Florida Injury Attorney Blog

A Minnesota Court of Appeals recently ruled in Campos v. Minnesota, that the Padilla decision should apply retroactively. The Padilla decision was a U.S. Supreme Court case, where the Court held that a defendant who was not advised or was improperly advised of immigration consequences could withdraw his or her previously entered plea of guilty or no contest. The question that lingered after the Padilla decision that courts across the nation have been wrestling with is whether the decision applied retroactively. A defendant generally has a short period of time after their plea to file a motion to withdraw that plea. The Campos Court held that those deadlines do not apply to a Padilla challenge. It remains to be seen how other courts across the nation will address this issue.

Here is the visa bulletin for June 2011. This bulletin is published by the Department of State and it summarizes the availability of visas as of June. The availability changes monthly and lets you know when your visa number becomes available. It also gives you an idea of the length of time you may have to wait if you have not already applied for a visa.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5452.html

Here is the visa bulletin for March 2011. This bulletin is published by the Department of State and it summarizes the availability of visas as of March. The availability changes monthly and lets you know when your visa number becomes available. It also gives you an idea of the length of time you may have to wait if you have not already applied for a visa.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5337.html

Here is the visa bulletin for April 2011. This bulletin is published by the Department of State and it summarizes the availability of visas as of April. The availability changes monthly and lets you know when your visa number becomes available. It also gives you an idea of the length of time you may have to wait if you have not already applied for a visa.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5368.html

When a non U.S. citizen obtains a greencard (becomes a lawful permanent resident (LPR)), he or she gains many rights not available to other non U.S. citizens. However, an LPR can "abandon" that status and not even know it. If an LPR remains outside of the United States for more than a year, this will be considered an abandonment of the LPR status. 8 C.F.R. 211.1(a)(2). Also, the LPR status may be abandoned in certain situations if the LPR leaves the United States for less than a year. If you are an LPR and plan on leaving the United States, you should consult an experienced immigration attorney to protect your LPR status.