Update to Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
USCIS published an update to Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. The new edition is dated 11/23/15.
USCIS published an update to Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. The new edition is dated 11/23/15.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved the statutory maximum of 10,000 petitions for U-1 nonimmigrant status (U visas) for fiscal year 2016. This marks the seventh straight year that USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U visas in 2009.
USCIS recently began transferring certain casework from the Vermont Service Center (VSC) to the California Service Center (CSC) and Nebraska Service Center (NSC) to balance workloads. The CSC will now process Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status.
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Due to updated guidance from the CDC, USCIS has updated its visitor policy. Fully vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear a face covering. Individuals two years old and older who are not fully vaccinated must still wear a face covering.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced an extension of the flexibility in complying with requirements related to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, due to COVID-19.
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USCIS is updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to provide clarification regarding certain naturalization applications filed by veterans of the U.S. armed forces under section 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Discussion Topics, Thursday, May 27, 2021
FAQ: Not reporting change of address to the USCIS - Naturalization || Chances of getting an F-1 Visa when B-1 Visa was rejected earlier 214(b) denial
Topics:
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WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is accepting applications for two funding opportunities under the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program. The grant opportunities will provide up to $10 million in grants for citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country.
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The Department of Homeland Security has issued a final rule that removes from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) an interim final rule (IFR) issued in October 2020, which has since been vacated by a federal district court.
Number 54
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Washington, D.C
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during June for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.
Published by: The Economic Times - Date: May 20, 2021
Synopsis
You must be able to demonstrate “sustained national or international acclaim” in your field. You do that through one of the two ways. First, either you must have received a one-time national or internationally recognized award. Second, if you do not have such an award, alternatively, you must pass two tests: quantitative and qualitative.
For more on this article please see the attachment below.
1 Green Card through PERM, Step 1 - The PERM process
1.1 Preliminary points
1.1.1 Most commonly used process and is based upon a permanent, full-time job offer
1.1.2 Involves testing the labor market for a defined job
1.1.3 Green card is for a "future job"
1.1.4 Employment-based categories 2 and 3 (EB-2, EB-3)
1.1.5 WE MUST act honestly and in good faith
1.1.6 There are three steps: PERM, I-140, and I-485 OR consular processing
Published by: The Economic Times - Date: May 10, 2021
Synopsis
To protect yourselves, carry evidence that your extension application was timely filed and you left because you had an urgent need to do so. Also, take a screenshot or printout of the FAQ on the CBP website: “How can I extend my stay while in the United States?
For more on this article please see the attachment below.
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Program Will Provide Opportunities for Foreign Entrepreneurs
Our offices will be closed for Christmas break from December 24, 2019 through January 1, 2020. The offices will reopen on Thursday, January 2, 2020. If you are a client, in case of an urgent matter, please leave a message at (202 )909-1110, ext. 1001. Our team members will also regularly check their own emails and messages. If you need to speak with someone urgently please leave a message and you will hear back from them.
Happy Holidays to all of you from our team!
I have a delayed birth registration certificate issued by municipal authority with place of birth: hospital name, city. My passport just got the city name as place of birth. Do I need to submit secondary evidence when I file I-485 because of delayed registration?
In many countries especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, it can happen that the birth occurred much earlier but the registration of the birth was done much later. Remember it was not the law that you have to register every birth, it was a voluntary action. So if a child was born in 1980 or 1970 you registered the birth in 2015 because that’s when you needed to get the green card. Now those are not acceptable registration. What you should do in those cases is get a letter from the municipal corporation, or local government, that says before this was registered there was no other registration. Like a non-availability before the registration. Along with that get two affidavits, from your parents or other people, who were alive when you were born, that will take care of it.
Secondary evidence becomes acceptable only when you can’t get non-availability from the municipal corporation and that’s a much more complicated area. I think you should get the non-availability.
I am holding a Canadian student visa, now is my second year in Canada. I was issued a B-1/B-2 visa last year. Then I was charged of Theft under $5000 this June, and the charge goes withdrawn-diversion in July. When I went to US Embassy for visa renewal this October, the officer asked my about the charge, and I answered honestly that I did it on purpose and I really regret my behavior. He rejected my class B visa, gave me a pink paper, which says the denial is under Section 214(b), which says that alien doesn't show strong ties with home country. After I carefully searched online resources, I found that my admission of the offence will make me inadmissible to enter US, as a moral turpitude. But the officer didn't say that I need waiver to enter US.
1. So my question is:
does this mean that their denial is not based on the Crime of Moral Turpitude, but I really didn't show strong ties? Or they just don't reject me explicitly with the real reason? I will marry a Canadian citizen next year so it would be a strong tie then. Or do you suggest me to apply for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility like I-106 whatsoever?
2. Another question is:
I got an offer of a big well-known US company for summer internship, and I need to apply for J1 Visa. How will the charge affect me J-1 application?
First of all, not every crime leads to serious consequences in USA. There are two kinds of crimes. Misdemeanours which are small crimes, punishment is typically less than a year and the other felonies where the punishment is a year or more, those are more serious crimes. In immigration law we look if the crime is of moral turpitude or not. If a crime is not of moral turpitude, I believe it has absolutely no consequences, unless it is a drug offence. Moral turpitude simply means that you are doing something, which reflects on your poor moral character.
The next step: is it misdemeanour or felony. If it is a felony, we almost certainly have a problem. It could lead to deportation, non-admission, and then you will need a waiver of some kind. Waivers are usually available for green card only for family based reasons. You cannot get a waiver just because you want to come to USA. So in an employment based case, and you have a felony conviction for moral turpitude crime you will not be able to come to USA.
Remember the rules are different for deportation, what is called removal and admission. So when you try to enter you could be subject to different laws, sometimes you think you are in USA and I am safe, because your lawyer told you are not going to be deported, but when you come back they won’t let you in and now you have to go back, the reason is the rules for admission are different. This is a very complex area of the law.
Question: What if I am convicted of misdemeanour involving moral turpitude?
First, how many misdemeanour convictions do you have. If you have multiple convictions, then that itself is ground for deportation removal as well as no admission. But if you have only one offence, a misdemeanour, and the actual punishment imposed was less than six months you are covered by something called petty offence exception. Which says we forgive you entirely as long as it was just a single misdemeanour.
The rules under immigration law and the rules under criminal law for conviction are very different. Sometimes you have a criminal defence counsel. He will tell you this is not a conviction. It may not be a conviction under criminal law but is a conviction under immigration law. Any kind of plea bargain you set up with the government where you are admitting directly that you committed the crime would be considered in all probability to be a conviction. So be careful when you discuss this with your immigration lawyer as well as criminal counsel.
Question: What is 212(d)(3) waiver?
Say if you got the kind of conviction where you cannot come back we can let you in on a temporary basis for a non-immigrant visa. 212(d)(3) applies only to non-immigrant visa and the situation has been a little uncertain, especially for Canadians. I think there is a certain timeframe where you can get it or for one visit you can get it.
Question: I am holding a Canadian student visa, now is my second year in Canada. I was issued a B-1/B-2 visa last year. Then I was charged of Theft under $5000 this June, and the charge goes withdrawn-diversion in July.
Normally diversion means some kind of a plea bargaining has been made.
Question: When I went to US Embassy for visa renewal this October, the officer asked my about the charge, and I answered honestly that I did it on purpose and I really regret my behaviour. He rejected my class B visa, gave me a pink paper, which says the denial is under Section 214(b), which says that alien doesn't show strong ties with home country. After I carefully searched online resources, I found that my admission of the offence will make me inadmissible to enter US, as a moral turpitude. But the officer didn't say that I need waiver to enter US. So does this mean that their denial is not based on the Crime of Moral Turpitude, but I really didn't show strong ties?
That is correct because they denied it based upon their inability to verify that you will come back.
Question: I will marry a Canadian citizen next year so it would be a strong tie then. Or do you suggest me to apply for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility like I-106 whatsoever?
Definitely that will make it a much stronger tie and you can try again. You might be covered by a petty offence exception.
Question: I got an offer of a big well-known US company for summer internship, and I need to apply for J1 Visa. How will the charge affect me J-1 application?
If you are covered by petty offence exception, then even J-1 is not affected but the 214(b) denial, affects your J-1. If you had a 214(b) denial, it will bar your entry for J-1, F-1, B-1, B-2. It will not bar your entry for H-1 or L-1. I suspect the officer realised you were covered by petty offence exception.