Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

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

At a ceremony at the White House today, President Barack Obama announced the publication on Monday, 2 November 2009 of the final rule repealing the HIV immigration restriction. The immigration lawyers here at Fong & Chun have worked here in Los Angeles and nationwide as part of the movement to have this onerous restriction on people with HIV/AIDS repealed. More details to follow, after we have seen and reviewed the "final rule." --jcf

On 14 October 2009, Congressman Luis Gutíerrez of Illinois released a set of principles which he hopes will be incorporated into any Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) package. As advocates for immigrants, the attorneys at the Los Angeles-based immigration law firm of Fong & Chun, we watch closely any progress on CIR.

Central to his approach are:

1. a rational and humane approach to resolving or legalizing the status of the undocumented population,

2. a mechanism to protect US and legal immigrant workers,

3. allocation of sufficient visas to stop immigrants from trying to "cut in line" or "jump the queue" and get to America earlier but illegally,

4. enhancements to protect the US homeland,

5. establish a wise border enforcement policy that reflects America's needs and values,

6. keeping together and unifying American families,

7. promotion of immigrant integration,

8. inclusion of the DREAM Act and AgJobs bill, and

9. protection of fundamental rights.

Representative Gutíerrez' statement of principles is an excellent first step as the debate over CIR begins. --jcf

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

The nonimmigrant visa (B-1 / B-2) rules for HIV-positive people who want to visit the USA have been issued by the US Department of State (DOS).  Los Angeles-based immigration law firm Fong & Chun counsels and represents many HIV-positive persons, and unfortunately, the new nonimmigrant HIV Waiver Authorization puts HIV-positive people in a difficult position.

US immigration law denies entry to the USA to aliens who are HIV-positive.  For nonimmigrants who wish to come to the USA as business or touristic visitors, the procedure has been to apply for a waiver under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sec. 212(d)(3)(A)(i).  This waiver procedure is expensive, time-consuming, and exposes the applicant to possible arbitrary, capricious, or AIDS-phobic decisions of some adjudicating officers.

DOS has put into effect a procedure where the visa officer now has the authority to grant otherwise-visa-qualified HIV-positive applicants a B-1 / B-2 visitor visa, provided the alien signs a declaration (DS-5512) that:

(1) admits that s/he is HIV-positive; 

(2) s/he does not currently exhibit symptoms indicative of an "active, contagious" opportunistic infection; 

(3) s/he knows and has been counseled on the nature, severity, and communicability of the medical condition; 

(4) s/he is a minimal risk to public health to, and is unlikely to transmit HIV to any other person in, the United States; 

(5) s/he has an adequate supply of HIV meds for the anticipated stay and has sufficient assets, such as insurance that is accepted in the United States, to cover any medical care in the United States; 

(6) s/he will not create any cost to the United States, or a State or local government or agency, without prior written consent of the agency; 

(7) s/he is coming to visit the USA for touristic or business-visitor purposes only;

(8) that no single admission to the US will exceed thirty (30) days; 

(9) s/he is not subject to any other grounds of admissibility to the USA; 

(10) s/he admits and acknowledges that s/he cannot be admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP); 

(11) s/he acknowledges that any failure to meet with ALL the conditions relating to the visa and to admission to the USA will make him/her ineligible for future authorization under this new provision; and 

(12) if s/he is admitted to the USA using this waiver procedure, s/he waives any chance to apply for an extension of stay, a change of status, or adjustment of status.  (An exception is made for applications for asylum.)

Although this procedure is more streamlined than the prior waiver, it puts the applicant in the position of signing a declaration -- admitting or acknowledging a great many facts -- which will stay on record with the US government.  The declaration includes statements which could subject the applicant to difficulties, even persecution, in his/her own country. 

Anyone thinking of signing the DS-5512 declaration to get a B-1 or B-2 visitor visa should consult experienced and HIV-sensitive counsel to discuss the ramifications.  --jcf

As the pioneering Los Angeles immigration law firm that has always welcomed inquiries and consultation from members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities, Fong & Chun has been tracking the progress of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) in the US Congress.

The New York Times is reporting that the White House will begin pushing Comprehensive Immigration Reform soon.  The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA )must be included in the reform package.  

UAFA will permit US citizens to petition for and immigrate their same-sex partners, on an equal basis as traditional spouses.  

A comprehensive overhaul of the immigration system will be controversial.  There are possible provisions that will please some and displease others.  Reasonable minds can disagree about these provisions.  What is clear to me, however, is that CIR must include provisions for UAFA.

The one hope is that enough people contact their Senators and Representatives to encourage them to vote in favor of CIR, and especially for UAFA. Even if you believe your Senator or Representative is already "on board," write anyway.  There will be lots of radical right-wing pressure to jettison any benefit for same-sex couples, and your legislator will need the political cover to stand firm..

Also, you should write to your state legislators, too.  Why state legislators, when immigration is a Federal issue?  Because you should ask your state senator, state legislator, and governor to themselves contact Washington DC, to pressure the Congress to do the fair and equitable thing and support UAFA.

Most observers and other immigration attorneys here in Los Angeles believe that the issue will hit full force sometime in late summer, or early autumn.  The time to let your legislators know your sentiments is now.  Encourage your friends and family, all over the nation -- not just in Los Angeles -- to write to their senators and representatives! --jcf