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  Immigration News & Updates              eNewsletter

  POSTING DATE: May 22,  2017
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Immigration News & Updates eNewsletter ©  2011  - 2017 
For questions about U.S. Residency, Green Cards and Immigration Visas, Visit our Website at: www.ImmigrateToday.com or  call our office at: (954) 382-5378
Immigration
Questions & Answers
This Week's Immigration News 
By Immigration Attorney Caroly Pedersen

Arrests Soar As ICE Carries Out Trump’s Immigration Mandate
As reported by Immigration advocates nationwide and confirmed by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website, Immigration arrests have increased nearly 40% this year as ICE strives to carry our Trump’s enforcement orders.

This sharp increase indicates a broad sweep of enforcement measures carried out on a grand scale at a rate of more than 400 arrests per day since Trump took office. Experts report that more than half of the arrests were of immigrants with no criminal records, who were simply in the U.S. without legal immigration status.
USCIS Recommends Termination of TPS Status For Haitians
Question: Hello Ms. Pedersen, I just wanted to inquire about getting my naturalization papers. My mother became a citizen of the U.S before I turned 18 years old. I currently have my U.S passport and was told that might not be sufficient enough proof of citizenship. Is my naturalization papers something I must get and if so, how do I go about doing so?
Answer: That  is a very common question. Under the Child Citizenship Act, U.S. Resident children who are under age 18 automatically obtain U.S. Citizenship when a biological parent Naturalizes. Similarly, children of U.S. Citizens who immigrate to the U.S. from abroad and enter the U.S. before turning age 18, become automatic U.S. Citizens as well. Qualifying children must be under age 18 at the time their parent actually naturalizes (takes the Oath), not the date the parent files for Naturalization. 
As a result, parents should carefully plan the date of filing for Naturalization to ensure that they will complete the process before their child(ren) reach age 18. Figuring about 12 months to take into account any USCIS processing delays is reasonable, under current lengthy Naturalization processing times. Importantly, even when children become U.S. Citizens through this process, the USCIS does not automatically issue a Naturalization Certificate.

However, in reality, none is required, since applying for a U.S. Passport is all that is necessary to prove the child’s new U.S. Citizenship status. To obtain the child’s U.S. Passport, in addition to other information, the U.S. Passport office requires a copy of the parents’ Naturalization Certificate and proof that the child actually resides with his or her U.S. Citizen parent in order to qualify. So, no, you do not need to pay $1,170 to order a Naturalization Certificate, since your U.S. Passport is all you need to prove your U.S. Citizenship, even under Trump. I hope this is helpful.

Helpful Immigration Hints You Can Use
Immigration How To:
How Do I Know How Long My Case Will Take To Process?
You Can Check the Processing Times for 
USCIS Local Offices & Service Centers
Tips On Paying Naturalization Application Fee 
With A Credit Card
Now that the USCIS allows Residents to pay the Naturalization Application Filing Fees with a credit card, customers can use Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and gift cards with the Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover logos to pay the fee. However, payment for the entire $725 application fee must be paid with one card and cannot be paid using multiple cards. 

Make sure and check your credit card balance before filing your application to make sure that you have enough credit or funds in the account, since the USCIS will reject any Naturalization applications paid using a credit card, if the payment is declined. 
Thomas Homan, the acting director of ICE, told reporters, “These statistics reflect President Trump’s commitment to enforce our immigration laws fairly and across the board,”. In fact, the ICE website itself boast of the sharp increase in arrests, stating that while their enforcement focus is on threats to public safety and national security, other Immigrants who are encountered during the process, “who are in the country unlawfully” will be subject to enforcement under immigration laws. Which essentially means, that if you see ICE Enforcement agents coming, go the other way…..

Read the ICE announcement
New York Times
The government recently terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, effective May 21, 2017. Now, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has gone a step further and is also recommending that the TPS designation for Haitian citizens be terminated as well, effective January 22, 2018. 

As background, Haitian nationals were granted TPS in 2010, as a result of multiple natural disasters in Haiti which continue to leave some 60,000 families homeless and living in temporary camps. 
Yet even with continuing dire circumstances in Haiti, in a recent memo, USCIS Acting Director McCament recommended to DHS Secretary Kelly that TPS status be terminated for Haitian nationals living in the U.S.. Aware of the dangers of returning thousands of Haitians currently in the U.S. to the instability and chaos of a country still in recovery, a bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers including Democrats Sen. Bill Nelson, Alcee Hastings and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as well as Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, have expressed their support for an extension of TPS status to Haitians. 
​Read the USCIS Memo
Read more about the story
Finally, be sure to fully complete Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transaction, sign and place on top of your Naturalization application package.

Learn more about paying the Naturalization Fees by Credit Card:

USCIS Instructions for paying Naturalization Fees by Credit Card

In addition to checking your case status, you can also check the processing times at the particular USCIS Service Center or Local Field office handling your case. 

Note that for I-130 Family petitions, the processing times are only those for USCIS, this time does not include the time an immigrant may need to wait in line for an Immigrant Visa to be available. Those times are published by the State Department's Visa Bulletin.
To check the processing time for your case, have your USCIS I-797 Receipt Notice handy and look at the name of the USCIS office handling your case, then click below and find that office in the drop down box at the end of the page: 

Check USCIS Processing Times