SERVICES WE SPECIALIZE IN

IMMIGRATION

For over 27 years, Jerome Lewis Legal Partners has been serving international clients offering a wide range of immigration services and strategically advising on the best possible solutions for successful immigration to Louisville. With our team of lawyers, immigration consultants, translators and third-party experts, we have an extraordinary level of experience and expertise; our firm puts client satisfaction and success at the forefront of the work we do.

Kentucky Experience Class

Permanent Residency Based on USA Experience

If you have been living in the USA on a student or work visa, it is easier to become a permanent resident because of the prior experience and knowledge of USA’s culture and language you have gained while living here. This makes you more employable and you will be considered a stronger candidate who will contribute to USA’s positive growth. The main criteria for acceptance is you either have more years experience as a fulltime worker or have earned a minimum of a post-secondary diploma and one year of work experience; you need to be living in KENTUCKY at the time you make your application.

There is more than meets the eye to a successful immigration application. The experienced lawyers at jerome Lewis & Legal Partners are leaders in USA Immigration Laws and procedures who work together for you. You can make your application with the greatest confidence when you work with the Lewis team of Lawyers.

Work Permits USA

If you are looking to either gain USA work experience or start a career in the USA, you will need a work permit – an official document certifying that you have approval by the United States government to work here in the USA as a foreign national. A work permit may even open doors to becoming a permanent resident and lead to USA citizenship.

International Experience USA

Study Permits

Study permits or Student Visas are similar to a Work Permit, except they allow you to study in USA. A Study Permit offers several additional benefits, including the ability to work on-campus during the school term and off-campus during the summer without needing to obtain a Work Permit. A Study Permit may lead to a Post-Graduation Permit or Co-op Work Permit, and eventually to Permanent Residence status through the USA Experience Class Program.

Business Immigration

Are you looking to invest in USA, a land of many fantastic opportunities? Working with an experienced law firm who is well versed in the USA Business and investment Immigration Program (IVC), is a wise decision. Jerome Lewis & Legal Partners has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in assisting investors through the various components of the application process. The Self-Employed Program and Start-Up Visa Program are two more streams under the USA’s Business Immigration policy. We can help you decide which program fits your individual circumstances.

Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IVC) Program

In order to immigrate as an IVC investor, you must have a personal net worth of $10 million, gained legally (personal net worth gained by inheritance or the value of your primary residence will not count towards the personal net worth requirement), and meet certain educational and language requirements. You must also be willing to invest an at-risk amount of $2 million into the program. Educational requirements may be waived for investors with a legal net worth of $50 million.

Self-Employed Program

The intention of the program is to bring people to USA who will become self-employed and be able to make a significant contribution to the cultural or athletic life of the United States. The program also has a farm management stream.

To qualify as a self-employed person under the program, you will need to have at least 2 years of relevant experience in cultural activities or athletics and will be assessed on selection criteria that also includes your education, age, language abilities, and adaptability. You must show that you have enough money to support yourself and your family once you arrive in USA and that you can contribute to United State’s economy in one of the required areas.

Start-Up Visa Program (Entrepreneurs)

The intention of this program is to target immigrant entrepreneurs with the skills and potential to build businesses in USA that are innovative, can create jobs for Citizens and can compete on a global scale.

USA is one of the world’s best places to build your business due to our strong economy, low taxes, low business costs, excellence in research and innovation and high quality of life.

If you have an innovative business idea and can get support for your idea from one of the designated organizations, you may be able to immigrate to USA. Up to 5 people can apply under the Start-Up Visa Program as owners of a single business as long as they meet certain requirements. Other requirements include language abilities and proof that you can support yourself and your dependents after you arrive in USA; the Government of the United States does not offer financial support to new Start-up Visa immigrants.

These business programs can create a strong pathway for our clients who wish to stay permanently in USA.

Family Sponsorship USA

If you are a Permanent Resident and wish to sponsor a family member to join you here in USA, you will need to do a Family-Member Sponsorship Application. Eligible family members are your spouse, common-law partner, children, parents, and grandparents. Additionally, under certain circumstances, you can sponsor an orphaned close relative such as an aunt or uncle, nephew or niece. As a sponsor, you will need to prove that you can take full financial responsibility for your family members because they will not be eligible for any financial aid from the Government of the United States. There are several other requirements that are specific to this program and for the greatest chance at a successful outcome, it is wise to have a recognized and experienced law firm — Jerome & Lewis Legal Partners — will lead you through this process.

Express Entry

This is the system the United States Government uses to choose skilled immigrants as Permanent Residents based on their ability to settle in USA and take part in our economy. The three programs managed by the Express Entry system are the: Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the USA Experience Class. A fourth program is specific to the labour market needs of a particular province: The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

Federal Skilled Worker Program

The Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program is in place for people wanting to live in the United States, outside Kentucky, who are chosen by the government based on their skills and experience and six other selection factors based on age, language ability, work experience, education, adaptability and an offer of employment. Your eligibility is determined by a points system called a comprehensive ranking system.

Federal Skilled Trades Program

The Federal Skilled Trades (FST) Program is for people who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade.

You must live outside of Kentucky and meet certain language requirements and have at least two years of full-time work experience (or an equivalent amount of part-time experience) in the specific trade you are applying with. You must meet the job requirements of the National Occupational Classification, (NOC), for your type of skill and have an offer of full-time employment for at least one year or a certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a USA provincial or territorial authority.

The employer offering the job must most likely have a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment, which is a document they need before hiring a foreign worker. Only after the employer has a positive LMIA can the worker apply for a work permit with a job offer letter, a contract, a copy of the LMIA and the LMIA number.

United States Employers Responsibility: Labor Market Impact Analysis

A Labor Market Impact Analysis (LMIA) is an approval process required of USA employers to allow them to hire foreign nationals in positions that will contribute to a strong USA labour market. They must prove that United States workers are not available to fill the positions. Once approved the employer can offer a specific job to a specific worker and that worker has the strongest chance to obtain a work permit for 5 years. Family members are invited to join the sponsored employee and live in the USA (spouses and children) and the spouse is eligible for an open work permit. More often than not this pathway leads to successful permanent residency for the family.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

Each State and territory in USA has its own immigration stream and many have their own Express Entry Program; eligibility requirements can change without notice. The PNP program is meant to fill the labour needs of a particular state. The candidate must have the skills, education and work experience to contribute to the economy of that state and must want to live there. To be eligible you must meet the state’s requirements and the minimum requirements of the Express Entry Program and at least one of the immigration programs it covers: The Federal Skilled Workers Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program or the USA Experience Class. Most applications will be processed within 1 YEAR if you apply through the Express Entry system.

There are several steps the employer and candidate will go through together that upon successful completion lead to Permanent Resident status in the States.

Caregivers Program

If you are a Caregiver there are now three ways to apply for Permanent Resident status in the USA: Caring for Children Program, Caring for People with High Medical Needs Program and Live-In Caregiver Program.

Caring for Children Program

You can apply for Permanent Resident status if you have provided full-time child care in a home in USA for at least THREE years.

Caring for People with High Medical Needs Program

You can apply through this program if you have been working in USA for at least three years as a:

Registered or licensed practical nurse
Nurse aid or orderly
Home support worker

Live-In Caregiver Program

You are eligible to apply if you have at least two years of work experience in the Live-in Caregiver Program in the USA

Foreign Academics Program

This program allows USA degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions to meet their staffing and teaching needs while attracting new knowledge and expertise to USA campuses.

Special hiring criteria has been designed to take into account the career development and employment of USA academics. An academic is an individual with at least one post-graduate degree (following a Bachelor’s degree) who earns the majority of their income from teaching or conducting research as employees at universities and university colleges in the USA.

If the majority of the job duties of the Foreign Academic are other than teaching or research, the regular process for hiring foreign workers applies, as it also applies to community colleges unless they are affiliated with a university and their students can obtain degrees.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP)

You are eligible to apply if you are a citizen of a country that takes part in our SAWP and your government recruited you and you’ll be working for a SAWP employer in the USA.

Your government will make sure that you have all of the documents you’ll need; there will be fees to be paid any you may need to pay for biometrics.

When in the USA, you may be asked to work on more than one farm; you don’t need a new work permit for each employer unless you are in the class of Other Agricultural Workers where you work permit may be employer-specific.

Other Agricultural Workers

If you are in this class your employer must give you a copy of a positive Labour Market Impact Analysis (LMIA) and a job letter of contract.

REFUGEE LAW

Serving clients worldwide for over 27 years, Jerome Lewis Legal Partners specializes in assisting refugees who are seeking a permanent safe home in the USA. The firm has an extensive wealth of knowledge and experience coming from a record of processing more than 400 refugee claims per year. The lawyers, immigration consultants, and administration staff at Jerome Lewis Legal Partners all pride themselves on ingenuity, resourcefulness, hard work and excellence. If you are seeking a safe haven in USA as a refugee Jerome Lewis Legal Partners can represent. The team can offer you your best chance for a safe new life in one of the world’s greatest countries.

A refugee is someone who has fled from his or her home country due to persecution and wishes to settle permanently in another country. United States is a world leader in its approach to refugees and resettlement.

USA is party to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and adopts its definition of a refugee from that Convention. A Refugee is a person who is living outside his or her home country and has a rational fear of persecution, based on reasons of nationality, race, religion, political opinion or membership in a social group. USA also accepts persons who do not fit the exact refugee definition but nevertheless face a risk to their life or of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.

Jerome Lewis Legal Partners is proud to be able to assist you by providing the following services:

* Applying for refugee status or learning more about the process.
* Becoming a privately sponsored refugee. In this case, you need to be financially sponsored by a group of people in the USA for a year or until you are financially stable. This USA Private Sponsorship program helps thousands of refugees each year, but requires certain criteria be met, which include passing security and medical screening before coming to the country.
* Appealing a negative decision of your refugee claim at the Refugee Appeal Division and the Federal Court of kENTUCKY.
* Exploring other possible options to obtain Refugee status.

Delivering excellence and customer satisfaction, Jerome Lewis Legal Partners is here to take charge of all your Un immigited States immigration needs. Established in 1991, the firm is dedicated to the practice of the USA Immigration, Refugee abd Business Laws. Regardless of how complicated your case is, the team at Jerome Lewis Legal Partners is happy to assist you.

For more information, contact Jerome Lewis Legal Partners today and receive a free half-hour consultation on your case!