The undocumented Irish community in the U.S. received a major boost today with the announcement from the White House that it will push forward with a legalization program. Homeland Security boss Janet Napolitano said the Obama administration is seeking a "tough but fair pathway to earned legal status."

Members of the Irish community gathered at a memorial Mass in New York Thursday to remember Sen. Edward Kennedy just over 12 weeks after his death. The senator’s son, Edward Kennedy Jr., Christine Quinn, Speaker of New York City Council, and Irish Consul General Niall Burgess were among those present.

Irish Voice Senior Editor Debbie McGoldrick answers your immigration questions, queries and concerns. This week: Marriage Visas and Employment Green Cards

The undocumented Irish have picked up a key new supporter in Congress. Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-MA) has pledged to support the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and its efforts on behalf of the undocumented Irish in the U.S.

Niall O'Dowd: Ted Kennedy Jr. will preside — and Irish tenor Ronan Tynan will sing in his first New York engagement since his controversial firing by the New York Yankees — at a memorial Mass for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

THE promise of immigration reform benefiting the undocumented Irish in America took a quiet but very important step forward in Washington, D.C. last week with a pivotal meeting between Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ciaran Staunton, president of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) and South Carolina Ancient Order of Hibernians board member Jim Lawracy.

The numbers of undocumented Irish people being deported from America have risen again over the past 12 months. A total of 117 people were deported in the year to September 2009, up from 94 the previous year.

The inaugural meeting of the newly formed Irish American Leadership Council took place last Friday in New York, with a robust exchange of ideas among members and Irish government leaders on how to maximize the multi-tiered relationship between Ireland and the Irish community in the U.S.

Irish Voice Senior Editor Debbie McGoldrick answers your immigration questions, queries and concerns. This week: passport issues.

During his visit to the U.S. last week, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin announced the allocation of $2.68 million in grants for Irish organizations throughout the U.S. The Emigrant Support Program, managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, provides the grants.

The Irish population in America should rally around immigration reform, said Micheal Martin, Minister for Foreign Affairs, in New York on Saturday. Reform will take place in the first three months of 2010, and the question of undocumented Irish will be part of a comprehensive review of the immigration system.

SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton has made it crystal clear in her visit to Ireland that she and the Obama administration are giving the Irish peace process a very high priority indeed. It is also very welcome that she dropped the ludicrous “no special deal” nonsense when she talked about the undocumented Irish and the need to address that issue.

Irish Voice Senior Editor Debbie McGoldrick answers your immigration questions, queries and concerns.

The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin, is meeting with members of Congress in Washington Wednesday and promises to highlight the plight of the Irish undocumented in the U.S. Martin, who arrived in Washington Wednesday for a four-day visit, is expected to discuss the issue of the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish with members of both Houses of Congress later today.

Hillary Clinton met with Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Brian Cowen and President Mary McAleese and discussed the situation of Irish undocumented in the U.S. as well as Northern Ireland and global economic issues.

Undocumented Irish immigrants have been given new reason to hope that immigration reform is on President Obama's agenda. This follows a report in The New York Times that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency has quietly begun preparing for an expected upsurge in its workload.

I have had my green card since 1990 and used it for three years. Since then I returned to Ireland and now work here. I have been back in the U.S. several times but not in the past five years or so.

The annual DV green card lottery (DV-2011) begins on October 2, and concludes on November 30, 2009. As in previous years, applications can only be lodged electronically via Form DS-5501, available only through the State Department’s DV website at www.dvlottery.state.gov.

Irish man Vince Keane from Ballyhaunis County Mayo is helping U.S. President Barack Obama to try and overhaul the health care system in the

“Can I keep my Irish passport too if I decide to go for U.S. citizenship in the future? Am I misinformed as far as my future children's options?”

I HAVE two children born in New York. My husband is from Ireland. We just received their Irish passports. I would also like one, but I understand I cannot get one. I am from the U.S. and have no Irish link but my husband.

Though this column has never received a question from a surviving spouse of a deceased U.S. citizen whose marriage was less than two years old at the time of death, there have been several cases reported in the national media of a so-called “widow penalty” in U.S. immigration law preventing the surviving spouse from becoming legal here.

It was his handshake I’ll never forget, solid and strong. The event was an Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) rally in Washington D.C. in March 2006. Although I was slightly intimidated by the enormity of the situation and those all around me, I was somewhat comforted by the presence of Senator Ted Kennedy and his vivacious handshake.

Immigration question: Is it possible to apply for naturalization from abroad? Immigration expert Debbie McGoldrick tackles the issue.

Irish actor Liam Neeson has revealed that he became a U.S. citizen after receiving incredible support from Americans following his wife Natasha Richardson’s sudden death.

So, the Irish government is planning to give the U.S.-Ireland Alliance some $25 million over the next few years, according to Batt O'Keefe, the minister for education there.

Irish immigration centers in New York are feeling the pinch of the recession and are concerned about the future of their services.

Senator Edward Kennedy - who freely acknowledged that his own family would not be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. now - was a real champion for the undocumented Irish.

Former Irish political prisoner and Maze escapee Pol Brennan was shackled as he was deported on Friday to the Republic of Ireland, where he says he intends to remain “for quite a while” before deciding whether to return to Northern Ireland.

Former IRA prisoner Pol Brennan was deported on Friday to the Republic of Ireland. The 56-year-old, who has lived in the U.S. for over 25 years, was flown to Norfolk, Virginia on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft on Thursday before continuing on to Limerick, Ireland the next day.

A leading member of the AOH has blasted calls from Northern Ireland to jail former IRA man and Maze escapee Pol

After 17 months behind bars in Texas, a former IRA prisoner who has lived in the U.S. for over 25 years is due to be deported to Ireland at the end of this week -- and is facing more jail time in Ireland if Northern Ireland politician Jeffrey Donaldson has anything to do with it.

On a visit to Mexico on Monday, President Barack Obama told reporters that immigration reform would have to wait until next year, although movement will begin on the contentious issue in fall.

Nearly a month after being refused entry into Ireland, the Wyoming woman who visits Ireland on a yearly basis has decided to give it another shot. Tessa Fowler, 38, was refused entry into Ireland by the Dublin Police Immigration Bureau on July 16 on the grounds that she did not having a return ticket.

Undocumented Irish immigrants in the U.S. are cautiously optimistic about immigration reform after President Barack Obama said he would provide a "pathway to citizenship" for illegal immigrants. Speaking in Mexico yesterday, President Barack Obama said he wanted to provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

The hopes of the Irish undocumented rose today amid reports from Washington that activists have stepped up their efforts for comprehensive immigration reform. They are calling on President Barack Obama to introduce legislation this

Two big stories have prompted us here at IrishCentral.com to create a easy guide for tourists going into

"I would dearly love to relocate to the U.S., but am struggling to find anyone who can offer me advice as to whether it is possible for me to emigrate."

“I have an unusual question, I think. My mother was born in Canada in the 1950s, and lived there for the first eight years of her life before returning to Ireland with her family. I have never been to Canada and to be honest I don’t want to really go. My hoped-for destination is New York. As far as I am aware, because my mother is Canadian I should be Canadian as well. Will this fact help me at all in my quest to become American? I have friends living over there illegally, and that’s not something I want to do. I suppose I could try Canada, though, and presume I’d be legal there and therefore employable?”

If New York Senator Charles Schumer has anything to do with it, the estimated 50,000 Irish undocumented in the U.S. will have an immigration bill to look forward to by the end of this year or early next.

Up to 30 U.S. immigration officials and their families have this week commenced relocating ahead of this month's scheduled opening of pre-clearance facilities for commercial airline passengers flying to the U.S. from Shannon Airport. The move comes at a time when American authorities are increasingly worried about private jets flying direct to the U.S. with little or no oversight.

“I am writing from Ireland, where I have been living for the past seven months. I have a green card that I got nearly three years ago, and am planning a visit to the U.S. to keep my card valid, but then I’ll return to Ireland, hopefully for good. I very much want to keep my green card valid, but I don’t want to have to keep coming back and forth to the U.S. each year. I know that there is something I can apply for that will keep the card good indefinitely. How do I do that?”

There is new hope for the thousands of undocumented Irish in the U.S. with the news that Senator Charles Schumer intends to have a comprehensive immigration reform bill ready by Labor Day. Schumer (D-NY), who replaced Senator Edward Kennedy as the chair of the immigration sub-committee, is steering an immigration overhaul through the Senate. "I think we'll have a good bill by Labor Day," said Schumer, D-N.Y. "I think the fundamental building blocks are in place to do comprehensive immigration reform."

U.S. immigration officers and their families have begun a 3,000-mile move across the Atlantic to prepare for the new pre-clearance facility at Shannon airport, scheduled to begin at the end of July.

SLIDESHOW / IRISH SIDE OF ELLIS ISLAND / CLICK HERE The outside world is a scary place. Especially when outside is New York

I am concerned about my Irish wife's status when we return to the U.S., and also that of my two Irish-born children. What would be the best way to proceed with moving back to the U.S. -- this time for good!

Hope springs anew in the never-ending battle to win comprehensive immigration reform in the United States. The latest development saw President Barack Obama finally convene a top-level meeting of congressional leaders and key staffers to discuss how the issue might move ahead.

IRELAND is set to become the first country to have full pre-clearance facilities for travelers wishing to visit the U.S. U.S. Secretary for the

The results of this year's Diversity Visa Green Gard lottery are now available online. This is the first-time ever that the State Department has made the results available online. If you applied for this year's program, you can check your status now on a special State Department website.

The visiting U.S. Congressional party to Ireland met with a delegation from the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) to discuss the possibility of former Loyalist prisoners being granted visas to the United States.