POSTING DATE: March 5, 2018
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Immigration News & Updates eNewsletter © 2011 - 2018
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Questions & Answers
This Week's Immigration News
Question:Hi, I have a question about sponsoring my husband. I have been a resident since 2009. I applied for my American citizenship back in 2017 and my citizenship interview is coming up this march. I want to file papers for my husband who has been here for nearly 20 years. His mom brought him when she came on vacation and never left. We want to prepare well, so the question is whether or not I will receive the citizen certificate at my interview, once I pass the test? If so, can I file my husbands papers the same day?
Answer: As long as you successfully pass your Naturalization test and otherwise meet the qualifications, the officer will recommend you for approval and you will be put in the queue to be scheduled for your Swearing-In Ceremony, where you take the Oath of Allegiance. It can take from a week to a month or more to be scheduled for your ceremony, depending upon where you live. At your ceremony, you should get your certificate the same day you are sworn in and you can immediately apply for a passport. You're a citizen from the moment you take the oath. You can pick up a U.S. passport application at your upcoming swearing in ceremony, or download it from the U.S. Passport website. On the day of your swearing in, after you are issued your Naturalization Certificate, you can file to sponsor you husband. Let us know if you would like us to handle his Residency case.
Trump’s Message To Conservatives - Immigrants Are Dangerous And Will Kill You!
During the annual CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) last week, Trump was in his glory, playing to his favorite base, a Right-Wing Conservative audience in National Harbor Maryland.
Amid other comments about gun control, democrats as losers, etc., he turned to his favorite subject, trashing Immigrants. While pulling paper with written notes out of his pocket, Trump told the crowd, “You have to think of this in terms of immigration.”
Immigration How To:
How Do I Know What Happens If I Overstay In the U.S.?
That is a very common and concerning question lately, which is not well understood by many Immigrants. First, it’s important to understand that the legal consequences of overstaying your lawful period of authorized stay (I-94) and then leaving the U.S., compared with that of being deported are about the same:
Overstaying your Visa: Once an Immigrant has remained in the U.S. for 365 days or more past their authorized stay, leaves the U.S., he or she is “barred” from re-entering the U.S. again for 10 years.
Helpful Immigration Tips You Can Use...
Immigration News & Updates eNewsletter
eNewsletterThe Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency will soon begin using license plate recognition tracking technology to identify, track and target some immigrants. According to The Verge, ICE has concluded a deal with a company called Vigilant Solutions which maintains a database of billions of license plate information, including owners’ names, addresses and registration lists, obtained from law enforcement, car repossession companies and others sources.
The system feeds off license plates registered by police cameras, toll booths and other means, registering some 100 million new sightings per month, providing the exact date, time and GPS coordinate information. This gives ICE the ability to track license plates across the U.S. in “real time”.
**** DACA Program Remains Open For Renewals ****
After Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Appeal On DACA Ruling
Tips On Using The Child Status Protection Act
To Keep Children From “Aging Out”
Under the leadership of its new Director, Francis Cissna, appointed by Trump and recently affirmed by the Senate, the USCIS has abruptly changed the agency’s mission statement, eliminating the passage which best describes America, as "a nation of immigrants.".
The original USCIS mission statement read:
"USCIS secures America's promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system."
USCIS Says America Is No Longer A “Nation Of Immigrants”
Under Immigration regulations, a “minor child” is defined as a child under age 21 who is not single. Qualifying as a minor child is particularly important because of long immigration waiting lines. Minor children of U.S. Citizens are considered as “Immediate Relatives” which allow them to immigrate to the U.S. nearly immediately.
He then proceeded to recite excerpted words of a song, entitled “The Snake” which describes the story of a kind woman, who finds a snake freezing outside in the cold and takes him into her home and feeds him “honey and some milk,” The snake then delivers a fatal bite to the woman and Trump recites the words with glee “I saved you, cried the woman. And you’ve bitten me, heavens why? You know your bite is poisonous and now I’m going to die. Oh, shut up, silly woman, said the reptile with a grin. You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in”.
Trump’s repulsive message to Americans is clear, Immigrants are deceitful, evil, dangerous and they will kill you. We have to keep them out!
The agency's new mission statement reads:
"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services administers the nation's lawful immigration system, safeguarding its integrity and promise by efficiently and fairly adjudicating requests for immigration benefits while protecting Americans, securing the homeland, and honoring our values."
During his confirmation hearing, Cissna told Senators that he was the proud son of an immigrant, “The immigrant experience has always been a fundamental part of my family life, and I would be proud to carry that heritage with me,” “Our family is literally a product of our nation’s legal immigration system,” he told the panel. “Should I be confirmed, these experiences will undoubtedly illuminate everything I do as USCIS director.” In a letter explaining the change, Cissna wrote, "I believe this simple, straightforward statement clearly defines the agency's role in our country's lawful immigration system and the commitment we have to the American people." . Cissna advocates termination of America’s family based Immigration system and replacing it with a merit based system instead. Opps, I guess Cissna just forgot that his mother immigrated from Peru and his wife's mother from the Middle East. This lapse of immigrant identity seems to affect most officials of the Trump administration.
Question: I have a question about sponsorship. My older brother is married to an American and got his Citizenship in 2016. He sponsored my mom and dad and they will receive their green cards soon. I am the only family member left in Colombia, except for aunts, uncles and a few cousins. I am single, 34, work as a mechanical engineer and can support myself. I want to immigrate and join my family in the U.S. as soon as possible, before the American immigration law ends. I need to know, once my parents get their green cards, can both my brother and parents sponsor me? Which one is best? How long does it take?
Answer: Yes, this is a very important question, especially now that family immigration may drastically be reduced in the future. The waiting line for adult, single children of U.S. Residents is about 7-8 years or longer (called F1 Family Preference category). However, the waiting line for siblings (brothers & sisters) of U.S. Citizens is even longer – 12-14+ years (called F4 Family Preference category). The drawback for being sponsored by a Resident parent is that in the F1 category, if you get married before your parent becomes a U.S. Citizen, your Immigrant Visa case will be cancelled. This is not the case with your brother’s sponsorship, since the F4 category for siblings includes spouses and children, but takes more time. In your case, you could have both your U.S. Resident parents and U.S. Citizen brother file family petitions for you. There is no limit on the number of immigrant visa petitions that can be filed for an immigrant in different family categories. Another option to think about is possible employment sponsorship. The U.S. has a shortage of mechanical engineers and employers are always looking to hire. If you are successful in getting a job offer, the U.S. company can sponsor you through a process called “Labor Certification” to obtain your U.S. Residency (Green Card) in as little as 1 ½ years. Let me know if you would like more information about the process.
Minor children of U.S. Residents can immigrate to the U.S. in as little as 1 ½ to 2 years. Whereas children of Citizens and Residents who turn age 21 are forced to wait for 7-8 years to immigrate! Similarly, immigrant children who are dependents of parents who have been sponsored by a relative in the U.S. are only eligible to immigrate to the U.S. along with their family if they are under age 21 when the family immigrates.
The age of the child is particularly important for children whose parents are sponsored by U.S. Parents and Siblings, where the waiting line for a visa can be 10 -12 years or more, since it is much more likely that the child will turn age 21 and age out.
The Child Status Protection Act ("CSPA") was enacted into law in 2002 to assist children who turn age 21 and would normally “age-out”, meaning become ineligible to immigrate as a minor (under age 21). The CSPA changed the process for determining whether a child has "aged out" (i.e. turned 21 years of age before being issued an immigrant visa or adjusting status) for the purpose of the issuance of visas and the adjustment of status of applicants in most immigrant categories. Under CSPA, the age of a child can be reduced by the time that the I-130 petition was “pending” with the USCIS, in some cases bringing the child’s age down under age 21 for immigration purposes.
There is a specific formula for determining whether a child's age is protected by the CSPA and there are required dates that must be plugged into the formula. When an immigrant visa first becomes available to the child and the child is age 21 or older, the amount of years which the I-130 petition was being processed by the USCIS can then be subtracted from the child’s current age, to determine whether they are technically still under age 21. If so, the child can still immigrate as a minor child.
For example, if an I-130 has been pending for 1095 days (3 years) and a child is age 22 years old about to turn age 23, we can deduct 1095 days from the child’s age to bring the child under age 21.
Call Our Office at: 954-382-5378 To Find Out More About Preserving Your Child’s “Minor” Age Status
Deportation: Once an Immigrant is deported from the U.S. he or she is usually “barred” from re-entering the U.S. again for 10 years. There are lesser “bars” depending upon the circumstances, 20 years for some criminal violations and permanent “bars” for others.
No attorney can legally advise you to break U.S. laws by remaining in the U.S. past your authorized stay, but it’s clear to see that the consequences of leaving the U.S. voluntarily after being here for a year or more, compared with those resulting from deportation are the same. In many cases, Immigrants determine that the benefits of staying here and hoping for some Immigration reform in the future far outweigh the risks of being arrested and consequences of being deported. More clearly stated, many Immigrants feel that on a practical level, there is no benefit in “self deporting” and one could argue that they would be right.
So in your case, given the information provided, you would want to weigh the risks and benefits of leaving and determine what is best for your family.
Understanding The Most Common Immigration Bars:
The Five-Year Bar: Immigrants who are found inadmissible and immediately removed/deported upon arrival at a U.S. port and those who are removed/deported shortly after arrival in the U.S., who have been placed in removal proceedings are ineligible to return to the U.S. for 5 years.
The Ten-Year Bar: Immigrants who have a removal order issued by Immigration judge are ineligible to return to the U.S. for 10 years.
The Twenty-Year Bar: Immigrants who are deported and who attempt to reenter the U.S. prior to the expiration of the ten-year ban can receive an additional 10 year bar for a total of 20 years.
The Permanent Bar: Immigrants who are convicted of an aggravated felony, entered without permission after being removed, or illegally reentered the U.S. after having previously been in the U.S. unlawfully for more than one year, may be permanently barred from ever entering the U.S..
