Philadelphia Immigration Lawyer Blog

On September 24, 2008, the United States and Ireland signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a new Intern Work and Travel Pilot Program. The program is set to start either later this year or in early 2009 and it will allow for a Twelve-Month Intern Work and Travel Pilot Program for post-secondary students or for young people within twelve months of graduation. Young people from Ireland will be able to enter the United States for a period of twelve months on a J-1 exchange visitor visa and there will be reciprocal opportunities for young people from the United States to travel to Ireland.

The program will be coordinated by the private sector under the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs and it will fall under the Intern Category of the Exchange Visitor Program.

As more details are announced about the actual mechanics of applying for the visa, I will post them here.

Posted by James M. Tyler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: News , Student Visas

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On September 23, 2008, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued an important and just decision on the issue of false claims to citizenship and whether making such a false claim precludes someone from an immigration benefit—in this case, whether making the false claim precluded the person from establishing good moral character in a cancellation of removal application. I have previously posted on issues surrounding false claims to citizenship on I-9 forms here but this is a new issue that is worth taking a look at. The case is the Matter of Viviana Alejandra Guadarrama de Contreras.

In the case, the applicant falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen on an I-9 employment eligibility verification form. Although the written decision does not state a lot of the background facts, she was later placed in removal proceeds and applied for cancellation of removal. The Immigration Judge, who appears to have been generally sympathetic to her case, nonetheless ordered her removed because, he ruled, her false claim to citizenship on the I-9 made it impossible for her to establish the required “good moral character” that is necessary for cancellation of removal. The IJ held that although the law does not specifically include false claims to citizenship in the class of offenses that make it impossible to establish good moral character (such as committing an aggravated felony) the law has a “catch-all” provision that “the fact that any person is not within any of the foregoing classes shall not preclude a finding that for other reasons such person is or was not of good moral character”. The law is found at 8 U.S.C. Section 1101(f). The IJ believed that this catch-all provision required him to find that the applicant could not establish good moral character.

The Board of Immigration, fortunately, reversed. It held that the catch-all provision did not require the IJ to hold that the applicant could not show good moral character. While a false claim to citizenship could preclude an applicant from being able to show good moral character, the BIA held, the law does not require an IJ to make such a finding. Each case must be decided on its own facts and its own merits. In this case, the BIA did not even remand the case back to the Immigration Judge so that he could make findings on the issue of good moral character because the IJ had basically made those findings already. The IJ had stated in his opinion that but for his view that the catch-all provision precluded the applicant from showing good moral character; he would otherwise have found that the applicant did have good moral character. Therefore, there was no reason for the BIA to remand the case for such findings.

This is a well reasoned and just decision by the BIA.

Posted by James M. Tyler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: News

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The USCIS issued a reminder that unless the U.S. Senate acts soon, then authorization for the non-minister special immigrant religious worker program will expire on Oct. 1, 2008. Anyone wishing to apply to serve in the two non-minister categories of the program must either adjust status to permanent residence or apply for, and be admitted with, an immigrant visa before Oct. 1, 2008. The expiration date also applies to the accompanying spouses and children of these workers

The two expiring categories are special immigrant religious workers in professional or non-professional capacities within a religious vocation or occupation. The expiration date does not apply to special immigrant religious workers entering the United States solely to carry on the vocation of a minister of a religious denomination.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on April 14, 2008, extending the expiration date and the Senate is currently considering similar legislation but has not yet passed it. The USCIS announced that if Congress does not extend the expiration date, it will, beginning October 1, 2008, hold any pending Form I-360 and Form I-485 affected by the expiration date in abeyance until further notice. However, unless Congress extends the expiration date, USCIS will begin rejecting Form I-360 petitions and Form I-485 applications filed on or after Oct. 1, 2008, which are based on the expired provisions.

Posted by James M. Tyler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Based Immigration , News

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On September 15, 2008, the USCIS has announced that all N-400 applications for naturalization, starting on October 14, 2008, must be filed with one of two Lockboxes, listed below. N-400 applications must no longer be filed with any Service Center as they have been in the past.

The new procedure is effective immediately although if someone mistakenly sends their N-400 to a Service Center up until October 14, the Service Center will forward the application to the Lockbox address. Starting October 14, however, the N-400 must be send to the appropriate Lockbox.

The change only affects non-military N-400 applications--military N-400 cases should still be filed with the Nebraska Service Center.

Here are the two new USCIS Lockbox facilities for initial processing to use depending on your state of residence:

If You Reside In: File N-400 with:
Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,
North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands.

USCIS Lockbox Facility, USCIS,
P.O. Box 299026
Lewisville, TX 75029.

I always send all applications for my clients via Federal Express and the private courier (non-USPS) address for these states is:

USCIS, Attn: N400
2501 S. State Hwy 121, Bldg. 4
Lewisville, TX 75067.

If You Reside In: File N-400 with:
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Territory of Guam, Northern Mariana Islands

USCIS Lockbox Facility, USCIS,
P.O. Box 21251
Phoenix, AZ 85036

The private courier (non-USPS) address for these states is:
USCIS, Attn: N400
1820 E Skyharbor Circle
S. Floor 1, Phoenix, AZ 85036

Posted by James M. Tyler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Citizenship and Naturalization

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On September 9, 2008, the USCIS announced that it continues to make progress on processing times for N-400 applications for naturalization. It announced that there has been a decline in the number of pending FBI name checks for N-400 applicants. Specifically, there were 269,943 name checks pending on May 6, 2008 and as of August 12, 2008, that number has been reduced to 95,449.

Also, on May 6, 2008, there were 185,162 name checks pending for more than six month but as of August 12, 2008, that number had been reduced to 61,817.

The USCIS says that it anticipates that naturalization application processing will average 10-12 months nationally by the end of September, 2008.

Posted by James M. Tyler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Citizenship and Naturalization

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