Articles Posted in Family Visas

The local San Diego USCIS office suggests that certain remedies may be available for military families facing the problem of ineligibility to adjust status because of unlawful entry by a family member seeking adjustment of status. Most often the situation occurs when a United States citizen service member’s spouse entered without inspection and thus cannot adjust status. Current way to fix the status is via Ciudad Juarez waiver process (I-601 waiver application).

One potential remedy is “Parole in Place,” where the District Director in San Diego, Mr. Paul Pierre, can parole the alien, who then will be eligible to adjust status. Paroling only cures the issue of admission or parole under INA § 245, not other inadmissibility issues. To seek Parole in Place, address the request to Mr. Pierre. Include the following:

1. Form I-131 (but it does not need to be paid for when applying)

Citing security concerns, the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez is closed on July 30, 2010 and has cancelled all scheduled appointments and services for that date. Information on date of reopening will be announced by warden notice and posting on their web page.

American citizens with appointments for passport or other services may make a new appointment via the Consulate website below. For non-immigrant visa applicants, the call center will call or e-mail applicants to reschedule appointments. Alternatively, applicants may re-schedule non-immigrant visa appointments without being charged by calling 01-800-719-2525. Immigrant visa applicants should be advised that the medical clinics where they will receive their medical exams may also close on short notice. Immigrant visa applicants will be rescheduled for their interviews at a later date.

Earlier today, a federal judge blocked key portions of Arizona’s controversial immigration enforcement law from going into effect. In her ruling, United States District Court Judge Susan Bolton stated that some portions of Arizona’s immigration law will be able to go into effect today, as scheduled. However, the judge issued a preliminary injection against the parts of the law that call for police officers to check and verify people’s immigration status when they are enforcing other. In addition, the preliminary injunction also took issue with the part of the law that would require immigrants to carry documentation of their immigration status at all times. Both of these parts of the law have been placed on hold while Judge Bolton listens to various challenges to the law.

“There is a substantial likelihood that officers will wrongfully arrest legal resident aliens,” wrote Judge Bolton. “By enforcing this statute, Arizona would impose a ‘distinct, unusual and extraordinary’ burden on legal resident aliens that only the federal government has the authority to impose.”
Arizona’s immigration enforcement law was adopted in April 2010 and has caused much controversy from both sides of the immigration debate. Opponents of the law have prevailed for now: The provisions that most angered opponents will not take effect, including sections that required officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws.

I met with a new client in my office the other day, he presented to me a Notice of Intent to Rescind his status by USCIS. The Service alleges that he is subject to rescission, because he was not living together with his wife at the time of the adjustment interview, and that he had lied about their living arrangements to the interviewing USCIS officer. What can one do in this situation?

The first analysis that comes to mind is Matter of McKee, 17 I & N Dec. 332 (BIA 1980). In Matter of McKee the Board of Appeals held that a visa petition could be approved, even though the parties had separated and the marriage was no longer viable, as long as the marriage was bona fide at inception, and had not been terminated. This is a key point even today and many USCIS officers seems to ignore this concept.

In another case, Matter of Boromand, 17 I&N. Dec. 2811 (BIA 1980), The Board reviewed the evidence and concluded that it did “not appear that the respondent married” his United States citizen wife for the “sole purpose of evading the immigration laws. Based on this finding, the Board concluded that the adjustment could not be rescinded, based on the charge that he had materially misrepresented his living arrangements with his wife at the time of the adjustment interview.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that a new version of the Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Form I-90), is available on the USCIS website. The new version of the form is dated 8/10/09 and contains more user-friendly features.

Applicants may file Form I-90 electronically (through e-filing), or through the mail to the USCIS Phoenix Lockbox facility.

We’re only four days away from the World Cup opener between South Africa and Mexico, so it’s a good time to cover some immigration related points. DOS alerted U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in South Africa to safety and security issues related to the FIFA World Cup from 06/11/10 to 7/11/10. This travel alert includes a section on immigration.

Scrutiny of foreign travelers arriving at South African ports of entry will be tightened during the World Cup. U.S. citizens should ensure they have two blank pages marked “Visas” in their passports as required for South African entry formalities. Those travelers with criminal records should consult the nearest South African Consulate or the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C., before traveling. Questions about carrying firearms or other unusual items into the country may also be directed to the nearest South African embassy or consulate. Any traveler coming from or passing through the so-called “yellow fever belt” of Africa and South America must carry certification of having received a yellow fever vaccination upon entry into South Africa.

More from the State Department here….

This is a great tip from AILA, many applicants are often confused about the I-751 receipt number. Be aware that the receipt number listed on a receipt notice for Form I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence is not the actual receipt number for that case. In fact, if the receipt number shown on the receipt notice for the I-751 is tracked through the USCIS online case status, an error message will appear. The correct receipt number for an I-751 is listed on the I-751 biometrics notice.

Also a recap for the issue of Procedures for Parties Separated but Not Yet Divorced. Until last year, USCIS held that separated, but not yet divorced, conditional residents were ineligible to file I-751 waivers. According to a USCIS memo, things have changed.

The Memo provides that:

On 5/27/10, the Senate voted on four enforcement-only immigration amendments during debate on the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R. 4899).

The following amendments, which needed at least 60 votes to pass, were all rejected:

* Amendment 4214: Introduced by Senator McCain (R-AZ), would have added 6,000 more National Guard agents to the southern border. The amendment failed to pass 51-46.

Further to the Department’s proposed rule to amend the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services (Schedule) for nonimmigrant visa and border crossing card application processing fees, this rule raises from $131 to $140 the fee charged for the processing of an application for most non-petition-based nonimmigrant visas (Machine-Readable Visas or MRVs) and adult Border Crossing Cards (BCCs).

The rule also provides new tiers of the application fee for certain categories of petition- based nonimmigrant visas and treaty trader and investor visas (all of which are also MRVs).

Finally, the rule increases the $13 BCC fee charged to Mexican citizen minors who apply in Mexico, and whose parent or guardian already has a BCC or is applying for one, by raising that fee to $14 by virtue of a congressionally mandated surcharge that went into effect in 2009.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has redesigned the Permanent Resident Card—commonly known as the “Green Card”—to incorporate several

major new security features. State-of-the-art technology prevents counterfeiting, obstructs

tampering, and facilitates quick and accurate authentication of the card. Beginning today,