Visa Lawyer Blog
This information may be interesting to people and advocates who are planning on filing for benefits under this program in the near future (hopefully mid August), this is regarding a call we got from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) yesterday. It seems that ICE HQ in Washington are pre-selecting candidates for Deferred action, and are doing so nationwide.
The message from the ICE official was clear, your client was pre selected for Deferred Action under the new order and you will be contacted in the next few weeks with information on how to proceed. We have several clients with cases we managed to close before the Court (all for DREAMERS), and the clients will be eligible for this benefit. With all the confusion on how and when to file, it seems that the system is also working from within to create a list of clearly qualified applicants, I am curious to know if any other practitioners got the same call/contact?
So what do we do now? No one can file anything, but there are things applicants could do in the next few months.
Start gathering information. Anyone who might qualify should begin gathering documents to prove he or she meets the educational requirements and has been in the United States for the necessary period. School transcripts, in particular, will be helpful.
To be eligible as we mentioned in previous posts:
To be eligible for deferred action status, a qualified individual must:
Be between the ages of 15 and 30 years old;
Have entered the country prior to age 16;
Have been present in the U.S. for 5 years as of June 15, 2012;
Have maintained continuous residence;
Have not been convicted of one serious crime or multiple minor crimes (as specified by administrative regulation or interpretation); and
Be currently enrolled in or graduated from high school, have a GED or be enlisted in the U.S. armed services.
We also suggest that anyone convicted of a misdemeanor get a certified copy of the court disposition and take it to an immigration lawyer or reputable community organization for advice and analysis.
Other than that, keep following the news, Our Blog and Facebook as we continue to keep you updated.