CIR Outline Draft Bill

Foreign visitors arriving in the U.S.—only via air or sea—who need to prove their legal-visitor status—to employers, schools/universities or government agencies—will be able to access their U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrival/departure record information online when the agency starts its records automation on April 30, 2013.

When the electronic rollout begins April 30, CBP will no longer require international nonimmigrant visitors to fill out a paper Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record upon arrival to the U.S. by air or sea. The agency will gather travelers’ arrival/departure information automatically from their electronic travel records. This automation will streamline the entry process for travelers, facilitate security and reduce federal costs. CBP anticipates that the automated process will save the agency an estimated $15.5 million a year.

Because advance information is only transmitted for air and sea travelers, CBP will still issue a paper form I-94 at land border ports of entry. CBP will phase-in the Form I-94 automation at air and sea ports of entry through April and May. Foreign visitors will continue to receive the paper Form I-94 until the automated process arrives at their port of entry. Following automation, if travelers need the information from their Form I-94 admission record to verify immigration status or employment authorization, the record number and other admission information will be available at CBP.gov/I94

With the new CBP process, a CBP officer will stamp the travel document of each arriving nonimmigrant traveler. The admission stamp will show the date of admission, class of admission, and the date that the traveler is admitted until. Travelers will also receive on arrival a flier alerting them to go to CBP.gov/I94 for their admission record information.

Travelers will not need to do anything differently upon exiting the U.S. Travelers previously issued a paper Form I-94 would surrender it to the commercial carrier or to CBP upon departure. If travelers did not receive a paper Form I-94, CBP will record the departure electronically via manifest information provided by the carrier or by CBP.

For more information and for answers to frequently asked questions, visit CBP’s Form I-94 webpages.

USCIS clarified the photo requirements for the filing of the adjustment of status and its ancillary benefits in a teleconference with AILA Liaison on February 27, 2013 :

The adjustment of status applications should include six photos in total per applicant, if all three forms listed below are filed:

• Two for the I-485 Application to Adjust Status
• Two for the I-131 Application for Travel Document
• Two for the I-765 Application for Employment Authorization.

This clarification reflects a change from earlier USCIS guidance provided in the 7/12/2012 NSC stakeholder call, and 8/8/2012 SCOPS minutes, in which USCIS had indicated only two photos would be required in total per applicant.

WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced the posting of a final rule in the Federal Register that reduces the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives (spouse, children and parents), who are in the process of obtaining visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States under certain circumstances.

The final rule establishes a process that allows certain individuals to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver before they depart the United States to attend immigrant visa interviews in their countries of origin. The process will be effective on March 4, 2013 and more information about the filing process will be made available in the coming weeks at http://www.uscis.gov/.

“This final rule facilitates the legal immigration process and reduces the amount of time that U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives who are in the process of obtaining an immigrant visa,” said Secretary Napolitano. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received more than 4,000 comments in response to the April 2, 2012 proposed rule and considered all of them in preparing the final rule. “The law is designed to avoid extreme hardship to U.S. citizens, which is precisely what this rule achieves,” USCIS Director Mayorkas said. “The change will have a significant impact on American families by greatly reducing the time family members are separated from those they rely upon.”

Under current law, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States to become lawful permanent residents must leave the U.S. and obtain an immigrant visa abroad. Individuals who have accrued more than six months of unlawful presence while in the United States must obtain a waiver to overcome the unlawful presence inadmissibility bar before they can return to the United States after departing to obtain an immigrant visa. Under the existing waiver process, which remains available to those who do not qualify for the new process, immediate relatives cannot file a waiver application until after they have appeared for an immigrant visa interview abroad and the Department of State has determined that they are inadmissible. In order to obtain a provisional unlawful presence waiver, the applicant must be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, inadmissible only on account of unlawful presence, and demonstrate the denial of the waiver would result in extreme hardship to his or her U.S. citizen spouse or parent.

USCIS will publish a new form, Form I-601A, Application for a Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, for individuals to use when applying for a provisional unlawful presence waiver under the new process. Under the new provisional waiver process, immediate relatives must still depart the United States for the consular immigrant visa process; however, they can apply for a provisional waiver before they depart for their immigrant visa interview abroad. Individuals who file the Form I-601A must notify the Department of State’s National Visa Center that they are or will be seeking a provisional waiver from USCIS. The new process will reduce the amount of time U.S. citizen are separated from their qualifying immediate relatives.

Undocumented youth will learn this week the detailed guidelines to apply for the deferred action for DREAMERs.

The application is set to be available Aug. 15, but there are things you can be doing already.

• Wait patiently. USCIS hasn’t been released the application, yet some people have been promising undocumented youth to help them begin the application process in exchange for thousands of dollars. Undocumented immigrants are advised not to fall for such scams.
• Contact a lawyer. If you have complicated case, you might need the assistance of a lawyer. If so, it would be a good idea to begin looking for one now but it is still advised to wait until the application is out to meet with  a lawyer. You can turn to organizations like the American Immigration Lawyers Association for a list of trusted lawyers in your area.
• Collect documents. Create a binder for documents that show, in chronological order, the date you entered the U.S. and prove that you have remained in the country between June 15, 2007 and June 15, 2012. Though documents for      only those dates are required, it could help to also include documents dating back to when you first arrived in the U.S. Those documents could include:
  • Financial records: lease agreements, mortgage agreements, bank statements, checks, bills.
  • Medical records: immunization records, a medical history report from a doctor, medical bills.
  • School records: report cards, progress reports, diplomas, transcripts, GED certificates. If you’re still enrolled in school, you will need to submit proof of current school enrollment. This could include a letter from the school, a teacher or a counselor.
  • Employment records: Though undocumented immigrants are not legally allowed to work, some manage to do so for employers who don’t ask for a social security number. If so, those individuals should include pay stubs, employment contracts or direct deposit slips. It’s not recommended to include employment records if they contain falsified information.
  • Records that show your involvement with a church, a union or an organization.

Supreme Court on Monday stroke down 3 out of 4 provisions of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law, but upheld the provision that requires local police to check the immigration status of anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” to believe is in the U.S. unlawfully.

“This ruling is, on balance, encouraging, particularly because the court kept the door open to future challenges to the racial profiling provision. But by allowing that section to remain, the court is condoning state interference in immigration enforcement,” said AILA President Laura Lichter. She continued, “Across the country, this patchwork of state laws is creating more confusion in an already chaotic immigration system and burdening communities with legal costs as these discriminatory laws are challenged in court.

Reported by the New Journal, some Delaware law makers in 2010 contemplated anti-illegal immigration legislation, which would have sought t make it illegal to knowingly transport or house unauthorized immigrants and to require state contractors to check the immigration status of their workers.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) alerts eligible individuals NOT to submit a deferred action request under the Deferred Action Process for Young People memorandum issued by Secretary Napolitano on June 15. If you submit now, your application will be rejected. The Secretary’s directive gives USCIS 60 days to create a process to accept these requests and we are unable to accept requests at this time. Please continue to check our website for updates.

On June 15, 2012 the Department of Homeland Security formally announced that it will offer deferred action to “DREAMers.” For all the promising undocumented youth who call America home this represents the opportunity to come out of the shadows and fully embrace the only country they know. AILA embraces this bold action provide relief and enable these young people to actively contribute to our society and economy.

Eligible individuals must:

• Be 15-30 years old, and have entered before age 16
• Have been present in the U.S. for 5 years as of June 15, 2012
• Have maintained continuous residence
• Have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor or multiple minor misdemeanors
• Be currently in school, graduated or have a GED, or is an honorably discharged veteran
• The deferred action offer will be available to those in proceedings, as well as to those who apply affirmatively.

ALERT: DREAMers NOT currently in proceedings should not apply affirmatively for Deferred Action at this time. Individuals who are about to be removed and who believe they can demonstrate that they satisfy the eligibility criteria should immediately contact either the Law Enforcement Support Center’s hotline at 1-855-448-6903 (staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) or the ICE Office of the Public Advocate through the Office’s hotline at 1-888-351-4024 (staffed 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday) or by e-mail at EROPublicAdvocate@ice.dhs.gov.

WASHINGTON— Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced that effective immediately, certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings. Those who demonstrate that they meet the criteria will be eligible to receive deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and will be eligible to apply for work authorization.

“Our nation’s immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner,” said Secretary Napolitano. “But they are not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case. Nor are they designed to remove productive young people to countries where they may not have lived or even speak the language. Discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here.”

DHS continues to focus its enforcement resources on the removal of individuals who pose a national security or public safety risk, including immigrants convicted of crimes, violent criminals, felons, and repeat immigration law offenders. Today’s action further enhances the Department’s ability to focus on these priority removals.

Under this directive, individuals who demonstrate that they meet the following criteria will be eligible for an exercise of discretion, specifically deferred action, on a case-by-case basis:
1.) Came to the United States under the age of sixteen;

2.) Have continuously resided in the United States for a least five years preceding the date of this memorandum and are present in the United States on the date of this memorandum;

3.) Are currently in school, have graduated from high school, have obtained a general education development certificate, or are honorably discharged veterans of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States;

4.) Have not been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety;

5.) Are not above the age of thirty.

Only those individuals who can prove through verifiable documentation that they meet these criteria will be eligible for deferred action. Individuals will not be eligible if they are not currently in the United States and cannot prove that they have been physically present in the United States for a period of not less than 5 years immediately preceding today’s date. Deferred action requests are decided on a case-by-case basis. DHS cannot provide any assurance that all
such requests will be granted. The use of prosecutorial discretion confers no substantive right, immigration status, or pathway to citizenship. Only the Congress, acting through its legislative
authority, can confer these rights.

While this guidance takes effect immediately, USCIS and ICE expect to begin implementation of the application processes within sixty days. In the meantime, individuals seeking more information on the new policy should visit USCIS’s website (at www.uscis.gov), ICE’s website (at www.ice.gov), or DHS’s website (at www.dhs.gov). Beginning Monday, individuals can also call USCIS’ hotline at 1-800-375-5283 or ICE’s hotline at 1-888-351-4024 during business hours with questions or to request more information on the forthcoming process.

For individuals who are in removal proceedings and have already been identified as meeting the eligibility criteria and have been offered an exercise of discretion as part of ICE’s ongoing caseby- case review, ICE will immediately begin to offer them deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal.

U.S. ambassador in China announced today that since February 13, 2012, the United States will lauch a new pilot program that permits consular officers to waive interviews for some qualified nonimmigrant applicants worldwide who are renewing their visa within 48 months of the expiration of their previously held visa, and within the same classification as the previous visa.  In China, many previous holders of B (temporary visitors for business/pleasure), C1 (transit), D (crewmembers), F (students), J (exchange visitors), M (nonacademic students), and O (visitors with extraordinary ability) visas will be able to renew their visas if they have been expired less than 48 months (four years), without another interview. For details, please check here.

If an immigration judge (IJ) granted you permanent residence during immigration court proceedings or you were granted permanent residence by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and you have not yet received your green card, please schedule an appointment with your local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office. You can make an appointment through http://infopass.uscis.gov/.

Wait at least 3 days after the judge or BIA decision before you schedule the appointment with the local office. This will allow time for USCIS to receive the decision and update our computer information.

What should I bring to the appointment?

You should bring:

• A copy of the final order you received from the IJ or the BIA
• Identity documents (passport, driver’s license, USCIS-issued Employment Authorization Document, etc)

What if I still don’t receive my green card after my appointment?

After your appointment at the local office, if you have complied with all the instructions, including biometrics, and you still do not receive your green card after 30 days:

• Call the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 1-800-375-5283
• E-mail a USCIS national point of contact at citrixeoir@dhs.gov

You must provide the following when you call or email the NCSC:

• Name
• Alien number
• Date of birth
• Address
• Date of your order from the IJ or the BIA
• Specific type of relief granted (e.g., adjustment of status, cancellation of removal)
• Whether your order is final (if you or your representative know)
• The USCIS local or district office where you attended your appointment
• Dates of your local office and Application Support Center appointments
• Any other relevant information about your request for documentation

This information is required so that USCIS may better respond to your request.