Scary new House Bill Could Rip VAWA Protections for Immigrants Apart - This is a summary of a new urgent Alert from the National Immigration Project about a new US House of Representatives bill to be voted on likely by May 8, 2012 that would re-victimize survivors of domestic violence and other crimes by forcing victims to be interviewed by local immigration offices not specially trained in victim… Read More »
Unlawful Presence as a Child Can Come Back to Haunt You - USCIS’s May 2009 Unlawful Presence Memo clarified how children can be affected by the permanent bar as adults for actions taken when they were under the age of 18. What’s scary is that many immigrants are getting stuck abroad after their immigrant visa is denied at their consulate interview who had no idea about this… Read More »
Unlawful Presence Update: Provisional Waiver Draft Regulations Released - In the past two weeks, DHS has finally put the pedal to the medal in releasing much anticipated draft regulations on the proposed provisional waiver program. If it gets enacted, the provisional waiver program would allow those with approved Immigrant Visas who have a US citizen spouse or parent who would suffer extreme hardship if… Read More »
Understanding Limits to the Fiance Visa - The fiancé visa, k-1, may be a tempting option to immigrate a girlfriend to the US as it seems to be the most straight forward and legal way to test out a relationship without committing to a marriage immigrant visa process and longer processing times. There are recurring problems with k-1s that many forget:The k-1… Read More »
Prosecutorial Discretion Update: ICE Los Angeles - Prosecutorial Discretion is a remedy applied to sympathetic cases where certain aggravating factors (such as serious crimes, repeated violations of immigration law) are not present in cases pending before the immigration removal judges. Prosecutorial discretion (PD), if granted, could end in the closure or termination of removal proceedings against an immigrant who may not have… Read More »
No more foreign CIS office delays? Waivers for Unlawful Presence, Crimes & More to Be Filed at US Lockbox - In a teleconference today, US CIS announced plans to transition all usually foreign filed I-601 packages for unlawful presence, criminal, misrepresentation, and other kinds of inadmissability waivers to one central lockbox filing location in the U.S. The practice now is to submit the waiver filing with the CIS office attached to the foreign consulate. This… Read More »
New CIS Appeals Office Decision on Permanent Bar Helps Those Who Entered Illegally Prior to 4/1/97 - We all know about the dreaded permanent bar = the law that was implemented on 4/1/97 that said anyone who was illegally present in the US for a year or more or who had been deported and then tried to illegally re-enter after either of these could not come back to the US for ten… Read More »
Understanding the Financial Obligation to Sponsoring a Spouse for a Green Card - The Affidavit of Support is a contract with the federal government to reimburse the government for any means-tested public benefits that the immigrant receives in the 10 years after the immigrant is awarded their green card (becomes a permanent resident). The affidavit of support must be filed with immigration for the permanent residency application to… Read More »
Some Unlawful Presence Waivers to Be Decided Inside the US Before Consulate Interview - The recent announcement from USCIS of its intent to propose a new rule regarding the processing of unlawful presence waivers has sparked a lot of of questions. This issue is all over the media this week as well and many are confused. Some Unlawful Presence Waivers to Be Decided Inside the US Before Consulate Interview US… Read More »
The Prenuptial Agreement’s Effect on a Marriage Green Card Case - A prenuptial agreement may be the deciding factor for a spouse who is hesitant about being involved with the immigration process in deciding to go through with the marriage. There’s no guarantee that a prenuptial agreement will actually hold up later down the line in state family court as this varies with each case depending… Read More »
The Impulsive Marriage and Losing Your Visa Priority Date - A common problem that arises in the immigration context is a young marriage that results in the loss of a priority date of a visa petition filed by the lawful permanent resident parent for their son or daughter. A priority date is the date the visa petition is filed with immigration (US CIS). For those… Read More »
The Young Lovers – Sponsoring a Spouse For A Green Card When You’re Under Age - You must be at least 18 years old in the State of California to get married. In some states, you can be as young as 14. But what happens when a 17 year old in the State of California who is a US citizen marries their 16 year old girlfriend because there is no other way… Read More »
Remarriage when your spouse disappears? - I come across a least a few times a year the situation where one of my clients has been married multiple times and now wishes to sponsor an immigrant spouse in their latest marriage that doesn’t have all of the divorce decrees or death certificates from prior spouse is to show that they have the… Read More »
Former Divorce Can Screw Up Green Card Case - Obtaining a green card based on marriage can seem straightforward unless either the U.S. citizen petitioner or the foreign national spouse has ever been married before. If they both were living in the same state and were married and divorced in that state, the former divorces may hold up in court. Even either spouse has… Read More »
Kim Kardashian’s Aussie Trips Highlight Visa Fraud Problems Couples Face - Kim Kardashian is on an Australian immigration watch list now due to her multiple trips to Australia taken to promote her handbag line and reality TV show. The cardinal rule of visitor visas in the US is that you are here to visit, not work. Aussies feel the same way and expect her to get… Read More »
Lies Discovered by Immigration After You Get Your Green Card - What happens if you lied to immigration to get your green card in the first place or you were inadmissible at the time of adjustment in the United States and CIS found this out after you’ve received your green card? CIS can start immigration proceedings against you by issuing an NTA. You may have relief… Read More »
CIS finally issues "guidance" on when officers will issue NTAs for criminal cases - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a new policy today to guide officers in knowing when to issue notices to appear (NTA). An NTA is the charging document that’s filed with the immigration court to place in immigrant into removal proceedings. Once an NTA is issued an accepted by the court, CIS no longer has… Read More »
Common Issues on CA Drivers Licenses for Immigrants - It is difficult to obtain a driver’s license in CA if you are in CA illegally or can’t prove legal status. It may be advantageous for immigrants who are undocumented to keep their foreign driver’s licenses valid so they have i.d. and are less likely to get fined or arrested for driving without a license… Read More »
Be Careful: Permanent Bar Now Retroactive! - In Carrillo de Palacios, the Ninth circuit held that any unlawful presence period before 4/1/1997 can be used to trigger the permanent bar even if the illegal or attempted illegal re-entry happened only months after 4/1/97. The case is currently on appeal because it allows for a new law to be applied retroactively to unlawful… Read More »
Determining Case Status on Waivers filed outside the US - Determining case status is one of the most frustrating parts of the current waiver process outside of the US. CIS offices not only differ on processing times for waiver submissions, but there is usually no way of finding updated information on how long a case is taking. The first place I always recommend is reviewing… Read More »
