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Immigration
Caution!
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Under our current immigration law, there are very strict penalties for lying. The penalty for lying about your citizenship is as strict as the penalty for committing murder. You are permanently barred, kept out and/or kicked out, of the U.S., if you have lied and said that you are a U.S. Citizen when you applied for a job, a house, a permit, etc. Don’t do it. Simply marking a box on an application form, saying that you are a citizen of the U.S., can come back and harm your entire future in the United States.
For more information about the penalties, or for help becoming a U.S. Citizen, please call our office at 816-356-7100.
What if I no longer have my I-94?
Last week, I wrote about the difference between the visa and the I-94 admission record. The visa is your authorization to enter the US, but your I-94 admission record is your proof of an entry and the length of time you are allowed to stay.
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For many immigration processes, your options depend on whether you entered lawfully or not, and the best proof of your lawful entry is the I-94. But, what if you lost your I-94, or turned it in at the border (either yourself or asking someone to do it for you)?
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If you lost the I-94, an attorney can help you request your record from Immigration. Although it may take several months, it’s the best way to obtain proof of your lawful entry. On the other hand, if you turned in the I-94, your case may be complicated. When you turn in your I-94, you are stating that you left the country. If you then want to proof you entered legally, but you turned in the I-94, Immigration will have no option but to assume that you left the country and then entered undocumented.
The difference between the visa and I-94
Many folks ask how they can possibly have a penalty for “unlawful presence” in the US if they still have a valid visa.
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The reality is that a visa only allows you to request entry into a country. The visa indicates whether you are entering as a tourist, student, etc. Not all visas are the same; a visa can allow a single entry or many. The visa is a sticker glued onto your valid passport, and can be valid for up to 10 years.
On the other hand, the admission record (I-94) is a thick paper stapled to your passport, or a stamp in the passport itself indicating how long you can remain in the US. For a tourist visa, the maximum period is 6 months. If you stay in excess of the stated time, you begin to accumulate penalties for “unlawful presence.” These are the 3 or 10 year penalties that later prevent many persons from being able to legalize their status. It’s also important to note that if you stayed beyond your authorization, your visa is automatically voided by law.
ARM…. A powerful word to succeed
Assist Ourselves
Some ways that we can make change in our immigration system involve simply getting involved. Learn the laws and be able to identify what needs to change. Go to meetings where people are working together to change the laws – together we are stronger. Help other families as they struggle through this system, including going to their court hearings. Finally, just socialize with others in this struggle and share your stories, so that you can empathize, help, get help and win in this struggle.
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Raise Awareness
Many of us simply do not share the struggles we are going through because we want to be strong, are afraid, think we can handle it on our own, etc. The reality is that once we share our stories, it helps others know that they are not alone, and it teaches the public about our broken immigration system. It helps to publicize your case; it helps to speak out in your community; and it helps to sign petitions demanding change in the system. Get involved and open up, because the broken system will not get fixed until people are moved into action.
Make It Hurt
Who has the power to fix this broken immigration system? Congress has the power. So, your Congressmen need to hear your stories. If we organize to tell the stories in Press Conferences about the 5-year old in deportation court; the inhumane treatment by the ICE Officer; the long waits for family visas; the impossibility for businesses to sponsor good workers, we will reach more people and maybe Congress will start listening. If we visit their local offices regularly and in groups, maybe they will start listening. If they refuse to listen and act, maybe WE can fix the broken immigration system by voting out the ineffective Congressmen in the upcoming election.
For many immigration processes, your age and marital status can make a difference.
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For example, a parent can generally file for a child. However, the “line” that determines how fast your child can immigrate, depends on whether the parent is a citizen or resident, the age of the child, and whether the child is married or not.
A permanent resident parent can only file a petition for an unmarried child (of any age). If the child is married, the parent must be a US citizen to file. In addition, there are different lines for petition by a parent to a minor unmarried child under 21, unmarried child over 21, and married child.
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For a sibling petition, the age and marital status of the beneficiary are irrelevant.
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The decision to get married or divorced is a personal one, but if you have a pending petition and are planning a change in marital status, consult with an attorney to ensure if and how the change might affect you.
New provisional waiver rules
If you have a permanent resident or US citizen immediate relative (parent, child, sibling, spouse) that family member may file a family petition to fix your immigration status, but the petition is only the first part of the process.
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To fix it, you must also be “admitted” to the US; and if you entered undocumented, this means you must return to your country of origin for an interview at the US Consulate.
If you have lived in the US undocumented for over 1 year, when you leave you trigger a punishment preventing you from legalizing your status for 10 years.
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There is a waiver to avoid this punishment, but the vast majority of people have to file it after the consular interview, resulting in a wait of months or perhaps years before being able to return to their families.
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Last week, DHS announced that if you have a family petition, and you have a parent or spouse who would fall in extreme hardship, you may file your waiver before leaving for your interview, possibly reducing your wait abroad to just a few weeks.
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To determine if you are eligible for this waiver, make a consultation appointment with our office!
Program for Central American minors (CAM AOR)
If you are from El Salvador, Honduras, or Guatemala, you have permanent resident, TPS, deferred action, withholding or removal, or other similar status, and have a child in your country of origin, there is a program that
may help your child emigrate to the US lawfully.
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To be eligible, your child must be unmarried, under 21 years of age, and have a legitimate basis for asylum. The US government created the program to reduce the flow of minors at the southern border, and to try to prevent children from making the perilous journey, especially if they have parents with lawful status.
This month, the President announced that he would expand the program to allow other family members to come with the minor. Unfortunately, this program does not apply to children that are already in the US.
This program works only if your child is still in El Salvador, Honduras, or Guatemala.
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If you child is already in the US, review your options with an immigration attorney.
When we live tragic experiences, our instinct sometimes is to suppress those sad memories so that we can get past the trauma. Unfortunately, for persons in deportation proceedings, it’s important to do exactly the opposite. If you are requesting asylum, you must show that your life is in danger and you cannot return to your country. To prove this, you must explain what harm has happened to you. If you do not have evidence of this harm, such as medical records or a police report, the only thing left is your word.
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When you tell your story in Immigration Court, the Immigration Judge will be evaluating whether you are telling the truth, but also the degree of harm that you suffered. If you only say statements like “I was extorted,” “I was threatened,” or “I was beaten,” you are not really explaining what happened to you, and it can even seem as though you are lying. As difficult as it is, you must tell your attorney and the judge in detail what you have gone through. Otherwise, you only hurt yourself.
Prepare for the citizenship
Since 2016 is going to be an elections-year, we want to help our readers that are eligible for the naturalization to prepare for the interview. Every week we are going to publish 5 questions with their answer for the Civics test; and a vocabulary list for the reading and writing tests.
During your naturalization interview, a USCIS Officer will ask you questions about your application and background.
English Test: This test has three components: reading, writing, and speaking
*Speaking Test: Your ability to speak English will be determined by a USCIS Officer during your eligibility interview on Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.
*Reading Test: You must read aloud one out of three sentences correctly to demonstrate an ability to read in English. The Reading Test Vocabulary List will help you study for the English reading portion of the naturalization test. The content focuses on civics and history topics.
*Writing Test: You must write one out of three sentences correctly to demonstrate an ability to write in English. The Writing Test Vocabulary List will help you study for the English writing portion of the naturalization test. The content focuses on civics and history topics.
Civics Test: The civics test covers important U.S. history and government topics. During your naturalization interview, you will be asked up to 10 questions from the list of 100 civics questions. You must answer correctly six (6) of the 10 questions to pass the civics test.
You have two opportunities to take the English and civics tests per application. If you fail any portion of the test during your first interview, you will be retested on the portion of the test that you failed between 60 and 90 days from the date of your initial interview.
Follow this link to find more useful material and to practice:
Study for the Test http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test
Study Materials for the English Test
Materials for the English test http://www.uscis.gov/node/41142 or
http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test/study-materials-english-test
Study Materials for the Civics Test
Materials for the Civics test http://www.uscis.gov/node/41140 or
http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test/study-materials-civics-test
Don’t wait until the last minute to hire an attorney
If you are in deportation proceedings, you have likely been told to consult with an attorney regarding your case. Even an Immigration Judge may have told you the same.
If you have a pending court date, begin to look for an attorney long before your next hearing.
Don’t wait until the last minute. Preparing a case in defense of deportation is complicated and time-consuming. If you wait until the last minute, you may not find an attorney who can take your case on short notice.
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To your consultation, bring all the documents you have been given by the different Immigration officers.
If you have an asylum case and you have evidence of what happened to you, also bring those documents. Finally, remember to be honest and thorough with your attorney.
The attorney must know your full history – good and bad – in order to help you. What you tell the attorney is confidential.
DACA & DAPA: What Happened?
Suppose you want to build a building, and I don’t want you to do so. I sue you to prevent construction of the building. But while the lawsuit runs its course, you can begin construction! So I ask the court for a preliminary injunction blocking construction until the case is decided fully. This is what happened in the DAPA/DACA case. The Supreme Court stated last Thursday that the preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of DAPA/DACA will remain while the case is pending. Now, the case returns to the original Texas court to decide the merits of the case. The fight continues.
It’s important to remember that the original DACA IS NOT BLOCKED. If you were born after June 16, 1981, entered the US before age 16 and before June 15, 2007, and are either enrolled or have graduated from a high school or GED program, you may be eligible for the original DACA program.
Should I leave to renew my visa?
If you came to the US on a valid tourist visa, and you were given a maximum stay period (usually a white I-94 card or stamp on your passport, valid commonly for 6 months), you have perhaps heard rumors or received different recommendations.
These recommendations include returning the I-94 with another person before it expires, or leaving the country before your visa expires and renewing your authorization for another 6 months. But, what are the effects of these actions?
Remember that the purpose of a tourist visa is to come to the US for a limited time. If you stay longer than you are authorized by your I-94 or your passport stamp, you begin to accumulate punishments for the excess time. Not only that, your visa is automatically cancelled by operation of law, too.
Before you do something because you heard “that’s what people say,” check with an immigration attorney about the possible consequences.
I have DACA. I’m alright. Or not?
So you have DACA. You have your work permit, your social security number, your license. You can now do what you want now, right? Wrong.
If you are convicted of certain crimes, you lose the right to renew your DACA, but you also risk losing your current DACA, and you may even risk deportation.
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Remember that although USCIS granted you DACA, this is still a benefit at the government’s discretion, and you must continue to comply with the program requirements. The following crimes will disqualify you from DACA – regardless of whether you receive probation:
1- One felony. Any felony-level offense (for which you could be sentenced to 1 year or more in jail).
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2- One “significant” misdemeanor. This includes any misdemeanor having to do with domestic violence, sexual abuse, firearm use/possession, burglary, drugs, or DUI.
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3- Three or more misdemeanors of any type.
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If you are accused of a crime and you have DACA, speak to an immigration attorney before accepting any plea. 816-356-7100
