Work Authorization documents will be issued for two years instead of one!

The USCIS will begin issuing Work Authorization documents (EADs) for two years instead of one, beginning June 30, 2008! According to the USCIS, immigrants who are waiting to adjust status to U.S. Residency (Green Card) will begin to receive a two-year validity instead of one.

USCIS I-751 (Removal of Condition) Receipt causes confusion
Recent transfer notices sent out by the USCIS notifying applicants who filed a petition to Remove Conditions on Residence (Form I-751-for marriage immigration cases) caused most recipients to believe that their cases had been approved. The confusion is due to the confusing wording of the notice, which includes the phrase: “CRI89 approved removal of conditions (I89).” This statement appears to say that the case is approved. What the USCIS says it really means is that the biometric portion of the case has been successfully approved, not that the petition itself was approved.
Due to the confusion, the USCIS is rewording the receipt to simply state that the case has been transferred to the appropriate service center for further processing.

This Week’s Immigration Tip: Save receipts and utility bills to prove physical presence in the U.S.  In some circumstances involving serious immigration issues, an immigrant needs to prove that he or she was actually physically present inside the U.S. either for a certain length of time or on a particular date.  This requirement to prove physical presence may arise as a requirement for an immigration application or from an immigration judge.  The ability to prove physical presence may determine whether or not you qualify for a particular visa, or whether a judge will grant a cancelation of deportation.  The need may also arise from some future legislation that grants visas or amnesty, only to those who have been in the country for a set number of years.   

Gathering and retaining evidence of physical presence in the U.S. is easy.  Simply save receipts or utility bills that include the date.  If you make a purchase at Wal-Mart, for example, throw the receipt in a file you have set aside to safeguard your evidence.  Of course you do not need to save every receipt, but keep enough—perhaps several per month—to show your presence over time and let them accumulate.  You never know when you will need them and if you do and you don’t have the evidence, it will be very difficult to get. As they say, “it is better to be safe than sorry”.


IMMIGRATION Q&A

Question:  I filed for my Permanent Residency last year and I thought everything was going well, then I had my Green Card interview last week with my wife and the officer told me that they were still waiting on my fingerprints to come back from the FBI. The officer said everything was fine and I am approved, but they cannot give me residency at this time. He did not explain what would happen next. Can you please tell me what to do?

Answer: What you are experiencing is a very common problem, because Residency Interviews are being scheduled so much earlier than in the past and the FBI cannot keep up with the background checks. In at least 50% or more of the Adjustment cases which are scheduled for interviews these days, that is the issue. Under new USCIS policies, once your fingerprints are taken, the FBI has 180 days to complete the background check. If they have not done so by that time, and you otherwise qualify (meaning your residency interview was successful) the USCIS is required to issue your Green Card. In practice, what usually happens is you go to the interview before the 180 days have passed. If all goes well and the case is otherwise approved, once 180 days has passed (since you had your fingerprints taken), the case goes into the residency issuance line. From recent experience, it takes about one month for the USCIS to actually issue the “Welcome Notice” and then the Green Card comes in the mail.  If 180 days have passed since you had your fingerprints taken, you might want to go online to: http://infopass.uscis.gov and make an appt at your local District office to speak to an officer about the status of your case. Good luck!