Immigration News & Updates
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eNewsletter POSTING DATE: JUNE 13, 2016
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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
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Immigration
Questions & Answers
Question: My wife is a Resident. She immigrated to America in 2011 through her mom, then came back home and we got married here in the Bahamas. I have a 12 year old daughter. She filed to sponsor me and my daughter back in March 2015. My wife can get her U.S. Citizenship soon, if she does that, will that speed things up so we can immigrate to America sooner?
Answer: That is a great question. Normally, a spouse and minor child can immigrate to the U.S. much faster when the sponsor is a U.S. Citizen. However, in certain cases, where the immigrant petition has been pending and there are minor children, its best for the Resident to remain with U.S. Residency rather than to naturalize for technical reasons. For instance, once a Resident naturalizes, minor children are no longer included on the sponsored spouses I-130 petition. That means that a new, separate I-130 petition must be filed by the Resident sponsor for each minor child in order for the child to immigrate. This can take up to six months or more for approval and delay the whole immigration process. In your case, since the case was filed in March 2015 and it take about 1 ½ years to immigrate, you are getting very close to your “priority date” becoming current and the immigration process to begin the final stages, so having your wife naturalize now would actually delay the process. I hope this was helpful to you.
This Week's Immigration News
Immigration regulations allow U.S. citizens to sponsor their parents for “Green Cards”, while Permanent Residents cannot. For parents of U.S. citizens who are inside the U.S., it does not even matter if the parent is in legal status, as long as the parent entered the U.S. legally (has an expired I-94 card) or is eligible under 245(i).
Parents are in the special immigration category called “Immediate Relatives” (which includes Spouses and Minor children of U.S. Citizens as well), which gives them preference over other family immigration relationships.
A Request for Evidence (RFE) is a letter that the USCIS officer sends you to request additional information or documentation on your application. RFE requests are generally most frequently issued for missing information or documentation to establish your eligibility.
Responding to an RFE from the USCIS
Always read the RFE letter very carefully to determine exactly what kind of evidence or document is being requested. Some RFE's are more complex than the others and it is difficult to determine and some are simple and easy to understand.
Tips on Answering a USCIS Request for Evidence (RFE)
Obtaining Green Cards (U.S. Residency)
For Your Parents
A Request for Evidence (RFE) is a letter that the USCIS officer sends you to request additional information or documentation on your application. RFE requests are generally most frequently issued for missing information or documentation to establish your eligibility.
Responding to an RFE from the USCIS
Always read the RFE letter very carefully to determine exactly what kind of evidence or document is being requested. Some RFE's are more complex than the others and it is difficult to determine and some are simple and easy to understand. For more complicated RFE letters, you may want to retain an immigration attorney to assist you. Once you have determined what the letter is requesting, be sure to provide the exact document requested. For instance, an officer may request a “long form” of a Birth Certificate. If you respond that you do not have one, your case will likely be denied. The appropriate action to take is to request one from the departmental authority in your country of birth.
How much time do I have to respond to an RFE?
Depending on the type of case, you may have from 33 days to 87 days to respond so that the USCIS receives your response before the expiration date. If you fail to respond or filed after the deadline, your case will likely be denied. To be on the safe side, you should always send your response by Express or Priority Mail and get a delivery confirmation. Never send any communications to the USCIS via Certified Mail, which takes much longer and can risk your response being received late. Finally, remember that your response to the USCIS officers request must be RECEIVED by the USCIS ON or BEFORE the deadline. Responses received even one day late result in complete case denials.
After I respond-what happens next?
Depending upon the case, it could take up to 60 days or more. You can check the online status to see if it is stating that your RFE response has been received, or call the USCIS 800# to ask if the computer show the USCIS received it. For adjustment case (I-485) requests, the officer may wait to receive your response before continuing processing of your Work Authorization application which will cause delays in its issuance. To avoid this, send your response as soon as possible and do not wait until you get near the deadline in the letter.
The only drawback of this category is that it is only for the individual parent and does not include any dependents, such as spouses or minor children. Therefore, if the parent has a spouse who is not considered to be your parent (for immigration purposes**see below), he or she would not be able to immigrate along with the parent.
The same is true of any minor children of a parent (your brother or sister). This is a harsh rule which often causes difficult choices for parents of U.S. citizens. One option for parents abroad who have minor children (or a spouse) is for them to obtain F-1 student visas for their minor children (or spouse) before immigrating to the U.S. In that way, both the parent and his or her child (and/or spouse) can be in the U.S. together. Once the parent obtains a Green Card, the parent can then sponsor his or her children and if applicable, a spouse. **Step-parents are considered to qualify as “parents” for immigration purposes, as long as the step-parent relationship was established before the child reached the age of 18.
You can find out more about sponsoring your Parents for Residency
by calling our office at: (954) 382-5378.
Question: My wife and I filed for my residency back in 2014, but we had a couple of interviews and then got a request from immigration to give them more documents and every time we check the status they say the case is pending. Now its been so long that my work permit is expiring and I need to renew it, so my question is whether I need to send a fee with my renewal I-765 application? Can you please also tell me what other things I need to send with the application? Thanks.
Answer: It is unusual that your residency petitions would be pending for so long. You should do an infopass appointment at your local USCIS office to see if you can get some information on the status of the cases. You do not need to pay the work permit (EAD) renewal fee, since your original I-485 fees included all renewals. Include the form I-765, a copy of the front and back of your current EAD card, copy of the I-485 receipt, copy of your passport Biographic page and 2 passport photos.
Click below to make an Infopass Appointment:
Helpful Immigration Tips You Can Use
Visit USCIS Facebook Page
Yes, even the USCIS has a Facebook page. You can visit the USCIS Facebook page by clicking on the link below:
Immigration How To:
How Do I know If I Need To File An Affidavit of Support?
Affidavits of Support - What Are They And Who Needs Them
In order to sponsor a family member to immigrate to the U.S. to become a Resident (receive a Green Card), all U.S. citizens and Residents must prove that they have the ability to support their foreign relative financially for a period of years. This is required to show the U.S. government that the family member immigrating is not someone likely to immigrate to the U.S. then go collect government assistance (often called "welfare").
The Affidavit is a legally binding promise by the Sponsor that they will take financial responsibility if the need arises so that their relative will not collect government assistance and if that does occur, the Sponsor will be responsible to reimburse any government agencies from which their immigrant family received financial assistance.
The Affidavits of Support must always be filed by the U.S. citizen or Resident for their immigrating family member(s), even if they do not meet the minimum financial guidelines. In such cases, a Joint-Sponsor who does meet the financial requirements can provide an additional Affidavits of Support and will be bound by the same obligations. Joint-Sponsors must be either a Resident or U.S. Citizen, but are not required to be a family member. The sponsor’s obligation lasts until the immigrant either becomes a U.S. citizen, has earned 40 work quarters credited toward Social Security (about ten years of work), dies, or permanently leaves the United States. If the immigrant has already been living in the U.S. and worked legally, earning work credits before applying for the green card, those count toward the 40.
Minor Children (under age 18) of U.S. Citizens who automatically obtain U.S. Citizen upon being granted Residency are not required to have an Affidavit filed on their behalf, but must for a waiver form.
Good to know…
