Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a very important decision regarding the ability of children to immigrate to the United States based upon petitions filed for their parents. The decision is known as Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio.
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This week’s blog will kick off a series of posts aimed at providing a broad overview of removal proceedings. Removal proceedings, formerly known as deportation proceedings, are the process by which the Department of Homeland Security (or “DHS”) seeks to deport individuals that it deems do not have authorization to be in the United States. Except under certain situations Continue reading
One of the questions that every immigration lawyer gets asked is “How long is it going to take for my family member to get his green card?” And, in typical lawyer fashion, my response is “Well, it depends.” This Continue reading
Last Tuesday as I was leaving court, I reached for my phone to find that it was blowing up (as the kids say these days). Apparently, there was an internet article that stated that the Philippines had been added to the list of “visa waiver” countries and that Filipinos no longer needed to go to the U.S. Embassy prior to visiting the United States. It was everywhere: my voicemails, my text messages, my Facebook feed. Even my mom called to ask about it!
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According to recently released government statistics, there has been a 43% decline in deportations ordered by immigration judges. Unfortunately, these statistics do not include “expedited removals” — individuals who are issued a deportation order at the border without ever seeing an immigration judge. Those numbers are on the rise.
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Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that I have been writing about naturalization quite a bit lately. First, the one about a looming deadline. More recently, the one about my client with a prior denial turned around, and then the one about a noticeable increase in new citizens hailing from Africa. But, what do you need to be eligible for apply for naturalization in the first place?!?
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Every now and then, when a judge is writing a decision, that judge will add a footnote about a question that is NOT being considered by the court. It’s a way of signaling that a particular legal issue remains an open question. Or maybe it’s a way of telling the lawyers “hey, you guys should litigate this issue next! I want to write a decision on it!” Anyway, I digress. Earlier this year, I asked the question: Will there be a new immigration law this year?
I noted that the answer would depend on the House of Representatives.
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Recently, I met with some clients who wanted to know if their prior applications for immigration benefits would cause any harm to a new application. They showed me a copy of their old documents and across the top of many pages were the words “Immigration and Naturalization Service.”
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Here’s some of what I learned as a political science major: The two parts of Congress — the House of Representatives and the Senate — have to pass the same bill. If the House and Senate pass two different versions of a similar bill, then the bill goes to a conference where the differences get hammered out and then both parts of Congress have to vote again.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the primary agency that handles petitions and applications related to immigration. For most filings, USCIS charges a filing fee. According to USCIS spokesperson Christopher Bentley, USCIS can continue to operate during the shutdown because these fees cover 95% of their budget. I have filed applications and received the processing receipts. Interviews for naturalization and adjustment of status applications are going forward.
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Immigration Visa Attorney Blog