Immigration Questions: (954) 382-5378
  Immigration News & Updates              eNewsletter

  POSTING DATE: JULY  25,  2016
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Immigration News & Updates eNewsletter ©  2011  - 2016 
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
Question: I have a question about getting my residency. I've been in the U.S for 8 years, I came as a student and never left. I’m looking for ways to get my status straight. My mother’s sister is a citizen, so what is the procedure if my aunt wants to sponsor me.
Answer: Only certain family members can sponsor relatives to immigrate to the U.S.. U.S. Citizens can sponsor their Spouses, minor Children (under age 21) and Parents (called “Immediate Relatives”) and also their adult single Children (including their minor children under age 21) in the F1 Immigration Category, adult married Children (including spouse and minor children under age 21) in the F3 Immigration Category and Siblings (Brothers & Sisters and their spouse and minor children under age 21) in the F4 Immigration Category. 
U.S. Residents can sponsor their Spouses and minor Children in the F2A Immigration Category and single adult Children in the F2B Immigration Category. There is no Immigration Category for a U.S. Resident to sponsor a married adult Child or a Parent.
Similarly, under immigration laws, an Aunt cannot directly sponsor a Niece or Nephew. A Niece or Nephew can only immigrate as a minor child (under age 21) along with a parent who was sponsored directly by the parent’s sibling (the child’s Aunt or Uncle) in the F4 Immigration Category. 

Once a child becomes an adult at age 21 or older, they no longer qualify to immigrate along with their parents in the F4 Immigration Category. They can be sponsored separately in another Immigration Category called F2B by a U.S. Resident Parent as long as they remain single. However, they must go to the back of the Immigrant Visa waiting line and it currently takes about 7-8 years before a visa becomes available so that they can immigrate to the U.S. to join their family members. Check out the Visa Bulletin
This Week's Immigration News 
By Immigration Attorney Caroly Pedersen
Obama Administration Petitions the Supreme Court 
For New Hearing on DACA & DAPA
After receiving a 4-4 Justice split decision from the Supreme Court last month in the in the President’s Executive Actions on Immigration case, United States v. Texas, the Obama Administration has been reviewing options to move the case forward. In its current strategy, the Department of Justice has made a formal petition to the Supreme Court to reconsider the case, “before a full nine-Member Court”, arguing that allowing the lower court’s injunction to stand is a bad precedent in a matter of “great national importance.” 

The recent decision by the Supreme Court which allowed the lower court ruling blocking the Executive Actions to stand, devastated millions of Immigrants who had been waiting years for relief, which would have been provided by Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs. 
You can learn more about sponsoring Family members by visiting our website at: www.Immigratetoday.com  
or by calling our office at: (954) 382-5378.
USCIS Updates Its Infopass Scheduler – But Getting An Appointment 
Is Still No Easy Task!
Helpful Immigration Tips You Can Use...
According to experts, the Supreme Court rarely rehearings in cases, however the Department of Justice has decided that this may be the quickest route to a resolution. This would require Hillary Clinton to be elected President and to appoint a Supreme Court Justice to the bench to break the 4-4 tie. Stay tuned.

Read more about the Department of Justice request for rehearing:
Petition for Rehearing
CNN
The USCIS provides customers with the option of making an appointment at a local USCIS to discuss issues on pending Immigration cases. The system is called “Infopass” and is accessible online or in machines set up in the lobby of most USCIS offices. Recently, the USCIS changed the Infopass website format. 

The new look and feel of the updated online Infopass scheduling system is great, but actually finding an available appointment at some local USCIS offices remains difficult. The Infopass system only provides appointments for the following 2 week period and when no appointments are available, users still get the following message: “Currently, there are no available appointments. Please check again tomorrow”. 
Users can often find themselves checking the site many times per day, for several days at a time in some areas, without being able to make an appointment. 

Visit the redesigned site: 
Infopass
Many foreign nationals visiting the U.S. on Tourist visas (B1/B2) want to stay in the U.S. for a longer period than the six months usually given by the Immigration inspector at the border. To extend stay, an Extension of Stay application (form I-539) is submitted prior to the current stay (formerly called I-94 card) expiration. Unfortunately, due to USCIS delays in processing such applications, the extension request can take up to 3 months for a decision. 

Therefore, if a tourist waits until the last minute to file the extension request, he or she will not receive a decision from the USCIS until several months after the individual’s period of stay has already expired.
Tips On Extending Tourist Visa Stay In The U.S. 
This is fine if the USCIS actually approves the extension of stay, but creates a terrible situation for those who are denied , since once they have overstayed their stay in the U.S. by even one day, they lose their Tourist visa and have to reapply at the U.S. Consulate in their home country in order to visit the U.S. in the future. The best approach is always to think twice before applying for an extension and if one is filed, provide proof of why the extension is being requested, for instance, airline tickets and hotel reservations for planned vacation excursions during the extended stay, etc. Finally, those who extend their time in the U.S. should understand that once they leave the U.S., it could prevent them from being allowed to re-enter for a period of time, since the officer at the border can see that the tourist extended their last visit in the U.S. and think that maybe the tourist is working in the U.S. illegally. Good to know.
USCIS Provides Residency Extension “Stickers” 
To Green Card Renewal Applicants 
Under this policy, USCIS personnel at USCIS Field Office Application Support Centers can provide extension stickers to Residents at the time of their Biometrics appointment. The extension stickers are valid for nine (9) months. Residents who have already attended their Biometrics appointment and did not request or receive the extension sticker can make an INFOPASS appointment to return to the local USCIS office and receive the extension sticker at that time. 

Make an Infopass Appointment at your local USCIS office:
Infopass Appointments 
Current USCIS processing times for Green Card renewal applications (Form I-90), can exceed 6 or more months, often causing problems for Residents who require proof of legal immigration status for Driver’s License and other renewals. As a result of these long delays, local Field Offices are authorized to provide Residents with a Green Card extension sticker, affixed to their expired cards, to provide proof of their continuing legal Residency status in the U.S..
Immigration How To:
How Do I Get My Green Card When It Was Approved - But I Never Received It?
Here's What To Do When Your Residency Has Been Approved - 
But You Never Received Your Card
The USCIS now sends Green Cards by Priority Mail. When Immigrants have not received their Green Card after several weeks, they can contact USCIS’s Customer Service Center at 800-375-5283 to request tracking information for their documents. USCIS customer service representatives will provide customers with their USPS tracking number and current USPS delivery status.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT USCIS POLICY ON  PRIORITY MAIL & TRACKING