Entry & Exit Issues

January 26, 2010

DHS Roams Airport Terminals, Requests ID and Passports

PPT Control.png With all our experience counseling on immigration law questions, the attorneys at Romben Law, APC in Los Angeles do not regularly get the chance to see the day-in, day-out operations at airports and other ports of entry.

Whether it is Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy or not, I do not know, but last week, I noticed DHS personnel roaming through the terminals at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. They actually went to various gates and randomly requested ID or passports from OUTBOUND passengers seated in the boarding areas.

That is, they checked the documents of both Americans and foreigners who were LEAVING the USA. Not entering.

December 20, 2009

HIV Ban Lifted

by Romben Law, APC

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 Romben Law, APC and HIV/AIDS health advocates. J Craig Fong (Retired from the practice of law) 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.

Romben Law, APC 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

October 30, 2009

HIV Travel Ban to be Lifted

by Romben Law, APC

biohazard 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 Romben Law, APC 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here in Los Angeles and nationwide as part of the movement to have this onerous restriction on people with HIV/AIDS repealed.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

October 2, 2009

H-1B Quota, Fraud Detection, On-site interviews

by Romben Law, APC

The H-1B quota has now reached approximately 46,700 and although the USCIS has announced that they’ve received approximately 20,000 advanced degree applications, it still continues to accept advanced degree cases.

I have been fielding a lot of questions about whether a person is still “in H-1B status” even if they are no longer working for the employer who sponsored them. Simply put, the answer is “no.” When H-1B workers are petitioned for by a specific employer, not only are they expected to work for that employer only (unless they have a concurrently approved H-1B for a separate employer), but they must always comply with the original terms of the H-1B petition. Any changes considered to be material to the employment must be reported to the US Department of Labor and possibly to the USCIS.

Further, H-1B employees are considered to be out of status if they lose their jobs or quit working for the H-1B sponsor. And as of late, the USCIS has been conducting random on-site visits to H-1B employers, interviewing the foreign worker(s), HR or the company owner, as well as verifying the terms and conditions of their work.

August 28, 2009

DHS to Continue Border Inspection of Electronic Devices

by Romben Law, APC

On 18 August 2009, the Obama Administration issued new directives about the inspection, search, and even seizure of electronic media belonging to travelers passing through border checkpoints. This set of policies and practices has concerned immigration lawyers, constitutional attorneys, and other civil rights advocates, including the immigration attorneys at Romben Law, APC in Los Angeles.

All electronic media devices are susceptible to search: computers, hard drives, thumb-nail drives, mp3 players, iPods, mobile phones, CDs, DVDs, Blackberrys, etc.

This practice of inspecting, detaining, and even copying travelers’ electronic media — without a warrant or even suspicion — began before the Bush Administration’s so-called “war on terrorism.” Given the amount personal information that people keep on their digital devices, attorneys and constitutional advocates have worried that such searches and seizures can be potentially more intrusive than having a border guard riffling through one’s luggage.

June 14, 2009

July 2009 Visa Bulletin Reflects Grim News for Employment-Based Applications

by Romben Law, APC

Those who are patiently awaiting their EB-3 and EB-2 petitions to become current probably check the Department of State’s website every month for the newest visa bulletin. Many of you have probably been in the processing queue for several years, are on AC-21 extensions of your H-1B, or are relying on your work permits (EADs), and EAD renewals year after to year so you can keep working legally while you await your “greencard.” Some of you are facing situations where your children face “age out” issues and even more of you are awaiting permanent residency so you can then travel legally to visit relatives in your home country. Some may waiting abroad. Nonetheless, you are all waiting and waiting…

The July 2009 visa bulletin released by the US Department of State confirms what we already know – that waiting times are painfully long and slow. But an announcement by the US Department of State’s Visa Office to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), confirms what we have dreaded along: that the situation is “dire” and will amount to extended delays beyond what you have already endured.

The Visa Office has already indicated that the worldwide cutoff date for EB-3 will be set on or around March 1, 2003. With any luck, we may see quick advances in that category near the beginning of 2010, but I’m not counting on it.

May 28, 2009

Faint Fingerprints Can Lead to Airport and Immigration Delay

by Romben Law, APC

It’s recently been reported that a cancer patient traveling to the USA was detained at a Port of Entry (POE) for over five hours because he had been taking a drug that caused his fingerprints to fade or become indistinct. Clients of immigration law firm Romben Law, APC in Los Angeles travel all the time, of course, and we have received anecdotal evidence for several years of individuals being detained, harassed, and even verbally abused by immigration authorities because their fingerprints have been difficult to detect.

The case reported in the Annals of Oncology recounts a 62-year old cancer survivor from Singapore had been taking the prescription medication capecitabine. One of the side effects of the drug is a chronic inflammation of the palms and feet; an ancillary effect is that patient’s fingerprints can become distorted or indistinct. Because all foreigners are fingerprinted at POEs, and because the traveler’s fingerprints were indistinct, border guards detained the man for five hours. The fading or distortion of fingerprints can also occur when people work a great deal with their hands, regularly apply unusual friction to the fingers, or work with acidic chemicals which can erode the tissue.

Romben Law, APC warns clients that immigration authorities at POEs and at Application Support Centers can be myopically devoted to getting fingerprints, even to the point of harassing, blaming, or verbally abusing the alien’s whose fingerprints are indistinct. –jcf

May 6, 2009

FBI Watchlist Slow to be Updated

by Romben Law, APC

The Associated Press reports that the FBI has been remiss in adding, removing, and updating the national terror suspect watchlist. As immigration lawyers, Romben Law, APC has clients both in Los Angeles and abroad who have had difficulty because the individuals were misidentified or because they requested to be removed from the watchlist and the removal did not occur in a timely fashion. The inefficiency can damage national security, hinder much-needed commerce and tourism, and gravely damage an individual’s ability freely to travel.

In 8% of cases, FBI failed to remove persons from and update the watchlist. The AP also reports that in almost 75% of cases, the FBI did not do its job in a timely fashion.

In a blog entry in April we reported that the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) would begin “Secure Flight” screening of air travelers. We observed at that time that it would be mission critical for TSA to have a program to identify and quickly respond to anyone who has been wrongly placed on the watchlist. –jcf

April 27, 2009

Swine Flu Outbreak: Plan for Caution and Delays at Ports-of-Entry

by Romben Law, APC

The outbreak of a potentially dangerous strain of influenza in Brazil, Canada, México, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere is causing many nations, including the USA, to implement public health precautions to limit further spread of the flu. These precautions may cause delays at US ports-of-entry (POE). The immigration attorneys at Romben Law, APC have clients who travel frequently, and because of Southern California’s proximity to México, and because the Los Angeles area is a major transportation hub, we are cautioning travellers to allot plenty of time to clear the immigration and customs hall at US airports.

Some places, like Hong Kong, have had experience with the prior outbreak of bird flu, so they are using more sophisticated measures to screen arriving passengers, including infrared scanners to identify persons with fever.

Regarding US Public Health Service clearance, both airlines and US Customs & Border Protection will be on the lookout for individuals who are ill or who have fevers. After you are admitted to the US, if you have recently visited one of the affected areas, and you find you have a fever or other flu-like symptoms, you should telephone your doctor.

April 22, 2009

HIV Declaration for B-1 + B-2 Visitor Visas Introduced by State Department

by Romben Law, APC

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 Romben Law, APC 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: