Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

All immigration law attorneys must deal with foreign countries, unique international legal issues, and some quaint interpretations of law. The lawyers at Los Angeles' Fong & Chun are no exception, and in fact, this recent change affects some of our clients who do business in or own businesses in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

On 28 November 2008, "the United States" as defined for purposes of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA) just got bigger, with the addition of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Although there are probably wrinkles I have not yet read in the treaty, this essentially puts the CNMI on the same footing as Puerto Rico. Here's the cute part:

Because the CNMI will become part of the "United States" as defined by §101(a)(38) of the INA, "residence or presence in the CNMI before 28 November 2009 shall NOT be considered residence or physical presence within the USA for INA purposes. Thus, on 29 November 2009, all persons physically present in the CNMI are considered "to be present in the United States without inspection, by operation of law."

Will these PWIs (present without inspection) be eligible to adjust status? Unclear? Are they working "abroad" for purposes of L visas? Yes, as it turns out. One thing is clear: Legal Permanent Residents (so-called "green" card holders) who wish to base a naturalization application based on physical presence in the CNMI will NOT be able to do so for pre-29 November 2009 periods of time. Isn't this esoterica fun? --jcf

Beginning January 4, 2010, applicants for visas or greencards will no longer be considered inadmissible for being HIV positive. Early last month, the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) removed HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) from the definition of a "communicable disease of public health significance."

This marks a major success by immigration advocates like Fong & Chun, LLP and HIV/AIDS health advocates. J Craig Fong was cited in a recent Los Angeles Times article as one of the few immigration attorneys in the nation who work with HIV positive immigrants and who has been extremely successful in HIV waiver applications with the USCIS to overcome this ban.

Fong & Chun, LLP applauds the Centers for Disease Control, the HHS, and USCIS in recognizing that the ban against nonimmigrant visa and permanent residency applications by HIV positive individuals was wrong. --ecf

Because the debates about Health Care Reform are taking so much of the Congress' energy, the Obama Administration believes that Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) will not be considered by the Congress until the beginning of 2010. The immigration law firm of Fong & Chun has many clients in Los Angeles, CA and throughout the nation who would benefit from the passage of CIR. In a recent article, President Obama restated his commitment to humane immigration law reform.

Two of the most anticipated provisions of CIR would be the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) and the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA).

The DREAM Act would allow the normalization of the immigration status of certain undocument students who were brought prior to age 16 to the United States by their parents or guardians. These students have lived and been educated in the USA, and it would be fundamentally unfair to deny them immigration status, when they did not come to the USA through their own decision, and when the USA is often the only country these students have ever really known.

UAFA would correct a long-standing inequity under immigration law and would permit US Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents to petition for and bring their permanent partners to the USA on the same footing and subject to the same conditions as traditional married couples.

Although CIR will not be debated in Congress until the beginning of 2010, we are still urging Americans to be ready to write both of their Senators and their Congressional Representative in support of CIR. Further, we are also asking Americans also to write their state governors and full city councils, encouraging them to contact Washington to urge passage of CIR.

For more information about CIR, also see the Fong and Chun blogs of
29 June 2009
26 June 2009
--jcf

A Southern California politician and some anti-immigrant activists are seeking to put a measure on the California ballot that would deny a "regular" California birth certificate to children born in the USA, if the parents are unlawfully present in the country.  The initiative would also limit the public benefits such citizen-children could receive.  The immigration law firm of Fong & Chun opposes this initiative.

Not only does this cynical, divisive initiative cripple the State's ability to look after all the children who reside in California, but the change it proposes violates the US Constitution.  Do not let a radical right-wing measure create second-class citizens!

Please contact your friends and family and urge them to oppose this mean-spirited and unconstitutional measure.

Immigration law firms like Fong & Chun, even though we're located in Los Angeles, often get embroiled in international politics. There has recently been controversy about whether US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) would put "TAIWAN" as the country of former citizenship on US Naturalization Certificates.

Because the US Government recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China to be the "government of all of China," including Taiwan, some CIS employees have unilaterally insisted on putting CHINA on the Naturalization Certificates of new citizens who emigrated to the USA from Taiwan.  This controversy has been resolved

Chapter 22 of the US Code, section 3303 provides that Taiwan is considered a SEPARATE country for purposes of US immigration law. As a result, this clarifies that the use of TAIWAN on Certificates of Naturalization or Citizenship is acceptable.

If you have questions, please contact us.  --jcf