Got Immigration? The World’s Best Damn Blog About U.S. Immigration

I listened in on a USCIS teleconference this past Wednesday about U, T, and VAWA petitions.  For those who don’t know, U nonimmigrant status is for victims of qualifying criminal activity, T visas are for victims of human trafficking, and VAWA petitions are for victims of domestic abuse at the hands of a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident.  The Vermont Service Center conducted the teleconference, and provided some great information about processing these complicated petitions, including how and when to file for qualifying family members, how U nonimmigrants can and should travel, and much more.  Perhaps the most useful bit of information to emerge from that teleconference was the VSC’s U/T/VAWA Unit contact information, through which attorneys can address problems with their cases and ask general questions.  The initial means of contacting the VSC is a hotline: (802) 527-4888.  The VSC advised that no one is on the other end of this line; attorneys should leave detailed messages, and an officer will call back within 72 hours, although the turnaround time is usually 24 hours.  If that doesn’t resolve the matter, attorneys can follow up with one of two email addresses – hotlinefollowupi360.vsc@dhs.gov or hotlinefollowupi918i914.vsc@dhs.gov, depending on the type of case involved.  It warms my heart that the Vermont Service Center’s U/T/VAWA Unit is so concerned about connecting with the public, and wish that other divisions of USCIS felt the same way.  Until that happens, though, I’ll happily use the VSC’s resources to better serve my clients and do my job more effectively.

An upcoming teleconference with USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas highlights some of the changes coming to the agency in the next few weeks.  Aside from many USCIS filing fees going up, there are some major changes happening in the realm of immigration forms.  The biggest two changes, in my opinion, are happening with respect to fee waivers and form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.  Up until now, applicants have had to request waivers of USCIS’s oftentimes exorbitant fees via a written declaration describing their income and expenses along with documentation corroborating their assertions.  Starting November 23rd, applicants will have form I-912 to deal with, which will supposedly make the process of applying for a fee waiver easier and more predictable.  I looked the draft I-912 over, and actually like it – I think it hits all of the major issues we try to bring out when drafting an individual fee waiver from scratch, and appears to allow for different types of hardship situations to qualify for a waiver.  I think a lot will depend on how USCIS interprets the information contained on this form; every situation is different, and USCIS has wide discretion to waive the fee based on a number of different factors.  The second major change coming on 11/23 concerns form I-129, which we use to apply for a several types of employment-based nonimmigrant visas.  The version of the form is changing, and USCIS will start rejecting the old version – the ONLY version currently available – starting December 22, 2010.  USCIS plays the dirty trick of changing a form and not accepting older versions from time to time, which inevitably results in people losing their legal status in the United States.  All complaints aside, this is a change that’s happening whether we like it or not, and attorneys and the public need to NOT submit the old version of the I-129 after December 21, 2010.

USCIS recently announced that it will begin issuing new, security-enabled naturalization certificates this week at the District Offices in Atlanta, Denver, and Baltimore, with the rest of the nation transitioning within the next 60 days.  These new certificates sound uber-high-tech, with digitized photos, embedded applicant signatures, color-shifting ink, and a new printing process that renders the certificates less prone to fraud.  USCIS was careful to clarify that all previously-issued certificates remain will remain valid, so all you naturalized citizens, don’t worry about applying for this latest model.  For more on this marvel of immigration technology, click here.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is angry at USCIS.  And he’s letting anyone that will listen know.  Why,  you ask, is Senator Grassley so incensed?  He heard that adjudicators at USCIS’s California Service Center (CSC) are being pressured from their superiors to approve visa applications that appear fraudulent or in which the applicant is otherwise ineligible.  Whatchyou talkin’ about, Grassley?  Anyone who knows how the CSC works will know that such a claim is complete rubbish.  If anything, CSC adjudicators will do the exact opposite of what Senator Grassley asserted – they routinely deny visa applications in which the applicant is unquestionably qualified, fraudulent or not.  Check out this post on AILA’s Leadership blog, which explains quite nicely why Senator Grassley doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

For all those people out there that use Facebook, beware – one of those random people that occasionally asks to be your friend might actually be USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security Unit!  According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, among others, USCIS uses social media as means of investigating applicants for various immigration benefits.  Just to be clear, this would probably only happen if an Adjudications Officer referred a case to the Fraud Detection and National Security Unit, which means something is already fishy with the case.  USCIS considers friending someone an unannounced “cyber site-visit” (per an internal memo recently released after a FOIA request), and if you invite that presence into your virtual life, you have no one to blame but yourself for whatever undesirable facts that visit uncovers.  The lesson in all this: don’t friend strangers if you’re applying for an immigration benefit!  Even if your case is legitimate, USCIS might find something that they don’t like, or that gives them cause for doubt.  Be on the safe side – and just say ”ignore.”

I warned y’all, and now it’s official – USCIS filing fees are going UP starting November 23, 2010.  If you thought $355.00 was a lot for an I-130 (petition for a family member), you’ll definitely think that the new $420.00 fee is way too much.  The outrageous $1010.00 fee for an Adjustment of Status application (with Biometrics) will soon be a distant, sweet memory – the new combined fee will be $1070.00.  Perhaps the most unjust fee hike is for work permits, which will soon cost $380.00 instead of $340.00.  Many people need to work in order to pay the I-765 filing fee, yet need the work permit in order to find a job, putting them in a uniquely bizarre catch-22-type situation.  As I said before, I don’t mind a fee hike if it results in some sort of concrete benefit.  USCIS’s argument is that a fee increase is necessary in order to provide better service and remain adequately funded.  I dispute both of those assertions.  The quality of USCIS’s service – which has gotten a tad better in some respects since the last fee increase - is still woefully inadequate.  And although it’s true that USCIS has seen a reduction in new applications (and therefore a reduction in funding) lately, I suspect that any drop is due to the negative atmosphere that USCIS has itself created from needlessly tough adjudications and needlessly high filing fees.  I’m optimistic that USCIS will improve with some more cash on-hand, but I sure ain’t gonna hold my breath.

An internal USCIS policy memo was leaked to the public today that shows the immigration agency in an entirely new (and surpisingly pleasant) light.  The memo, titled “Administrative Alternatives to Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” offers a set of suggestions for softening the U.S. immigration system in the absence of congressional passage of a comprehensive reform package.  Among the suggestions: enabling persons with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to adjust their status and become permanent residents, expanding the use of “Parole-in-Place” to create a basis for adjustment to individuals otherwise ineligible, expanding the concept of “dual intent” from H and L visa-holders to other nonimmigrant categories, increasing the grace period after nonimmigrant status runs out from 10 days to between 45 and 90 days, expanding the use of deferred action, and the “strategic” issuance of Notices to Appear.  Collectively, the suggestions in this memo would make the lives of countless thousands of immigrants in this country much easier, and could very well restore a modicum of fairness to America’s immigration system in the process.  I also find it very interesting – and extraordinarily practical – that a strong motivating factor behind many of these suggestions appears to be increased revenue for USCIS.  In the TPS section, for example, the  memo states “[r]ather than imposing any additional financial cost, allowing TPS applicants to adjust or change status will increase USCIS revenue in the form of fee receipts.”  USCIS is currently planning a fee hike, but knows that it will need more money to operate smoothly than any increases in filing fees can ever provide – although one can argue whether this is the result of mismanagement or of actual need.  So there you go – a win-win situation for the immigrants of America and for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.  Who needs Congress when you have such logical beings working for USCIS?

Given the slow pace of reconstruction in Haiti following the devasting earthquake earlier this year, USCIS has decided to give Haitian nationals more time to register for Temporary Protected Status, also known as TPS.  Originally, the registration period for TPS ended on July 20, 2010; now, the initial registration period will end on January 18, 2011, giving Haitians much more time to decide what they want to do and whether remaining in the U.S. is really a viable option.  I found it interesting that USCIS decided to extend the TPS registration period in part because doing so would aid Haiti’s reconstruction efforts; in other words, the more money that Haitians in the United States send back to Haiti, the more rapidly Haiti will be able to get back on its feet.  I’m not sure if this rationale would really stand up under closer scrutiny, but hey – the result is good nevertheless.  Anyone with questions about TPS for Haitian nationals should visit the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov.

I saw this article in the New York Times today about Shari Feldman and Inderjit Singh, a perhaps unlikely couple that has been married for 17 years – and stuck in immigration no-man’s land for about just as long.  Mr. Singh, an Indian national, has still not been able to get a green card despite an extremely long marriage, three I-130s, five adjustment interviews, and at least two attorneys.  Why, you might ask?  USCIS thinks that his marriage is not bona fide, mainly because of some inconsistent answers to questions during his adjustment interviews.  The Immigration Service has definitely cracked down on marriage fraud in recent years, but to the point where it sees fraud everywhere – even in 17-year-old marriages.  USCIS obviously has the right to poke into someone’s marriage, but the stakes are simply too high for it to make mistakes – which is just what Mr. Singh’s green card case seems to be.

Oh man…once again, USCIS is going to raise its already high filing fees.  These fee increases don’t appear to be as bad as last time, when certain filing fees were increased by more than 100%, but it’s still more money out of pocket for countless thousands of immigrants, nonimmigrants, and employers.  And for what?  USCIS’s service has improved in some respects since the last fee hike, but overall, service is still pretty sub-par.  I’m all for fee increases if I see some concrete benefits afterwards, but that has simply never been the case when it comes to USCIS.  One final interesting note – USCIS wants to start charging now for proposals for Regional Centers, investment vehicles for the EB-5 immigrant investor program.  As of now, there is no fee to file these proposals; under the new proposed fee structure, there will be a $6230 fee to file the new I-924 application for Regional Center designation.  Wow, $0 to $6230 – that’s what I call a fee increase!