add the following entry to your user_prefs file, which is found in the
    .spamassassin subdirectory on your web/mail server
  2. whitelist_from info@geygan.com
  3. Save the user_prefs file or move the updated copy to your .spamassassin
    subdirectory.

SPAMfighter back to
top

Highlight the email from Geygan & Geygan, Ltd. with the
email address info@geygan.com to Whitelist.
Click “More” in the SPAMfighter Toolbar and select “Whitelist”.
Here you can choose if you want to Whitelist the email address
info@geygan.com or the whole domain.
To be sure that all emails from people in your Outlook contacts get through
to you, you can import and Whitelist them.
To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click “More” in the SPAMfighter toolbar.
  2. Then “Options”
  3. Then “Filter settings”
  4. Then “Blacklists & Whitelists”
  5. Then “Whitelist email address”
  6. Then “Import”.
  7. Select your ‘Address Book’ and click on “Check all”
  8. Click “Add”
  9. Click “Apply”
If you get a pop-up box offering you to upgrade to SPAMfighter Pro it is
because you have exceeded the limit of 100 addresses. You can fix this by buying
SPAMfighter Pro or by deleting some of the addresses in your Black/White list.
If you want delete addresses, please go to:
  1. Click More” in the SPAMfighter toolbar.
  2. Then “Options”
  3. Then “Filter settings”
  4. Then “Blacklists & Whitelists”

ChoiceMail back to
top

  1. Open ChoiceMail
  2. Click on the Senders tab
  3. Choose “Approve another Sender”
  4. Type in the sender email address info@geygan.com
  5. Click on OK

SpamButcher back to
top

  1. Click the Configure button.
  2. Go to the Known Senders tab.
  3. Click Add under ‘Known Good Senders and Recipients’.
  4. Type: info@geygan.com
  5. Click OK.
  6. Click OK.

Spameater Pro back to
top

  1. Click Filters from the sidebar.
  2. Click the Approved Senders tab.
  3. Click Add Filter.
  4. Type: info@geygan.com under Address.
  5. Choose ‘Full Email Address’ under Address Type.
  6. Select Email Domain.
  7. Click OK.

Spam Inspector back to
top

  1. Select Spam Inspector
  2. Then ‘Manage Friends List’ from either the Spam Inspector toolbar or from
    the Outlook menu.
  3. Make sure Email is selected under ‘Add a New Friend’.
  4. Type: info@geygan.com
  5. Click the >> button.
  6. Click Close.

Spam Interceptor back to
top

  1. Follow the Trusted link under > Authentication Lists.
  2. Enter the email address: info@geygan.com
  3. Click Add.

SpamPal back to
top

  1. Click on the SpamPal system tray icon with the right mouse button.
  2. Click ‘Add to Whitelist’ from the menu.
  3. Type: info@geygan.com
  4. Click Add.

Spam Sleuth back to
top

  1. Select File, then Configure.
  2. Go to the Friends category.
  3. Make sure Active is checked.
  4. Type: info@geygan.com on a line by itself in the entry
    field.
  5. Click OK.

Other Spam Filters Not List Above…. back to top

If Advocate is being filtered, try adding
info@geygan.com to your Address Book or Contact list.
If messages continue to be sent to your junk folder contact your ISP or spam
filter application support and ask how to whitelist
info@geygan.com.
Generate you own whitelist
instructions here…
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