Articles Posted in Family Visas

The U.S. Department of State has recently announced that the online registration period for the Diversity Visa Lottery Program for Fiscal Year 2012 (DV-2012) will be from October 5, 2010 until November 3, 2010.

The official online application form is available only on the Department of State Diversity Visa online entry website at www.dvlottery.state.gov, which will be accessible on the first day of the registration period. The Congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program makes available 50,000 diversity visas (DV) annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to persons who meet strict eligibility requirements from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. For DV-2012, no countries have been added or removed from the previous year’s list of eligible countries.

If you are chosen as a lottery winner, an official letter from the U.S. Department of State Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) in Williamsburg, Kentucky will be sent to the mailing address that you provided in your entry. Being selected as a lottery winner does not guarantee that you will receive a visa; you must still apply and qualify for the immigrant visa. The notification letters will provide further instructions, including information on additional forms and documentation required and immigrant visa application fees.

According to TRAC, Justice Department data show that Immigration Judges are declining substantially fewer requests for asylum. Denial rates have reached the lowest level in the last quarter of a century.

Twenty five years ago, in FY 1986, almost nine out of ten (89%) of the asylum requests in the Immigration Courts were denied. While the annual rates have gone up and down during the ensuing years, only half (50%) of the requests were denied during the first nine months of FY 2010 — a record low.

One factor contributing to the improved success of the asylum seekers is that a higher proportion of the total are represented by counsel. It must be noted, however, that the number of those seeking asylum in court proceedings has fallen.

This is a recent update from the AILA Rome Chapter for the benefit of our readers. The State Department has substantially rewritten the FAM provisions relating to physical or mental disorders as medical grounds of inadmissibility. These significant changes, set forth at 9 FAM 40.11 N11, focus on physical or mental disorders with harmful behavior, and on substance-related disorders, corresponding to INA 212(a)(1)(A)(iii) and (iv), respectively.

The following is a summary of these sweeping revisions.

Introduction

The Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) has begun to audit certain nonimmigrant petitions filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to verify information submitted in the petitions. Additionally, KCC is piloting a program wherein information about the beneficiaries and the proposed U.S. employment is verified. KCC has made and will continue to make unannounced phone calls to petitioners to verify such information.

Questions include, but are not limited to:

1. Whether the petitioner, in fact, submitted the petition;

Great Videos to share from the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez on what to expect when going to the Consulate for a visa interview as well as a video on how to avoid people who engage in unlawful practices outside the consulate, such as people who sell false documents.

Here are links to both videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/pasjuarez

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.