Immigration Questions: (954) 382-5378


  POSTING DATE: June 11,  2018
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Immigration News & Updates eNewsletter ©  2011  - 2018 
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
Question: I filed for my 2 children and it went to NVC after NVC send the documents to the embassy in Kingston NVC had the original police record and did not send it to the embassy in Kingston. When my daughter went to the embassy for her interview they told her she was temporarily denied and she had to do a new police record and send it back them along with her passport, DS260 form and her birth certificate. What is the meaning do you think it's bad . She is very stressing over it.
Answer: Only a copy of an immigrant’s Police Report and Birth certificate is required to be sent to National Visa Center (NVC), the originals are required to be taken to the consulate for the immigrant interview. But don’t worry, it’s not a problem, the police report just has to be redone and the new original, along with the original birth certificate, passport and ds260 needs sent to the consulate according to the instructions they provided to your daughter. Don’t stress about it, it’s very common, no problem. I hope this is helpful to you dear.
USCIS Computer Glitch Sends Thousands Of 
Duplicate Email Notifications To Customers 
Helpful Immigration Tips You Can Use...

  Immigration News & Updates              eNewsletter
The USCIS Case Status Email Updates is a great service which allows Immigrants and sponsors to sign up and receive email notifications whenever any new action is taken on a case. 

This includes notifications of biometric fingerprint acceptance, work, travel permits and case approvals, etc. But as we all know, with any computer program, malfunctions occasionally happen which can cause things to go haywire. Such has been the case lately with the Case Status Email Updates system, which has been sending out thousands and thousands of duplicate case update notification emails for case approvals and delivery of work and travel permits and green cards issued back in 2017! 
 Instructions For Honduran TPS Re-registration Announced
The USCIS recently extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Hondurans until January 5, 2020. However, those eligible are still required to re-register between June 5, 2018, and Aug. 6, 2018. To re-register, applicants must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status and Form I-765 to request an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Both forms are free for download on USCIS website.  

Visit the Re-Registration TPS page 
Read the USCIS TPS extension announcement
Immigration How To:
How Do I  Know How Much Income I Need To Sponsor My Relative?
Question: I got my 2 year green card last year through my US husband and I filed for my 32 years old single son in Bahamas. My question is, if I divorce my husband and my permanent green card gets denied, will my son’s case also be cancelled, or does it stay valid since I filed it when my green card was valid?
Answer: Both conditional and permanent residents can sponsor family members. However, in the case of a conditional resident, whose residency depends upon the continuing “bona fide” marriage to their U.S. Citizen spouse, eligibility of the sponsored child to immigrate is entirely dependent upon whether or not the conditional resident parent retains U.S. residency. In cases where the conditional resident obtains permanent residency, the immigrant petition for the sponsored children remains valid, however, if the sponsoring parent loses U.S. residency, immigrant petitions for any children sponsored by the conditional resident parent are no longer valid.
 New Freedom Of Information System Will Enable 
Online Requests To Be Delivered Digitally
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, allow individuals to request records from government agencies, including the USCIS, which pertain to them. Under the current system, FOIA requests must be submitted by mail, fax, or email, and requesters received their documents on a compact disc by mail. 

However, for the sake of efficiency, the government has created a new system called (FOIA) Immigration Records SysTem (FIRST), which will soon enable users to submit, manage, and receive FOIA requests entirely online.  

The FIRST system will be implemented in phases. Initially, requesters with cases in Immigration Court, who have an immigration court date pending will be able to create an account within myUSCIS and file a request for documents to receive documents digitally, eliminating the time and expense associated with receiving requests by mail. 
 The USCIS recently emailed notification to customers that it is working on solving the issue. So for those who have received the duplicate email notices from the USCIS, don’t be concerned, just delete them. If you have any questions about a notice you received you can always call the USCIS 800 line at: 1-800-375-5283.
 This will also allow requesters to track the status of their cases and receive email notification when USCIS has uploaded their records. In the following phase, all FOIA requests will be handled completely digitally.

Read the FIRST system Announcement 
 Understanding New USCIS Restricted Delivery Mail Policy 
The USCIS has begun phasing in use of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Signature Confirmation Restricted Delivery service, when it mails Green Cards, Work, Travel and Re-entry permits and other secure documents to Immigrants.

It first began instituting the program for documents that need to be re-mailed to Immigrants, which had previously been returned to the USCIS as non-deliverable. The return of documents to the USCIS as “non-deliverable” is usually the result of Immigrants having changed mailing addresses during the immigration process who failed to file a change of address online with the USCIS. 
It’s important to note that setting up a mail “forwarding” with the U.S. Postal Service will forward regular mail to the Immigrant, but will automatically result in documents being returned to the USCIS as non-deliverable, since these sensitive government documents cannot be forwarded to a new address.

Under the new Restricted Delivery policy, all documents will be sent to Immigrants using the U.S. Postal Service’s Signature Confirmation Restricted Delivery service which will require Immigrants to provide identification and to sign for their documents upon delivery. 
Immigrants who are not home when the U.S. Postal Service attempts to deliver, will be issued a notice on their door and be able to pick up their immigration documents at the local post office.

The service also allows Immigrants who know they are going to be receiving their documents from the USCIS to register for Informed Delivery through the U.S. Postal Service to get daily images of mail being sent. The Informed Delivery also allows Immigrants to automatically track expected packages, set up email and text alerts Delivery Instructions for the mail carrier to hold the package for pickup. There is also an option to designate another person to sign for the package by downloading and completing a designated agent form and providing it along with identification when the mail carrier delivers the package.  

With all this said, it’s more important than ever for Immigrants to keep the USCIS updated on any address changes and to sign up for automatic email and text alerts on pending immigration cases, in order to know when a Green Card or other document is being sent out. 

Read more:
USCIS Signature Confirmation Restricted Delivery service program
USPS Informed Delivery program
Sign up for USCIS alerts 
New 2018 Poverty Guidelines Released for Affidavit of Support (Form I-864)
The minimum income requirements under the I-864 Affidavit of Support were released earlier this year. Under the 2018 requirements, U.S. Citizen and U.S. Resident Sponsors are required to meet or exceed 125% of the Poverty Guidelines in order to qualify. The income requirements for 2018 have increased just slightly from 2017. 
You can get a link to take a look at the new 2018 Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support for Immigration.

Here’s a few important tips for Sponsors to remember when filing an Affidavit of Support (form I-864) for loved ones:

Always include a copy of: 
a) your most recent tax return and W-2 
b) past 3 months paystubs and 
c) current letter from your employer stating your fulltime position, dates of employment and wages (which match your paystubs).

Importantly, self-employed income can often be problematic, since after deducting expenses, the net income is often far below the guidelines. Note that even if the sponsor does not meet the requirements, and uses the income of a Joint Sponsor, he or she must still file an I-864 and include evidence of income.

When submitting an I-864 from a Joint-sponsor who does meet the minimum income qualifications, be sure to include: 
a) copy of the Joint-sponsor’s U.S. Birth Certificate, U.S. Passport, Naturalization Certificate or Green Card 
b) copy of the most recent tax return and W-2 
c) past 3 months paystubs and d) current letter from his or her employer stating fulltime position, dates of employment and wages (which match his or her paystubs).

Importantly, most U.S. Citizen parents sponsoring biological minor children under age 18 are not required to file an Affidavit of Support, since the immigrating child will automatically become a U.S. Citizen upon obtaining U.S. Residency. Instead, form         I-864W is required requesting the exemption. 

You can get free information about preparing I-864 Affidavits of Support, meeting the minimum income requirements 
or requesting an exemption by calling our office at: 954-382-5378.

For example, the minimum yearly income of $ 20,575 is now required to sponsor a Spouse, compared with $20,300 for 2017. The new guidelines are posted on the USCIS forms webpage as form I-864p