Watson Law Offices Newsletter
June 2013
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Senate Passes Immigration Overhaul
| |  Senate Bill S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, was passed Thursday by a vote of 68-32.
The bill was first introduced in April by the "Gang of Eight," a group of eight Senators from both parties that joined together to draft an immigration reform bill. This proposed legislation would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, significantly increase the number of employment-based visas available, cut the long backlogs for green cards, and increase border patrol and enforcement.
The bill will now go to the House of Representatives for consideration, where it faces opposition from Republican leadership. The House Judiciary Committee is currently working on its own piecemeal set of bills. Speaker of the House John Boehner has suggested that he will not address the Senate's bill until after Congress' summer recess.
If this proposed legislation is able to pass the House of Representatives, it would be the most sweeping change to U.S. immigration law in over two decades. We will keep all readers up-to-date on new developments.
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| Supreme Court Decision Opens Immigration Benefits for Legally Married Same-Sex Couples | |  On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that the section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that defined marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. This section prevented same-sex couples who were legally married from being granted any of the federal benefits, including immigration benefits, afforded to heterosexual spouses.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced after the ruling that her agency was making plans to implement the change, so that all legally married couples will be eligible for the same immigration benefits under the law. The ruling will allow many U.S. Citizens who were previously unable to apply for a green card for their foreign national spouse to now submit a petition.
The ruling also resolves a major source of contention in the immigration reform debate currently going on in Congress. The Senate had abandoned a section of the proposed comprehensive immigration reform bill that allowed for same-sex spouses to qualify for green cards based on their marriage to a U.S. Citizen, because of strong opposition. The Supreme Court ruling has now cleared the way for this without any change to existing immigration law.
Watson Law Offices has a long history of helping married couples reunite through immigration. Contact the office to schedule a consultation.
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July 2013 Visa Bulletin
| |  The U.S. Department of State has published the latest Visa Availability dates for July 2013.
Most categories have advanced. EB-2 India remains at September 1, 2004. However, the Visa Bulletin predicts movement for EB-2 India later this summer.
Watson Law Offices Summary of the July 2013 Visa Bulletin |
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This is an effort on our part to reach out to our larger community of friends, colleagues, current and former clients and anyone interested in Immigration Law. We expect there will be a strong push to make changes to existing Immigration Laws in the coming months and years, and we will try to keep our subscribers informed not only as to what changes are taking place, but how they are likely to impact everyone.
We welcome your input on what we should include, and how we should present this information. Please let us know what you think and what you would like to see. Also, please share this email with anyone whom you think would be interested in and benefit from this information.
THANK YOU!
Sincerely,
ROY J. WATSON, JR.
Watson Law Offices
142 Great Road
Bedford, MA 01730
rjw@watson-law.com
(781)533-7700 |
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The information you obtain in this newsletter is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice, and persons receiving this information should not act on it without consulting professional legal counsel. We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail.
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