Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

Some of you are no doubt aware the Obama administration made a major announcement last week regarding undocumented immigrants who would fall under the auspices of a program like the DREAM Act. That is, hundreds of thousands of immigrants in good legal standing who were brought to the U.S. as children will no longer be pursued for deportation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Effective June 15, DHS will not pursue these cases as part of a new Deferred Action Process (DAP).

"Our nation's immigration laws must be enforced in a sensible manner," said Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. "But they are not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances in each case. Discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here."

First, the particulars. To qualify for the DAP you must:

1. Have come to the United States before the age of 16.
2. Currently live in the U.S. and have resided here for five continuous years preceding June 16.
3. Have graduated from high school or received a GED, be currently enrolled in school, or be an honorably discharged veteran of the Armed Forces or Coast Guard.
4. Have never been convicted of a felony, "significant misdemeanor" or multiple misdemeanors. You can also not pose a threat to national security or the public safety.
5. Be 30 years of age or younger.

If an immigrant is able to prove they meet these criteria through "verifiable documentation," they will be allowed to receive deferred action for two years and be able to apply for work authorization. This deferment will be subject to renewal after two years. At that point individuals who wish to renew their deferment will have to re-apply for an extension. If the extension is granted, they will need to re-apply for employment authorization.

Continue reading "Deferred Action Process" »

A recent report on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) paints a disturbing picture of the how the organization charged with overseeing lawful immigration in this country operates. We feel it provides some useful insight for our readers and clients in Columbus, Ohio and Troy, Michigan.

In a report dated November 22, auditors from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that a $1.7 billion project to modernize operations at USCIS has been plagued by unreliability related to cost and planning.

In late 2008 USCIS awarded a technology and services project to IBM that was supposed to "move the agency to a new centralized and consolidated electronic environment that will enable faster, more efficient and accurate immigration benefits determination and processing." The contract was initially given $491.1 million in options for five years.

Continue reading "Columbus, OH attorney on report of USCIS mismanagement" »

We wanted to touch on a national initiative that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has undertaken to combat fraud related to immigration services provided by non-attorneys.

Malfeasance related to immigration services provided by those not licensed to practice law is a serious issue and it's important our readers are aware of what the government is doing to tackle the problem.

This year the USCIS has launched a program that aggressively targets scam agencies which prey on the immigrant community by promising unrealistic servicers. Unusually fast acquisition of green cards and work permits are offered using email and word mouth, among other means.

The initiative focuses on enforcement and education, along with collaboration with those in the community. USCIS is targeting unauthorized practice of immigration law and is setting up a database to better manage consumer complaints.

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice Tony West said: "This coordinated initiative targets those who prey on immigrant communities by making promises they do not keep and charging for services they are not qualified to provide."

Continue reading "Columbus, OH immigration attorney on the unauthorized practice of law" »

Recently the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rolled out a new program it hopes will help improve delivery of some documents related to the immigration process. Obviously this could prove to be a significant upgrade for anybody in the local community who deals with the department in an official and time-sensitive capacity.

In a May 2 memo the USCIS said it had put in place what it calls a "Secure Mail Initiative" (SMI). The SMI will take advantage of the Priority Mail with delivery confirmation option within the U.S. Postal Services (USPS).

The USCIS has essentially partnered with the USPS in an effort to allow customers the ability to keep on top of the status of paperwork critical to travel and employment authorization.

Permanent Resident cards (green cards), Employment Authorization (EADs) and Advance Parole can all now be tracked through the SMI. Obviously timely receipt of green cards and EADs will be very important to some of our readers.

The USCIS highlighted two key benefits in its memo:

-Tracking the status of documents with USPS tracking information.

-Increases in the speed documents are received by the USCIS. The memo said that "on average, documents sent through USPS Priority Mail should arrive two to four business days sooner than with first-class mail."

A signature is not required for SMI delivery, so it will still be possible for a piece of mail to be lost - only the delivery of the package or envelope is recorded. But given that the USPS keeps a record of each delivery, the USPS's customer service can be utilized for inquiries.

The USCIS said that customers who receive an approval notice (Form I-797) should contact its Customer Service Center and request tracking information for their particular documents.They will then be given their most recent delivery status and a tracking number. Their document can then be monitored on the USPS's website, usps.com.

Continue reading "USCIS Unveils 'Secure Mail' Initiative" »