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Family-Based Immigration Law

15 02, 2007

New Poverty Guidelines In Effect For Sponsors Completing Affidavits Of Support

By |2007-02-15T14:00:36-06:00February 15th, 2007|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law|

New Poverty Guidelines In Effect For Sponsors Completing Affidavits Of Support February 15, 2007 Before any intending family-based immigrant is issued their visa, or approved for adjustment of status, the petitioning U.S. family member or their joint co-sponsor will have to submit an I-864 Affidavit of Support and most of the time, satisfy certain income requirements (exceptions exist for those proving their financial health via assets owned such as bank/brokerage accounts, real property, etc). The income requirements (125% of the poverty level) for sponsors residing in the lower 48 contiguous states in the U.S., effective March 1, 2007, are set forth […]

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24 10, 2006

Tips For Immigration Law Consumers

By |2006-10-24T14:00:36-05:00October 24th, 2006|Categories: Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Tips For Immigration Law Consumers (Based on client stories I have recently heard in my day to day practice.) October 24, 2006 Stay away from scam artists. If it smells like a scam, it probably is. Immigration scams stink, and one of the more common scams these days involves the visa lottery. In no way is payment of a fee to a professional or one posing as a professional going to increase one’s chances for success. If your service provider refuses to issue a receipt for payment, you can be assured he/she is a scam artist. If you have immigration law […]

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10 10, 2006

CIS Chicago: Adjustment of Status Interviews Scheduled Within 120 Days

By |2006-10-10T14:00:36-05:00October 10th, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

CIS Chicago: Adjustment of Status Interviews Scheduled Within 120 Days October 10, 2006 Applicants for permanent residence who are already in the U.S. in some sort of temporary, nonimmigrant visa status can expect their adjustment of status interview to be scheduled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Chicago office within 120 days of filing their application. And following the interview, the applicant, if approved, will usually receive their alien registration card (“green card”) within 2 weeks of their appearance at CIS. While such efficiency is something truly to be appreciated, there are some downsides. The negative impact of such quick interview […]

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8 06, 2006

1,100 Approved Fiance Petitions are Recalled

By |2006-06-08T14:00:36-05:00June 8th, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas|

1,100 Approved Fiance Petitions are Recalled June 8, 2006 Speaking of criminal background checks, as of March 5, 2006, US CIS was mandated by federal statute to conduct background checks on all U.S. citizens seeking to petition their foreign fiancés. The federal statute, known as the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, was enacted in order to protect foreign fiances from the unknown dangers, such as the potential for domestic abuse, that could arise as a result of their future spouse’s criminal backgrounds. However, apparently by mistake, CIS has approved more than 1,100 such petitions without having the requisite investigations take place […]

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1 06, 2006

The Criminal Past of U.S. Citizens Filing Petitions for Foreign Family Members

By |2006-06-01T14:00:36-05:00June 1st, 2006|Categories: Family-Based Immigration Law, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

The Criminal Past of U.S. Citizens Filing Petitions for Foreign Family Members June 1, 2006 The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“CIS”) recently issued a policy memorandum setting forth circumstances under which the criminal history of a U.S. citizen filing a visa petition on behalf of a foreign family member will be disclosed to the foreign family member. Although federal privacy laws generally prohibit the dissemination of the details of an individual’s criminal history to any third parties, exceptions do exist if “compelling circumstances affecting the health and safety of an individual” justify the disclosure of such information. In the context […]

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27 04, 2006

CIS Continues to Shift Processing Sites

By |2006-04-27T14:00:36-05:00April 27th, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

CIS Continues to Shift Processing Sites April 27, 2006 In the past year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has continued its initiative toward establishing centralized processing for various types of immigration applications and petitions. For all family based applicants seeking to adjust status in the U.S., filings are being accepted at a centralized PO Box in Chicago, and the documents are then forwarded to the National Benefits Center in Lees Summit, Missouri for initial processing, including receipt issuance. From there, files are eventually distributed to CIS local offices across the U.S., depending on the applicant’s state of residence, for further processing, […]

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10 03, 2006

Automatic U.S. Citizenship

By |2006-03-10T14:00:36-06:00March 10th, 2006|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Family-Based Immigration Law, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

Automatic U.S. Citizenship March 10, 2006 How does a foreign born individual residing in the U.S. become a U.S. citizen without ever submitting Form N-400, Application for Naturalization? Simple – by way of their parent or parents being sworn in as U.S. citizens. In the vast majority of cases, an applicant for naturalization must be 18 years of age, have resided in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident for 3 or 5 years (depending on whether married to a U.S. citizen) and demonstrate “good moral character”. However, it is often the case that a foreign born living in the U.S. […]

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1 03, 2006

New Poverty Guidelines In Effect for 2006

By |2006-03-01T14:00:36-06:00March 1st, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law|

New Poverty Guidelines In Effect for 2006 March 1, 2006 Before any intending family-based immigrant is issued their visa, or approved for adjustment of status, the petitioning U.S. family member or their joint co-sponsor will have to submit an I-864 Affidavit of Support and most of the time, satisfy certain income requirements (exceptions exist for those proving their financial health via assets owned, such as bank/brokerage accounts, real property, etc). The income requirements (125% of the poverty level) for sponsors residing in the lower 48 contiguous states in the U.S., effective April 1, 2006, are set forth below: 2006 Poverty Guidelines […]

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22 12, 2005

CIS Eases Affidavit of Support Requirements for Adjustment of Status Applicants

By |2005-12-22T14:00:36-06:00December 22nd, 2005|Categories: Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

CIS Eases Affidavit of Support Requirements for Adjustment of Status Applicants December 22, 2005 For applicants undergoing permanent residence processing within the U.S. (aka adjustment of status), the Affidavit of Support component just got easier. With the exception of employment based filings, all adjustment of status applicants are required to submit an I-864, Affidavit of Support executed by the their petitioning family member. If the petitioning family member’s income does not meet the minimum income guidelines, then a “joint sponsor” whose income is sufficient is eligible to present a supplementary I-864 in support of the applicant’s adjustment of status filing. The […]

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1 11, 2005

What’s With All Those Biometrics Notices

By |2005-11-01T14:00:36-06:00November 1st, 2005|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

What’s With All Those Biometrics Notices November 1, 2005 Applicants for permanent residence in the U.S. (adjustment of status) are receiving multiple notices to appear for biometric fingerprinting after submitting their applications. With new biometric technology being employed for the production of Alien Registration Cards (“green card”) and Employment Authorization Documents (“EAD”), applicants may find themselves being directed to appear on multiple occasions at their local Application Support Center to provide their fingerprints and signature, with separate appearances being required for the production of EAD’s and green cards. Some employment based adjustment of status applicants are even receiving biometric appointment notices […]

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