PPID Immigration Blog

District Court Enjoins DOL From Enforcing 2012 H-2B Final Rule

See link for more info

http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2012,0427-h2binjunction.pdf

USCIS States Proposed Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver Is Not in Effect

See link for more info

http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2012,0427-unlawfulpresence.pdf

ICE Releases Guidance On Return Of Removed Aliens

See link for more info

http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2012,0427-iceremoved.pdf

USCIS Announces Temporary Protected Status Designated for Syria

WASHINGTON— Due to the violent upheaval and deteriorating situation in the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that eligible Syrian nationals (and persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Syria) in the United States may apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).  Details and procedures for applying for TPS are provided in the Federal Register notice published today and are available at www.uscis.gov/tps.

On March 23, 2012, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced her intent to designate Syria for TPS for eighteen months. The TPS designation for Syria is effective today and will remain in effect through September 30, 2013. The designation means that eligible Syrian nationals will not be removed from the United States, and may request employment authorization. The 180-day TPS registration period begins today and ends on September 25, 2012.  Although the Federal Register notice erroneously states that TPS applications must be filed March 29, 2012 through September 30, 2013, USCIS will only accept applications filed through September 25, 2012. USCIS is working to correct the public information on the registration deadlilne date.

To be eligible for TPS, Syrians must meet all individual requirements for TPS, including demonstrating that they have continually resided and been continually physically present in the United States since March 29, 2012. All individuals who apply for TPS will undergo a thorough security check.  Individuals with criminal records or who pose a threat to national security are not eligible for TPS and their applications will be denied. The eligibility requirements are fully described in the Federal Register notice and on the TPS webpage at www.uscis.gov.

Syria joins El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan as countries currently designated for TPS.

Syria for Temporary Protected Status

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent this bulletin at 03/23/2012 06:11 PM EDT
Dear Stakeholder,

Secretary Napolitano announced today the designation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), based on deteriorating security conditions in Syria. The effective dates for the designation, as well as dates and procedures for the TPS registration process, will be detailed in a Federal Register notice that publishes next week. Applications should not be submitted until the designation becomes effective. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be hosting a stakeholder engagement next week to discuss the process for filing TPS applications and to address questions and concerns related to the TPS application process. We appreciate your assistance in helping to inform the Syrian community in the U.S. about the TPS designation and look forward to hearing your input during the engagement next week.

An invitation for that engagement will be shared with stakeholders and posted on the www.uscis.gov/outreach web page shortly. For more information about TPS, please visit www.uscis.gov/tps.

Kind Regards,

Office of Public Engagement
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
www.uscis.gov

 

Immigration Update from Pollack, Pollack, Isaac, and DeCicco, LLP

1.The proposed rule change for mixed-status families: What it does, doesn't do

http://ow.ly/8of4Y [Southern California Public Radio link]

2.Despite Low Latino Migration, GOP Candidates Stick To On Enforcement-Only Talking Points http://ow.ly/8oqAM  [Huffingtonpost link]

3.Agents' Union Stalls Training on Deportation Rules

http://ow.ly/8oyrQ  [The New York Times link]

4.President Obama Announces New White House Director of Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Munoz

http://ow.ly/8retr [White House link]

5.How Immigrants Forced Media to Treat Them Like Humans in 2011

http://ow.ly/8reaq  [ColorLines link]

 Pollack, Pollack, Isaac, and DeCicco, LLP

Telephone: 212-233-8100

mailto:cep@ppid.com

225 Broadway, Suite 307, New York, NY 10007

http://www.ppid.com

 

** Our law firm also has a practice in Real Estate and Commercial

Law. For more information, see

http://www.ppid.com/commercial.html

 

Easier Route to Green Card to Be Proposed for Some

The change that immigration officials are offering would benefit United States citizens who are married to or have children who are illegal immigrants. It would correct a bureaucratic Catch-22 that those Americans now confront when their spouses or children apply to become legal permanent residents.

Although the tweak that officials of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services are proposing appears small, immigration lawyers and advocates for immigrants say it will make a great difference for countless Americans. Thousands will no longer be separated from loved ones, they said, and the change could encourage Americans to come forward to apply to bring illegal immigrant family members into the legal system.

Illegal immigrants who are married to or are children of American citizens are generally allowed under the law to become legal residents with a visa known as a green card. But the law requires most immigrants who are here illegally to return to their home countries in order to receive their legal visas.

The catch is that once the immigrants leave the United States, they are automatically barred from returning to this country for at least three years, and often for a decade, even if they are fully eligible to become legal residents.

To read the whole story see here

 

USCIS Policy Update: Student Visa Holders may be eligible for Drivers Licenses

USCIS has recently provided new guidelines for F Visa-holders (full time students), M Visa-holders (vocational training students), and J-Visa holders (exchange student visitors) to qualify for driver’s license or state identification cards. If you are currently on an F, M, or J visa, you would be eligible for a driver’s license or state ID card if:

• Your record in Student and Exchange Visitor System (SEVIS) is in active status and you waited at least two business days from the activation date;
• You wait at least 10 calendar days from the date of entry into the US to apply for the driver’s license or state ID card; and
• Depending on state regulations, you may need to have at least six months left on your eligibility for nonimmigrant status.

States are expected to verify this information through the SAVE program. The SAVE program is an intergovernmental database that will allow various state authorities to check a benefit’s immigration status against DHS databases.

If an individual on an F, M, or J visa wishes to apply for a driver’s license or state identification card they should bring the following things with them to the DMV:

• Their valid passport with visa
• Their I-94, “Arrival/Departure Record”
• Form I-20 for an F or M immigrant
• Form DS-2019 for a J nonimmigrant
• Form I-766 Employment Authorization Document (EAD) if applicable
• Form I-797 or I-797A Notice of Action if there was a change of status
• Their Social Security Number or if they lack a Social Security Number Form SSA-L676 Refusal to Process SSN Application

Additionally, accompanying dependents are also eligible for driver’s licenses or state ID if they present supporting personal status documentation and the status documentation of the primary visa holder.

Reproduced with permission of ILW.COM.

USCIS has recently provided new guidelines for F Visa-holders (full time students), M Visa-holders (vocational training students), and J-Visa holders (exchange student visitors) to qualify for driver’s license or state identification cards. If you are currently on an F, M, or J visa, you would be eligible for a driver’s license or state ID card if:

• Your record in Student and Exchange Visitor System (SEVIS) is in active status and you waited at least two business days from the activation date;
• You wait at least 10 calendar days from the date of entry into the US to apply for the driver’s license or state ID card; and
• Depending on state regulations, you may need to have at least six months left on your eligibility for nonimmigrant status.

States are expected to verify this information through the SAVE program. The SAVE program is an intergovernmental database that will allow various state authorities to check a benefit’s immigration status against DHS databases.

If an individual on an F, M, or J visa wishes to apply for a driver’s license or state identification card they should bring the following things with them to the DMV:

• Their valid passport with visa
• Their I-94, “Arrival/Departure Record”
• Form I-20 for an F or M immigrant
• Form DS-2019 for a J nonimmigrant
• Form I-766 Employment Authorization Document (EAD) if applicable
• Form I-797 or I-797A Notice of Action if there was a change of status
• Their Social Security Number or if they lack a Social Security Number Form SSA-L676 Refusal to Process SSN Application

Additionally, accompanying dependents are also eligible for driver’s licenses or state ID if they present supporting personal status documentation and the status documentation of the primary visa holder.

Reproduced with permission of ILW.COM.

18-Month Extension and Re-designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status

WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced this week the re-designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and extended the country’s current TPS designation for 18 months—through Jan. 22, 2013.  

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) strongly encourages Haitian nationals to review the Federal Register notice published today, and to follow instructions on how to file an initial application for TPS. Individuals who do not have TPS or a pending TPS application may begin filing immediately, and must file no later than Nov. 15, 2011. Individuals who already have Haiti TPS must wait to file for re-registration until a Federal Register notice describing the re-registration procedure is published.

Secretary Napolitano first announced that she was designating Haiti for TPS on Jan. 15, 2010, after major earthquakes devastated the country. Following consultations with other federal agencies, Secretary Napolitano has determined that current conditions in Haiti support extending the designation period for current TPS beneficiaries and re-designating Haiti for TPS in order to re-establish the continuous residence date as Jan. 12, 2011. Under the 2010 designation, TPS applicants needed to show that they had continuously resided in the United States since Jan. 12, 2010. Under the re-designation, eligible individuals who arrived up to one year after the earthquake in Haiti may now apply for TPS. Many of these individuals were authorized to enter the United States immediately after the earthquake on temporary visas, humanitarian parole and other measures. 

Individuals who attempt to enter the United States illegally now will not be granted TPS and will be repatriated consistent with U.S. policy.

The Haiti TPS application procedures described in the Federal Register notice cover the following three groups:

• Individuals filing for the first time: The re-designation of Haiti allows additional Haitians (and persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) who have continuously resided in the United States since Jan. 12, 2011, to obtain TPS, provided they meet all other Haiti TPS eligibility criteria. Individuals who do not currently have TPS may apply from May 19, 2011, through Nov. 15, 2011. Additional registration instructions are available at www.uscis.gov/tps on the Haiti TPS Web page.
• Individuals with pending TPS applications: Individuals who applied for TPS under the initial designation announcement in January 2010 and whose applications are still pending as of May 19, 2011, will not need to file a new Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status. Their pending applications will be considered initial filings under this re-designation. Individuals with a pending TPS application who need to extend or request an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) must file a new Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, starting May 23, 2011. Please visit www.uscis.gov/tps for additional information.
• Individuals re-registering for TPS: Individuals who have already been granted TPS for Haiti must re-register starting May 23, 2011, and ending Aug. 22, 2011, once the Federal Register notice with re-registration instructions is published. TPS beneficiaries are encouraged to file for re-registration as soon as this time period opens on May 23, 2011, to expedite processing.

All individuals registering for the first time or re-registering for TPS must file a Form I-821 and a Form I-765, with any required fees or a fee waiver request. Failure to submit the required application and biometric fees or a properly documented fee waiver request will result in the rejection of the TPS application package. For TPS and EAD fee requirements, please see the Federal Register notice or the accompanying Fact Sheet. Fees for re-registering TPS beneficiaries will also be described in the notice and information to be published May 23, 2011. For information on fee waivers, visit USCIS’s Fee Waiver Guidance Web page.

Further details on the extension and re-designation of TPS for Haiti, including information regarding the application requirements and procedures, are available at www.uscis.gov/tps and in the Federal Register notices published today for initial filers, and on May 23, 2011, for re-registrants. TPS forms are free and available online or by calling the toll-free USCIS Forms line at 1-800-870-3676. Applicants may also request more information by contacting USCIS’s National Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-800-375-5283.

For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit www.uscis.gov .

ICE reports record number of deportations

The U.S. deported more people — nearly 400,000 — who were in the country illegally in fiscal 2011 than ever before, according to the latest numbers released Tuesday by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bureau.

Read more here.