South Carolina Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Carlock, Copeland, Semler & Stair : Serving Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Myrtle Beach

The practice of Immigration Law takes into account dozens of variables - all of which must be thoroughly investigated before a client's immigration options can be determined. At Carlock Copeland, we offer an array of services to meet our clients' immigration requirements. Initial consultations are offered to evaluate our clients' current legal needs and inform them of their options. Once a client's options have been determined, Carlock Copeland attorneys assist clients with:

I-9 Employment Verification Policy Implementation and Audits:  Carlock Copeland immigration attorneys provide assistance in all aspects of I-9 compliance. Generally, the size and needs of the company are assessed to determine whether it would be in the company's best interest to continue with traditional I-9 recording or if one of the more experimental web-based recording systems best suits the business needs. If the company continues with traditional I-9 recording, Carlock Copeland attorneys create a corporate policy to guide the business in proper I-9 employment verification. Moreover, the attorneys perform an internal audit of the employers current I-9 files to identify recording problems and address discrepancies.  Finally, Carlock Copeland attorneys train the business's human resource and management personnel in the proper verification techniques to ensure future compliance. 

Lawful Permanent Residency (Green Card) Status:  Lawful Permanent Residency (LPR) status allows an individual to live indefinitely in the  United States (subject to certain conditions). There are a variety of ways of qualifying and filing for LPR status, including: based on employment relationship, based on family relationship, based on asylee status, or based on special immigrant status. Carlock Copeland's Immigration Team has handled a variety of LPR Petitions and Applications in all contexts and is well versed in the multitudinous filing requirements which vary per LPR basis. 

H-1B visas: This visa category is available to persons in "specialty occupations" who hold the equivalent of a four-year university degree in a traditionally professional field. To        qualify, the position in the U.S. must require that employees hold the same or similar       degree or its equivalent. Generally approved for three (3) years and extendable for three (3) more years. CCSS attorneys service clients seeking H-1B visas by dealing directly with the Department of Labor to obtain necessary prevailing wage amounts, preparing the  Labor Certification Application (LCA), preparing the H-1B petition and filing it with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In addition, CCSS attorneys helps clients who are not eligible to obtain their H-1B visas in the U.S. by preparing them for overseas consular interviews.

H-1B1 visas: This visas category is almost identical to the H-1B visa category with two significant differences: 1) it is only available to persons from Chile and Singapore and 2) it is only approved for one year and extendable in one-year increments. As with the H-1B visa, CCSS attorneys assist clients in all aspects of preparing and filing for this visa.

H-2A visas:  This visa category allows agri-business to bring in temporary laborers to supplement their workforce. There is no cap to this visa and generally, applications can be made year-round. Carlock Copeland attorneys handle all aspects of H-2A visa cases from filing to open the case with the local state workforce agency to booking the consular appointment at the U.S. appointment abroad. 

H-2B visas:  This visa category allows non-agricultural businesses to bring in temporary laborers on a seasonal, one-time, peakload, or intermittent basis. The visa is capped at 66,000 per year with 33,000 being available for issue beginning October 1 and 33,000 being available for  issue April 1 of each year. Again, Carlock Copeland's immigration team coordinates all aspects of the H-2B visa filing - working with the state workforce agency, the Atlanta Department of Labor, USCIS, and the U.S. consulates abroad to coordinate all aspects of our clients' H-2B filings.

J-1 visas:  The J-1 visa program allows individuals to come into the U.S. to participate in training, teaching, professorships, research assistant positions, medical graduate or international visitor programs offered by U.S. organizations and businesses that have been approved by the Department of State. The components of filing for a J-1 program are varied and Carlock Copeland's Immigration Team is equipped to help individuals and employers proceed with J-1 issues - including waivers of the 2-year return home requirement. 

L-1A visas:  This visa type allows managers and executives who have worked outside of the U.S. for  at least one of the previous 3 years to transfer to the U.S. and work for a branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or joint venture partner of the applicant's non-U.S. employer. This visa is available to employees  whose U.S. affiliate company is already established and for executives and managers moving to the U.S. to start a U.S. affiliate or branch of the foreign company. Carlock Copeland's Immigration Teams helps applicants in both situations by preparing and filing petitions that demonstrate the bona fides of the foreign company, the U.S. affiliate or branch, and the foreign employee.

L-1B visas:  This visa type allows persons with "specialized knowledge" who have worked outside of the U.S. for at least one of the previous 3 years to transfer to the U.S. and work for a branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or joint venture partner of the applicant's non-U.S. employer.  This visa is available to persons whose U.S. affiliate is already established and applicants moving to the U.S. to start a U.S. affiliate or branch of the foreign company. Carlock Copeland's Immigration Teams helps applicants in both situations demonstrate the qualifications of their foreign company as well as the U.S. affiliate or branch and prepares the petition for filing both in the U.S. and at U.S. consulates abroad. 

K-1–4 visas:  K visas allow fiancées of U.S. citizens and the children of fiancées of U.S. citizens to      enter the U.S. once to marry U.S. citizens. In addition, the K visa permits spouses of U.S. citizens and their children with pending I-130 petitions to enter the United States before filing for a green card. These petitions require careful timing a great attention to  detail to ensure that USCIS and the Consulate processing the Petition are satisfied that the intentions of the parties are bona fide. Carlock Copeland's Immigration Team is experienced in these visas and has experience cooperating with Consulates world-wide to ensure the zealous advocacy of our clients' cases.

Asylum (Both Affirmative Asylum and Defensive Asylum):  These processes allow individuals with a well-founded fear of persecution in the future  in their home country fleeing to stay in the U.S. until it is safe to return home. Depending on whether the individual is affirmatively filing with USCIS for asylum or claiming  asylum as a defense to deportation, the process by which an applicant will file for asylum varies dramatically. Our Immigration Team has worked successfully with clients in both situations to demonstrate the veracity of their fears of persecution to U.S. Immigration Judges and USCIS. 

Deportation Defense:  When a non-citizen is in proceedings before the Immigration Court, there are a variety  of defenses that may be raised to convince the Court to allow the individual to stay.  Deportation Defense is often quite long and very complicated, however CCSS attorneys are well versed in the procedures of the Court and have appeared on multiple occasions in a variety of circumstances before the Immigration Court in Atlanta. 

Expedited Removal: For aliens serving out criminal sentences, this procedure allows for a hearing to be conducted to show that there is no need for additional DHS detention following the end of the alien's criminal sentence and provides that the alien is expeditiously deported following his criminal sentence. For clients so inclined, CCSS attorneys instigate expedited removal proceedings to ensure that eligible aliens are returned home quickly.

 Voluntary Departure:  This process allows persons unlawfully in the U.S. to apply to the Department of Homeland Security to leave the U.S. without being subject to immigration proceedings.  In addition, persons in removal proceedings may apply to the Immigration Judge to request the opportunity to leave the U.S. voluntarily in lieu of being subject to deportation. This is a very serious decision with strict immigration consequences and should be thoroughly discussed with an immigration attorney before electing this method  of departure. Carlock Copeland's Immigration Team assists clients in deciding whether this is the best  course of action and filing before the DHS officers and the Immigration Court to request this method of leaving. 

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Re-registration:  TPS requires that eligible individuals re-register annually when the Department of State  renews their home country's TPS status. Carlock Copeland's Immigration attorneys assist clients in this task and ensure that clients do not miss out on their limited opportunity to renew their status.

Naturalization:  This is the process by which eligible applicants achieve U.S. citizenship.  The CCSS Immigration Team is well versed in the qualifications necessary as well as the waivers that clients may need in order to receive this coveted status. In addition, our  attorneys have experience preparing applicants for the naturalization interview and have accompanied multiple applicants to their naturalization interviews.