U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released a new online form for individuals, attorneys, and accredited representatives to request an in-person appointment at their local field office without having to call the USCIS Contact Center. See link below. https://my.uscis.gov/en/appointment/v2 In-person appointments are only to be requested for the following: ADIT stamp Emergency Advance Parole Immigration Judge Grants Afghan Special Immigrant CPR Status American Indians Born in Canada (Section 289) Certified Copies of Naturalization Certificate Deferred Action T, U, and VAWA Inquiries I ..read more

If you have an approved I-130 petition and have not been able to obtain your green card it may be because your priority date isn’t current. To find the priority date you will need to review the visa bulletin board at https://travel.state.gov. The visa bulletin is issued every month by the Department of State. The priority date either moves forward or in special circumstances can move backwards. The reasoning for this is to estimate the green cards that can be issued each year. The number of people who are seeking green cards has consistently exceeded, creating a backlog. Specific categories ca ..read more

A sponsor is someone with legal status, a Legal Permanent Resident or a United States Citizen, who agrees to take on the legal obligation of financially supporting an applicant for a family-based petition. The addition of a joint sponsor happens when the petitioner does not meet the income established by the Federal Poverty Guidelines. https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p You may have someone in your family or household that might help you and you are not aware of it. If your petitioner does not meet the income guidelines for financial support, this income may be combined with someone living in the sa ..read more

If your immediate family member is a principal U-1 holder, you may be able to obtain legal status by using form I-929. What is a U-1 holder? A U-1 holder is referred to as the principal applicant of the approved U-Visa. This means that the applicant was the first to file the U visa application as a victim of a qualifying crime. Only U-1 visa holders can file Form I-929 on behalf of their immediate family members. This does not apply to derivatives that received their U-Visa through the principal applicant. The primary U-Visa holder must be in the process of adjusting their status at the time t ..read more

USCIS has been working on improving its online services, including the development of tools for scheduling appointments, based on the Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government by introducing new initiatives in hopes of improving the customer experience. This tool was launched on August 21, 2023; it will help your Attorney to have a faster response when requesting the following: ADIT Stamps (proof of lawful permanent resident status): Most known as an I-551 stamp, which provides temporary evidence of lawful permanent resident ..read more

USCIS has made it easier and faster to request your own immigration records by creating a USCIS account. What are the benefits of requesting my records? Many individuals hope to be able to pursue an immigration process but are limited to what they remember or if they lost documentation provided by USCIS. It is possible that by submitting a records request, you are able to obtain all records that were presented to USCIS and or any documents that were sent to you. What can be found in my request? I-130 Records (Ex. Applications and Approval Notices) Deportation Records; Deportation and Removal ..read more

As a way of reuniting families, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has introduced a reunification process for nationals from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Cuba. These applicants are the principal beneficiaries on an I-130 petition. All applicants must wait to receive an invitation from the National Visa Center to be paroled. Unfortunately, this parole process does not allow an applicant to apply. Rather they need to await the time in their home country for the invitation from the National Visa Center. The invitations have begun to be issued in June of 2023. Only approved ..read more

When would I need a medical exam? If you are applying for adjustment of status, you will be required to provide a sealed medical exam with your application. The medical exam is to establish inadmissibility to the United States on health-related grounds. Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, is filled out by a civil surgeon.  Can I use my own medical provider?  Only a doctor who was designated by USCIS as a civil surgeon may perform the medical examination. Doctors can be found through the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov. The website allows you t ..read more

The advance authorization has left many applicants with hope of being able to be paroled into the U.S. It was said that four countries would be able to take advantage of this program if they qualified and had a sponsor in the U.S. Moreover, it created a lawful pathway and the opportunity to work with an authorization card. Form I-134a, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support, is used for this process. By submitting an I-134a onto the USCIS account, you are able to track any updates on the “case status” section. However, they do issue a receipt notice and that info ..read more

When planning to immigrate to another country, it is often necessary to provide a police certificate (background check) as part of the application process. A police certificate, also known as a criminal record check or a clearance certificate, is an official document issued by the applicable law enforcement agency that certifies an individual’s criminal history or lack thereof. The National Visa Center currently requires a police certificate for anyone over 18 who has lived in Mexico for more than six months and is applying for an immigrant visa. In Mexico, obtaining a police certificate consi ..read more