ISSUE-             MAY 4, 2006 - MAY 10, 2006

THIS WEEK’S IMMIGRATION QUESTIONS: 

Question:  How long does it take to apply for U.S. citizenship after getting a Green Card through marriage?

Answer:   jost Permanent Residents have to wait 5 years after becoming Permanent Residents to qualify for US Citizenship. However, the law gives special consideration to spouses of US Citizens.  If you have been married to the same U.S. citizen for at least 3 years, and your spouse has been a US Citizen for at least 3 years, you are eligible for citizenship 2 years and 9 months after you become a Permanent Resident. This is true even if your I-751 to remove the conditionality of your Green Card has not been approved yet.

Question:    I have a question. I am in Miami working on an H1B visa. If I get married, will my wife be able to attend the university on an H-4 visa or does she have to obtain an F-1 Student visa, I’m confused about that?

THIS WEEK’S IMMIGRATION QUESTIONS:

Question: I have a question for you about the affidavit of support. I am so worried. My daughter has married a man she has been dating. He is from Jamaica. She is sponsoring him for his green card, but she doesn’t work and cannot meet the minimum income requirements. So, she said she needs me to be a cosigner for an immigration support affidavit for her husband’s green card and to give her copies of my Tax Returns for the past year. Do you know what she is asking me for? Thanks for your advice.

Answer: Your daughter is referring to you being what is called a “Co-sponsor” of the Affidavit of Support for her new husband for immigration purposes. This means that her income is not enough to meet the USCIS requirements. Under the guidelines, for a family of two (US citizen and foreign spouse), the minimum income is $16,500 per year. If you are the co-sponsor, the level of income, which must be met, is calculated by adding you, any dependants you have and your new son-in-law. So, if you are married and have two children (4 family members, plus the person you are sponsoring = 5), the income level would be calculated at 5 people, $29,250. I’ve provided the 2006 Guidelines below. In order to help, you will need to sign an I-864A Affidavit of Support co-signor application and give a copy of your last years’ of tax return, recent employment letter stating your length of employment and yearly salary or hourly wage and past 3 months pay stubs.

THIS WEEK’S IMMIGRATION NEWS: 

Senate Unable To Reach Agreement On Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill

The Senate was unable to reach agreement on immigration reform legislation before the two-week spring recess. The immigration debate may be back on the agenda when the Senate returns on April 24th, so please make plans to meet with your Senators in their district offices over the next two weeks and urge them to support a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill. Once the Senate does pass it’s version of the comprehensive immigration reform Bill (hopefully by the end of April), it will be a good start, but a long way from being a LAW! The next step is for the Senate sponsors of the Senate Bill and the House sponsors of the terrible anti-immigration House Bill, which the House passed in December 2005 to get together in conference committee and “fight it out”. Hopefully, the compromise Bill will be pro-immigration and provide at least some of the benefits which this Senate version provides. However, there is no way to know for sure - it is all politics!

Last Thursday undocumented immigrants throughout America must have breathed a sigh of relief as they harbored high hopes of the U.S. Senate passing a favorable new immigration bill. Senate. The previous night Senate Republicans had arrived at a compromise plan that was believed to have enough bipartisan support to, at last, arrive at an immigration bill shaped by the Senate.

This compromise agreement, which was co-written by Florida Senator Mel Martinez and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, would offer undocumented workers who were in the country for over five years the possibility of lawful employment and citizenship. Such workers would have to provide pay stubs, utility bills or other documents to prove that they had been in the U.S. and working for over five years. Those in this group who planned to become citizens would need to pay back taxes, learn English, have a criminal background check done, pay a fine of $2,000 and remain employed for 11 years.

Those who were in the U.S. for less than five years would have to return to one of 16 designated ports of entry and apply for a new form of temporary work visa for low-skilled and unskilled workers. Those in the country for less than two years would have to return to their home-countries.