Visa Lawyer Blog

by

This is a great information article provided by AILA and we wanted to share this with our Blog Readers.

One of the challenges in preparing an O-1 petition is obtaining three years of status for the beneficiary. This is particularly true for artists whose cases require an itinerary that projects three years into the future. Often the artist might have only a few confirmed gigs covering just a short period of time. In such a case, how can you obtain a full three-year period? This practice pointer will focus on proving future engagements and activities to qualify for the three-year maximum duration of an O-1 petition.

Petitioner

Continue reading

by

Several officers from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have filed an injunction in federal court against Secretary Nepolitano and DHS. The plaintiffs are ICE law enforcement officers who believe that by following the Directive issued regarding the Deferred Action that they violate federal law and will be harmed in their positions as ICE law enforcement officers. The officers filed for an injunction against the implementation of the Deferred Action because they believe it is unconstitutional.

The actions raised by the ICE officers in their complaint include: The Directive expressly violates federal statutes requiring the initiation of removals, it violates federal law by conferring a non-statutory form of benefit, deferred action, to more than 1.7 million aliens, rather than a form of relief or benefit that federal law permits on such a large scale, it violates federal law by conferring the legal benefit of employment authorization without any statutory basis and under the false pretense of “Prosecutorial Discretion”, it violates the Constitutional allocation of legislative power to Congress, it violates the Article II, Section 3, Constitutional obligation of the Executive to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, and that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act through conferral of a benefit without regulatory implementation.

While all of these actions raise questions of Constitutional authority and federal power, it will be interesting to see how the DHS responds and whether an injunction will be implemented. If so, it will be a major setback for the Obama administration in taking a stand and doing something where Congress has failed to act. Many DREAMers will now have to wait to see how this plays out and whether they may still gain some relief that was promised to them.

by

Quick update from AILA, President Obama signed the Iran Nuclear Threat Reduction Bill on August 10, 2012. Section 501 directs DOS to deny visas and DHS to exclude from the United States, any Iranian citizens seeking higher education in the United States to prepare for a career in Iran’s energy, nuclear science and nuclear engineering sectors, as well as related fields. This provision applies to visa applications filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

As such, Iranian applicants in the United States wishing to change status to F-1 to pursue post-secondary studies in the energy, nuclear science, nuclear engineering or related fields, will be denied by DHS.

Similarly, consular posts will deny F-1 visa applications from Iranian applicants wishing to pursue post-secondary studies in the energy, nuclear science, nuclear engineering or related fields.

Continue reading

by

A while back we posted on Alabama’s immigration bill which would allow schools to check the immigration status of new students in its public schools. Part of Alabama’s immigration law that ordered public schools to check the citizenship of new students was ruled unconstitutional Monday by the federal appeals court that also said police in that state and Georgia could demand papers from criminal suspects they had detained.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Alabama schools provision wrongly singled out children who were in the country illegally. Alabama was the only state that passed such a requirement; the 11th Circuit previously had blocked that part of the law from being enforced.

Judges said fear of the law “significantly deters undocumented children from enrolling in and attending school.”

Continue reading

by

Undocumented immigrants are taking their time filling out the paperwork for President Barack Obama’s deferred-action program that allows them to legally stay in the country because they have only one chance to get the application right.

The six-page application requires undocumented immigrants who want to stay and work in the U.S. for two years without fear of deportation to submit multiple documents proving they meet the program’s long list of requirements, among them that they are younger than 31 and came to this country before turning 16.

There is no chance to reapply. “It’s a one-shot thing, and you want to make sure you have everything needed,” said Phoenix resident Yadira Garcia, 23, an undocumented immigrant from Nogales, Sonora, and a member of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition.

Concern over the process was evident as hundreds of young undocumented immigrants interested in applying for the so-called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program turned up for each of the five sessions of No Dream Deferred, an informational forum held Saturday here.

Johnny Sinodis, an immigration lawyer with the Arizona chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told attendees that his organization was willing to help them complete the application at no cost.

“We have the resources to provide them with free legal services. We don’t want them to go to ‘notarias,’ ” he said. “This is a very vulnerable group of people, and we don’t want them subjected to fraudulent giants.” Notarias are questionable businesses that sometimes take advantage of undocumented immigrants by providing bad legal advice and charging high prices for it.

For those working to fill out applications, the steps have been time-consuming. Gabriela Perez, 24, an undocumented immigrant from Zacatecas, Mexico, who graduated from Arizona State University in 2010, said it took her more than 70 hours to gather all of the documents she needed to meet the program’s requirements.

Among many documents being submitted in the petition include her birth certificate from Mexico, transcripts from all of the schools she attended beginning with elementary school and copies of all her school IDs.

Carmen Cornejo of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition said confusion over the application process has been compounded by the executive order that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer issued Wednesday, the same day the federal government began accepting applications for the deferred-action program.

Brewer’s order instructed state agencies to initiate policies to make sure that undocumented immigrants granted deferred action and work permits through the program don’t receive any additional public benefits, including state-issued driver’s licenses.

Potential applicants for deferred action are worried that Brewer’s order would trump the application.

“Many students were ready on the 15th to just apply, but when she passed that, there was fear,” said Alfonso Vazquez, a Phoenix College student interning at the Christian nonprofit Neighborhood Ministries. “They’ve been asking if the whole thing (the program) is going to be abolished now.”

Continue reading

by

This is very important notice to all of you international Students out there. Recent NAFSA alert announces that CBP will no longer stamp I-20s at ports of entry (POEs). USCIS is reported to be reaching out to other agencies, such as the DMV, to inform them of the change, since many agencies require the I-20 stamp prior to granting benefits.

On August 15, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unofficially confirmed for NAFSA that:

“CBP is no longer stamping I-20s at POEs. Recognizing that some staff at certain benefit granting agencies (for example, motor vehicle agencies) look for a stamp on these documents before granting a benefit, USCIS is conducting extensive outreach to ensure that these agencies are aware of this change.”

Continue reading

by

In the efforts to reduce its costs associated with issuing paper Form I-94, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced plans to eliminate Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record.

As another reason for eliminating Form I-94, CBP has noted that it already has access to the data gathered on Form I-94. Aliens provide the information when submitting an application for a nonimmigrant visa at a U.S. consulate. In addition, information is provided to CBP through the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS). APIS is a web-based system used by commercial carriers and the private aviation community to electronically provide required information to CBP such as notices of arrival and/or departure and traveler manifests (crew and passenger).

Form I-94 plays a central role in documenting proper admission and maintenance of status and is used by a variety of entities ranging from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to state motor vehicle bureaus to verify aliens’ immigration status. It remains to be seen how these entities will be handling verification of lawful status without Form I-94.

Continue reading

by

We are very happy to announce that today USCIS has posted Deferred Action Application Forms along with the instructions and further guidelines on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Now eligible individuals may apply for DACA and Employment Authorization by completing all the forms and submitting them along with supporting documentation to a USCIS Lockbox facility.

Filing Process:

Three forms will need to be submitted together to USCIS accompanied by a fee of $465:

Continue reading

by

This great update for employer is Courtesy of AILA’s Verification & Documentation Liaison Committee. On August 13, 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that employers should continue using the current version of the Form I-9 after the form’s expiration date of August 31, 2012.

The current version of the Form I-9 has the expiration date of August 31, 2012 printed in the upper right corner and the revision date of August 7, 2009 printed in the lower right corner. Employers should use the current version of Form I-9, but the USCIS instructions for the Form I-9 state that the agency also accepts the prior version of the Form I-9, which bears a revision date of February 2, 2009.

Previously, on March 27, 2012, USCIS published a proposed revision of the Form I-9 and accepted comments on the proposed form until May 29, 2012. The USCIS announcement instructing employers to continue to use the current form until further notice indicates that the agency will not publish a final revised Form I-9 before the expiration date of the current Form I-9.

Continue reading

by

Online registration for the DV-2014 Program will begin on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and conclude on Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4). Instructions for the DV 2014 Program are not yet available.

The entry registration period for DV-2013 has ended. The online registration period for the 2013 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2013) began at www.dvlottery.state.gov on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and concluded on Saturday, November 5, 2011, at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4). Entrants in the Diversity Visa 2013 program may check the status of their entries through the Entrant Status check on the E-DV website beginning on May 1, 2012.

As with many government programs, the diversity immigrant visa program is deceptively simple, and has numerous pitfalls. Rigid technical requirements disqualify many applicants. So-called lucky “winners” face the biggest challenge after they are notified they have been selected. According to Bernard Wolfsdorf, of the 100,021 registrants in the 2012 diversity lottery, slightly more than half were disappointed to discover they were unable to obtain a green card. Some are mortified when they are refused tourist or student visas because they expressed immigrant intent. The disappointment is certain to continue for tens-of-thousands recently announced 2013 lottery “winners”.

Continue reading