Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in I-485

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Today, June 17, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), announced a new strategy aimed at reducing the processing times for applications for naturalization and adjustment of status. This new strategy will attempt to equalize the processing times for citizenship and adjustment applicants who live in a jurisdiction that has been burdened by higher than normal demand.

USCIS has issued a press release indicating that during fiscal years 2016 and 2017 the agency received a higher than expected volume of applications. Unfortunately, the increase in applications received throughout this period has burdened some field offices more than others, resulting in the disparities we are seeing in processing times across field offices.

To decrease the processing times in hard hit regions, USCIS will now be shifting citizenship and adjustment of status cases between different field offices to better distribute the workload and increase efficiency. This strategy should result in a decrease in processing times in regions that were previously experiencing higher than normal processing times.

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In this post, we discuss the different options available for foreign nurses to work in the United States.

First, let’s discuss licensure requirements.

Registered Nurse License Requirements by Examination Educated Outside the U.S.

  1. Educational Evaluation of Transcripts:

All applicants who graduated from nursing schools outside the United States must have their transcripts evaluated in a course by course evaluation by one of the following Nursing Commission approved service providers:

  • Graduates of Foreign Trained Nursing Schools (CGFNS), www.cgfns.org,
  • Education Records Evaluation Service (ERES) www.eres.com,
  • International Education Research Foundation, Inc. (IERF) www.ierf.org

*Please review the RN educational requirements of the state in which you wish to be licensed.

  1. English Proficiency Exam

An English Proficiency test is required for all LPN and RN license applicants who received their nursing education out of the United States except for Canada (Quebec requires the English Proficiency test), United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and Virgin Islands.

You must take and pass either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) www.toefl.com or International English Language Testing System (IELTS, academic version) www.ielts.org. This exam is required regardless of whether the program was taught in English.

  1. NCLEX:

Foreign nurses must take and pass the national licensure examination known as the NCLEX. Once the Nursing Commission approves your application you will need to register with Peasrsonvue at http://home.pearsonvue.com/ to take the national exam (NCLEX). Do not register for the NCLEX before the commission has approved your application. Once you register, our office will make you eligible on the Pearsonvue website. Pearsonvue will then email you the “authorization to test” (ATT). At that point you can schedule to take the NCLEX exam.

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In this blog post, we answer one of your frequently asked questions: can I work while my adjustment of status application, Form I-485, is in process?

Form I-485 is an application that must be filed to register a foreign national’s permanent residence or adjustment of status. As part of the adjustment of status process, an applicant can also file Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization, which is an application for a work permit. The I-485 and I-765, along with other forms, are typically filed concurrently. The I-765 application can also be filed separately, so long as the Form I-485 remains pending with USCIS.

Once Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization is filed with USCIS, along with Form I-485, the applicant must wait for the application to be adjudicated. The amount of time that it takes for Form I-765 to be adjudicated depends on your service center.

Once Form I-765 is adjudicated, the application culminates in what is known as an “employment authorization card” or EAD, which is essentially a work permit.

The employment authorization card grants the foreign national the ability to work lawfully in the United States, obtain a social security number, open a bank account, and obtain a driver’s license.

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Good News for Adjustment of Status Applicants! The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating its policy, extending the validity of Form I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, submitted along with an application for an immigration benefit (such as an I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status).

Effective November 1, 2018, Form I-693 will be valid for a maximum period of 2 years from the date of the civil surgeon’s signature on Form I-693, provided that the civil surgeon signs the medical examination 60 days before the date the applicant files an application for an underlying immigration benefit with USCIS.

Previously, Form I-693 was only valid for a period of one year from the date of the civil surgeon’s signature.

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As part of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) new plan to modernize services offered by the agency, the agency has announced that it will gradually end self-scheduling of Infopass appointments, to encourage applicants to use online information resources and other online tools that allow applicants to check the status of their case, and other information.

According to USCIS, the Detroit Field Office and five offices in the Los Angeles area will begin the gradual phaseout of Infopass services. Newark, Great Lakes, and San Francisco will be next to gradually phaseout these services during the beginning of fiscal year 2019. USCIS expects to modernize its system completely by the end of fiscal year 2019.

According to USCIS Director Francis Cissna, “Expanding this program is a significant step in our efforts to move more USCIS services and information online. It also frees up agency staff to spend more time adjudicating benefit requests which should help reduce case processing times. USCIS remains committed to pursuing the most effective and efficient ways to administer our nation’s lawful immigration system.”

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In this post, we will discuss our top ten tips to help you survive the marriage fraud interview also known as the “STOKES” interview. An applicant filing for adjustment of status to permanent residence may be scheduled for a second interview, known as the “STOKES” interview if the immigration officer is not convinced at the initial I-485 interview that the applicant has a bona fide marriage.

  1. Be Honest

Our first tip to avoid being scheduled for a second interview also known as the STOKES interview is simple. Be honest with yourself, with your partner (the U.S. Citizen or LPR spouse), and your attorney if you have one. Before walking into your initial I-485 interview you should be careful not to misrepresent the facts in your relationship and ensure that you and your partner are both being honest and truthful regarding all aspects of your marriage. If you or your spouse misrepresent any facts about your relationship, the immigration officer will presume that you do not have a bona fide/genuine marriage, and it will be very difficult to overcome this presumption at the second interview.

  1. Preparation

The second tip to avoid the STOKES interview is to be well prepared. You and your spouse should prepare all of your documentation proving bona fide marriage well in advance of your I-485 interview, so that you have enough time to review your documentation with your spouse and your attorney in preparation of your interview. This well make you feel more confident and prepared when it comes time to your I-485 interview.

  1. Never Lie, Misrepresent, or Provide False Information

If you do not know the answer to a question asked by an immigration officer, DO NOT under any circumstances LIE, MISREPRESENT, or provide FALSE information. If you do not know the answer, simply tell the officer that you do not know. Always be honest. If you are not honest with an immigration officer this will indicate not only that you are a person of bad moral character, but that you are committing fraud in order to obtain an immigration benefit. Do not under any circumstances, invent facts that are not true. Remember that immigration has various tools to uncover fraud including the ability to visit you and your spouse at your home unexpectedly if they believe that you are lying or are not being honest about your marriage.

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If you have applied for the I-130/485 based on marriage to your US Citizen spouse, chances are you are anxiously awaiting an interview. In this post we will cover the documentation you need to provide at the I-485 interview to prove the bona fides of your relationship. The most common question clients ask is, what a bona fide marriage is and how do I prove that I have a bona fide marriage.

A bona fide marriage is one that was entered in good faith and not with an intention to deceive. A green card applicant does not have a bona fide marriage if he or she entered the marriage solely to receive an immigration benefit from USCIS. Immigration officers are trained to identify fraudulent or “sham” marriages where either party or both parties have entered the marriage simply for the green card applicant to obtain his or her permanent residence in the United States, without any sincere intention to live together in the same household or form a marital bond.  Immigration officers search for inconsistencies in any answers provided by either party to the marriage, and carefully scrutinize supporting documentation provided by the couple with the initial I-485 filing.

There are various forms of documentation that are strong evidence proving the bona fides of a relationship. Generally speaking, evidence of cohabitation, joint ownership of assets and joint responsibility for liabilities, and birth certificates of children born to the marriage are strong evidence proving that a marriage is genuine.

Cohabitation: One of the most important aspects of proving bona fide marriage is to show cohabitation—that you are living with your spouse. You can show evidence of cohabitation by providing a copy of your lease agreement showing both of your names on the lease if you are renting an apartment. If your spouse maintains ownership of a private residence, your spouse can provide a copy of the deed including both of your names, or if the green card applicant’s name is not yet on the deed, the petitioner can provide a statement as evidence of cohabitation. Other documents that can be shown to prove cohabitation include joint utility bills such for gas and electricity, water, internet bills, phone bills, etc. that contain both of your names. In addition, any mail sent to your residential address containing both of your names may be used as evidence of cohabitation. The strongest evidence showing cohabitation however is a copy of the lease agreement or deed containing both names.

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COMMON IMMIGRATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

In this blog post we answer your immigration questions. Please contact our office or send us a message through Facebook if you have a question that has not been answered on our blog. For more information about the services we offer please visit our website. We proudly offer our immigration services to clients from all over the world. Our staff members are available to assist you in Spanish, Russian, Chinese (Mandarin), French, and Hebrew. Read our success stories to find out more about how our office has helped our clients achieve their immigration dreams.

Medical Exam

Q: Can I provide my medical examination at the I-485 interview or must I send it with initial filing?

A: As you may have already heard, beginning September 11, 2018, USCIS will no longer issue requests for evidence for initial filings sent with insufficient evidence, and will instead deny the application without giving an applicant the opportunity to cure the defect. All applicants filing for adjustment of status to permanent resident must submit Form I-693 to be completed by a civil surgeon. While it was previously acceptable to submit a medical examination at the I-485 interview, with the changing state of the law it is highly recommended to submit the I-693 medical examination with the initial filing to avoid a possibility of denial.

EAD

Q: I have been waiting for my employment authorization card to arrive for over 7 months now. I am feeling very desperate to work and I also want to use my employment authorization card to travel using my advance parole. Is there anything I can do to speed this process up?

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