Starting today, Thursday, January 15, 2015, citizens of Mexico can obtain certified copies of their birth certificates from within the United States. The birth certificates are available at Mexican…read on
Many young people who applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012 are now ready to renew their DACA protection from deportation and work authorization. This note is about the importance of timing in filing DACA renewal applications so that DACA registrants do not experience a gap between the current work authorization card and the new one. This is very important because driver’s licenses are tied to the expiration date of the work permits, as well as the ability to stay employed. Want examples? Read on.
Just last week, the U.S. government issued a policy guidance letter clarifying that the two-year home residence requirement for certain J visa holders ceases to apply to U.S. Army recruits who naturalize under the MAVNI program. The two-year rule also ceases to apply to immediate family members of those recruits.
The Department of State’s February 2015 visa bulletin was released over the weekend. The Bureau of Consular Affairs included projections for the “coming months” in this Visa Bulletin, as well.
EB-3: In the employment-based permanent residence categories, the most notable change was another six months forward movement in the EB-3 category across the board, except for India and China. Worldwide, Mexico and Philippines moved from June 1, 2013, to January 1, 2014. This means for this fiscal year, which began in October 2014, the wait list for EB-3 worldwide has moved almost three calendar years, a major improvement in terms of how long it takes to obtain permanent residence through employment as a professional worker. “Rapid forward movement” is expected to continue in this category for “at least another month or two.”
El Salvador has been designated for Temporary Protected Status
(TPS) eleven times since their initial designation in March 2001 following earthquakes that shook the Central American nation. This year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has extended the program from March 10, 2015, the day after it was set to expire, through September 9, 2016, for an additional 18 months. The re-registration period will run from January 7, 2015, through March 9, 2015. To re-register an applicant must submit Forms I-821 and I-765, with applicable filing fees, and must demonstrate eligibility for renewal or late initial filing.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State published a joint notice in the Federal Register today announcing that they will consider public comments on the…read on
You may have heard that a group of states, as well as Sheriff Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, filed lawsuits against the White House seeking injunctions of parts of the Executive Actions announced by President Obama on November 20, 2014. At Saev Hernandez Immigration Practice, we have heard from a number of clients and community members asking how serious a threat these lawsuits pose to Executive Action.
We believe that the President is well within his authority to establish enforcement priorities and that deferred action will be upheld. Legal scholars agree that President Obama is well within his presidential powers to decide how to allocate enforcement resources.
This post is a snapshot of the status of the evolving situation, and our intention is to post further updates as the situation changes.
We are all waiting for additional guidance from the government about these executive actions. Before the business immigration provisions take effect, the government will first need to publish regulations and guidance, which takes months. The newly expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) application period is expected to begin in February 2015, while applications for Deferred Action for Parents (DAPA) will not be accepted until at least May 2015. In the meantime, people who believe they may be eligible should get ready by identifying the right help (because the wrong help can hurt) and gathering documents to prove
The Department of Homeland Security and Department of State together come up with a list of countries eligible to use the H-2A and H-2B visa program each year. The 2015 list has just been released, and for the first time, nationals from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Madagascar, Portugal, and Sweden are eligible to participate.
You’ve seen on the news the historic announcement that the U.S. will begin normalizing its ties with Cuba. This has wide-ranging economic and political effects, of course, and the government is discussing relaxing licenses for travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba. The announcement also impacts visas for Cuban citizens to travel to the U.S.
The Department of State will reestablish a U.S. Embassy in Havana. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security has started implementing changes to the existing regulatory framework for Cuban immigrant visa applicants.
