Articles Posted in USCIS

product-image-727052017_1200x1200-300x300Lawyers are not psychic. It’s pretty hard to predict what the Trump Administration will do to change immigration law.  Any changes in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for 2020 must first be passed by both houses of the Congress and signed by the President.  The Trump Administration will find it difficult to make changes in the actual INA, because it is unlikely the House of Representatives will approve them.  

However, immigration lawyers can guess that there may be some changes in policy coming for US immigration law in 2020.  Trump will continue to promote policies that attempt to restrict immigration to the United States.  Further, he will implement rules to infringe on the rights of immigrants and to deny asylum seekers the right to seek refuge in this country.  Trump is even trying to make it more difficult for attorneys to do their jobs as advocates for immigrants.  

We remain concerned whether the courts will continue to strike down the most outrageous and unlawful practices and whether current nationwide injunctions protecting basic rights of immigrants will stay in place.  The courts have been a protective barrier from the worst, most inhumane, and illegal policies of this Administration.  Two important issues to watch are:

fashion-person-woman-hand-300x200Starting October 1, 2017, USCIS has indicated that it would be start requiring in-person interviews for individuals seeking lawful permanent resident status who have been petitioned by their employers.  According to a USCIS spokesperson, there will be additional visa categories that will also require interviews in order to “further improve the detection and prevention of fraud and security risks to the United States.”

In the view of one attorney, “The immigration service [previously] realized that most of the time it was a colossal waste of everyone’s time.”  As a result, USCIS had agreed to waive many of these interviews.  Such waivers will no longer be granted.

Based upon an anecdotal, informal survey of Fong & Aquino clients, a marriage-based “green card” case in the Los Angeles area can be expected to be completed within 6-8 months of filing. Tasking the same number of USCIS interviewing officers to now conduct additional interviews on top of the existing caseload is a sure recipe for longer adjudications.

The immigration lawyers at Fong & Aquino LLP have handled many applications for naturalization for our clients in the Los Angeles area as well as the Coachella Valley area.

I have always chuckled about Question # 22:  “Have you EVER committed, assisted in committing, or attempted to commit, a crime or offense for which you were not NOT arrested?”  Chewing gum in court?  Jaywalking in New York City?  As it turns out, this is not a trivial matter.

Just how far the government would be willing to go to take away someone’s citizenship if it later discovered that an individual had fibbed is a question that went all the way up to the United States Supreme Court.   During recent oral arguments in Maslenjak v. United States, this exchange occurred between the government’s lawyer and the Chief Justice:

Immigrant Medical Exam

The medical exam for immigration is a bit outdated

Toward the end of a recent immigration interview, the officer told my client that his doctor had forgotten to fill out certain sections of the medical examination form. As a result, my client would have to go back to the doctor and have the form redone. I mentioned to the officer that the medical exam was rather pointless.

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MAVNI program expanded to include DACA

MAVNI program extended to individuals granted DACA immigration status

Living amongst us in the United States are hundreds of thousands of children who grew up as Americans but lack immigration status because of the way that they entered the United States. Many of these DREAMers have been given a chance to avoid deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (or DACA) program. And now, the Department of Defense has announced that the MAVNI program has been expanded to those individuals.
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Naturalization of permanent residents

Cities for Citizenship launches in major metro cities

Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago

Occasionally, USCIS will hold group naturalization ceremonies specifically for children. One such ceremony occurred recently at the Los Angeles Public Library. These are really cool events and they are much more exciting than sitting in the waiting room at the federal building for an immigration officer to call your name and bring you the completed certificate.
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Beware Unscrupulous Immigration Attorneys

In the past, I have written about people of modest means who have been bamboozled by unscrupulous attorneys, “consultants,” and “notarios.” For example, I wrote about the fraudulent asylum applications submitted by attorneys and paralegals in New York City. Unfortunately, even wealthy investors can be victims of scams.
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Immigration Court Snapshot

Over the last several months, I’ve been breaking down the process of what happens in immigration courts. This week, KPCC took a closer look at the busiest immigration court in the nation: Los Angeles.
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Los Angeles Immigration

Immigration to Los Angeles

It has fostered a rich mix of cultures

As an immigration attorney in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, I get to meet a lot of different people from all different parts of the world. It helps that this city is very popular with immigrants.
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Just Received A Form I-862 Notice To Appear

What You Should Know If You Receive a Notice To Appear (NTA)

This week, we return to our discussion about the ins-and-outs of immigration court proceedings. Last time, I discussed the various ways that people are “thrown” into removal proceedings. Today, I take a closer look at the Form I-862 Notice To Appear.
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