Great News! USCIS announced a final rule expanding the existing provisional waiver process to allow certain individuals who are family members of U.S. citizens and now  lawful permanent residents (LPRs), who are statutorily eligible for immigrant visas, to more easily navigate the immigration process.

The rule announced today, which goes into effect on Aug. 29, 2016, expands eligibility for the provisional waiver process to all individuals who are statutorily eligible for the waiver of the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility. USCIS expects to update its Policy Manual to provide guidance on how USCIS makes “extreme hardship” determinations in the coming weeks.

The final rule also makes changes to Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver.  These changes will go into effect along with the final rule.  The updated form will be posted on USCIS’ website at uscis.gov/i-601a on August 29, 2016.

Applicants should not submit a request for a provisional waiver under the expanded guidelines until the final rule takes effect on Aug. 29, 2016.  If you do so before that date, USCIS may deny the application.

For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook(/uscis), and the USCIS blog The Beacon.
Federal Register: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-07-29/pdf/2016-17934.pdf

We applaud President Obama’s announcement of  broad executive action to offer temporary relief from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants, stating that the separation of families or the oppression of low-wage immigrant workers is “not who we are as Americans.”

Concurrent with the televised nationwide presidential address last night, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary issued a series of memoranda outlining the various facets of the programs and policies which would constitute, in total, “executive action” relating to immigration matters such as:  Revising Removal Priorities, ending Secure Communities and replacing it with a New Priority Enforcement Program, expanding DACA, extending DACA to Parents of US citizens and Permanent Residents, revising parole rules, expanding Provisional Waivers to spouses and children, modernizing high-skilled business-related immigration, and more.  We link to this information above.

Additional specific information on the initiatives contained in the Executive Action taken by President Obama can be found here

This new process allows certain immediate relatives of US citizens who are physically present in the USA and are seeking permanent residence, to apply for and receive provisional unlawful presence waivers BEFORE departing the US for consular processing of their immigrant visa applications abroad.

The benefit of this is that it will reduce the time that U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members go through the consular process overseas to obtain an immigrant visa. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who would need a waiver of unlawful presence in order to obtain an immigrant visa could file a new Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, before leaving the United States to obtain an immigrant visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad. All individuals eligible for this streamlined process are still required to depart the United States and must meet all legal requirements for issuance of an immigrant visa and admission to the United States.

An individual may seek a provisional unlawful presence waiver if he or she:

• Is physically present in the United States;
• Is at least 17 years of age;
• Is the beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition (I-130) classifying him or her as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen;
• Is actively pursuing the immigrant visa process and has already paid the Department of State immigrant visa processing fee;
• Is not subject to any other grounds of inadmissibility other than unlawful presence; and
• Can demonstrate that the refusal of admission would result in extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen spouse or parent.

An immediate relative would not be eligible for the proposed process if he or she:

• Has an application already pending with USCIS for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident;
• Is subject to a final order of removal or reinstatement of a prior removal order;
• May be found inadmissible at the time of the consular interview for reasons other than unlawful presence; or
• Has already been scheduled for an immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad.

Allowing immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to receive provisional waivers in the United States before departure for their immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate means that:

• Immigrant visa processing times will improve because of greater capacity in the United States and fewer case transfers between USCIS and the Department of State;
• Immigrant visas will be issued without unnecessary delay (if the individual is otherwise eligible); and
• The period of separation and hardship many U.S. citizens would face due to prolonged separation from their family members will be minimized.

For additional information,we link to the I-601A Questions and Answers document.

Should you wish to become a client of our office, please contact us.

It has been reported to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) by a senior Department of State official that immigrant visas for EB-2 India and mainland China were exhausted for this fiscal year as of April 11th. USCIS will continue to accept EB-2 India/China adjustment of status applications based on the priority date cut-offs in both the April and May 2012 Visa Bulletins, but the cases will be on hold until the start of the new 2013 fiscal year as of 10/1/2012 when quotas open up again.  We link to the Visa Bulletins for April and May.

According to the Visa Bulletins, EB-2 India /China applicants with priority dates earlier than May 1, 2010 can continue to file adjustment of status applications with USCIS through April 30, 2012. Those with priority dates earlier than August 15, 2007 can continue to file through May 31, 2012.

H.R. 3012, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, introduced on September 22, 2011 by Rep. Chaffetz (R-UT), eliminates the employment-based per-country cap entirely by fiscal year 2015 and raises the family-sponsored per-country cap from 7% to 15%.

On 10/27/11, the House Judiciary Committee held a markup and H.R. 3012 was reported favorably out of committee by a voice vote. An amendment from Rep. Lofgren (D-CA) that would make adjustments to the three year phase-in period was accepted. H.R. 3012 must next be scheduled for House floor debate which may occur in the next few weeks.

On 11/29/11 the House passed H.R. 3012, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act by a vote of 389-15 with no additional amendments. The measure now moves on to the Senate for consideration.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who heads the Senate Judiciary panel on immigration, said he planned to move the bill as quickly as possible in the Senate, “where we expect it to find overwhelming support.” He said the legislation would “remove outdated constraints that prevent us from attracting the kind of innovators who can create job growth in America.”

Crystal Williams, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the measure “makes the system a tiny bit fairer” and does “demonstrate that Congress can do something on immigration, however small.”  She cited estimates that while someone from England might wait two or three years for a green card, an Indian could conceivably be on the waiting list for decades.

Under current law, no more than 7% of the visas issued per year in any one immigrant visa category can go to natives of any one country.  On the employment-based immigrant visa side, natives of India and China face longer waits than natives of other countries, because natives of those countries send more high-skilled immigrants to the US than any other country.  On the family-based immigrant visa side, natives of Mexico and the Philippines face longer waits than natives of other countries, because there are more immigrants and US citizens with family ties to those countries than there are to other countries. HR 3012 will eliminate, over a three year period, the per-country limit in the employment-based system, but it will not raise the number of legal immigrants allowed to enter the USA.

We will keep you posted on developments as this bill moves to the Senate.  We link to an excellent article on the subject.

If you prefer to listen to a podcast of our news blog, you can access it here.

Last week, USCIS announced that it is now issuing employment and travel authorization on a single card for certain applicants filing an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Form I-485. This new card represents a significant improvement from the current practice of issuing paper Advance Parole documents.   A sample card and FAQs can be found here.

The card looks similar to the current Employment Authorization Document (EAD) but will include text that reads, “Serves as I-512 Advance Parole.” A card with this text will serve as both an employment authorization and Advance Parole document. The new card is also more secure and more durable than the current paper Advance Parole document.

An applicant may receive this card when he or she files an Application for Employment Authorization, Form I-765, and an Application for Travel Document, Form I-131, concurrently with or after filing Form I-485. USCIS will continue to issue separate EAD and Advance Parole documents as warranted. Employers may accept the new card as a List A document when completing the Employment Eligibility Verification, Form I-9.  The back of the card retains the machine-readable zone (MRZ) which was introduced on EADs back in May of 2010.  The new document is evidence of “temporary” work authorization which has an expiration date that will need to be reverified in order for the employee to maintain their work authorization in the USA.  The reverification can be indicated on Section 3 of the I-9 form or by completing a new I-9 form.

Note that the EAD card for those employers that participate in E-Verify, is one of three documents which must be photocopied and retained by the employer during the I-9 process as part of the E-Verify photo matching requirement.

As with the current Advance Parole document, obtaining a combined Advance Parole and employment authorization card allows an applicant for adjustment of status to travel abroad and return to the U.S. without abandoning the pending adjustment application. Upon returning to the U.S., the individual who travels with the card must present the card to request parole through the port-of-entry. The decision to parole the individual is made at the port-of-entry. Individuals who have been unlawfully present in the U.S. and subsequently depart and seek re-entry through a grant of parole may be inadmissible and ineligible to adjust their status.

The January Visa Bulletin has extensive notes and interpretation for those of you who find it difficult to comprehend in re numerical control and cutoff dates and how they’re determined, how per country quotas are calculated, future projections and more.  We have made these Notes available to our readership.  For more

For questions concerning the visa bulletin and any immigration case issues that you require assistance with, please contact us.

USCIS Releases I485 Inventory

On September 23, 2009, remarkably, USCIS for the first time published an inventory of I-485 data online. Applicants can more reliably estimate their expected waiting time for green cards and thus, finally make informed life decisions in career development, family, and becoming new Americans. Congratulations to USCIS, particularly Deputy Chief of Service Center Operations Robert Kruszka and his team, for working with stakeholders including the Legal Immigrant Association in particular and recognizing the importance of making this inventory public.

We link to Q&A and the Inventory Tracker.

After looking at these startling numbers, there is no question that our immigration system needs reform!

For those of you who have not seen the new I-551 Permanent Residency passport stamp, (also referred to as the“ADIT Stamp”), we link below to it. The stamp has stars in the four corners; on the left margin the vertical letters, USDHS, and on the right margin the vertical letters, USCIS.

An “ADIT” Stamp is added to a passport or an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) as temporary proof of residence. To alleviate inconvenience to our customers, USCIS continues to aggressively pursue technological improvements to allow the prompt issuing of permanent alien resident cards (“green-cards”) without the need to issue these temporary stamps.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10443239/I-551-Stamp—NEW–08-09

Advance Parole (I-131 Application for Advance Parole) must be obtained in the following circumstances:

• If you’ve been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
• If you have a pending application for Adjustment of Status to Permanent Resident
• If you have a pending application for relief under Section 203 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act
• If you have a pending asylum application
• If you have a pending application for legalization

Advance Parole is permission to reenter the USA after traveling abroad.  If you are planning travel you need to plan ahead and allow at least 90 or more days for processing.  We link to the USCIS Update.