A few other pieces of legislation that are being brought to the House and Senate in 2021 are the American Dream and Promise Act as well as the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Having these bills passed would essentially provide protection from deportation for undocumented immigrants, as it is meant to secure a path to citizenship. Some groups that would qualify under these acts include DACA recipients who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children. In addition, immigrants  who are eligible for temporary protected status would fall in these parameters. Lastly, these bills would also include agricultural and essential workers.

The Biden Administration aims to create a more flexible legal immigration system by working with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of labor. Although the bill aims to increase the number of employment visas distributed, as unemployment rates continue to rise it is more difficult to find employers that are open to sponsor immigrants. Employers are more inclined to sponsor foreign workers who have previously been employed by their company on a temporary visa as it can be an expensive process for both parties.

Although many new proposed plans are being brought to the table there is a current policy that will stay in place. All immigrants must hold a permanent resident card for a certain period of time prior to submitting a naturalization petition. The only aspect changing is she different paths for immigrants to apply through.

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What documents qualify for the extended response time?

     Applicants who received any of the below-mentioned documents dated between March 1st, 2020 and January 31st, 2020 have the opportunity to take the additional 60 days to respond to the notice:

• Request for Evidence.
• Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14)
• Notices of Intent to Deny
• Notices of Intent to Revoke
• Notices of Intent to Rescind and Notices of Intent to Terminate regional investment centers
• Filing date requirement for Form N-336, Request for a Hearing on Decision on Naturalization Proceedings
• Filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal, or Motion

UCSIC allows this flexibility because they acknowledge that the coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult for applicants to complete forms or retrieve necessary documents and evidence on time. For this reason, they have decided to provide the additional time to submit and requested documents to USCIS.

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The revised I-797 receipt notice paired together with the applicant’s permanent resident card, will essentially serve as temporary evidence of lawful permanent resident status. This status will be valid for 12 months from the expiration date of the permanent resident card (green card).

This change was implemented so that current legal permanent residents who have a pending application to replace an expiring Green card may have documentation for employment authorization as well as authorization to return to the United States after temporary foreign travel. However, applicants that have already been scheduled for their biometrics appointments will not receive a revised notice. Instead, they will receive an extension sticker at the biometrics exam.

Once applicants file form I-90 to replace their expiring or expired green card they will receive a receipt notice approximately 7-10 days after USCIS processes their application. The Notice will be printed on secure paper and will serve as evidence of identity. This should be carried with you alongside your expired Green card to prove the validity of your permanent resident status. You can use this pairing as your employment authorization when applying for jobs as well as authorization to return to the U.S. from a foreign trip.

At Law Offices of Inna Vernikov PLLC, we handle immigration matters including green card and citizenship petitions. Call us at today at (212) 729-3497 or learn more about how the Law Offices of Inna Vernikov can help you.

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The order came from Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York who stated that the administration must alert the public that they will begin accepting DACA applications again. As per the judge’s order, the notice must read that they are accepting first-time applicants for the consideration of deferred action under DACA, renewal requests, and advance parole requests, based on the original requirements of the program made before September 5th, 2017. The notice must also state that employment authorization documents will be valid for two years as opposed to the original one-year approval.

It is more than likely that the Trump administration with appeal the ruling, while Trump is still in office. His efforts into blocking this new order may be overturned once President-elect Joe Biden takes office this January, as Biden has pledged to restore the DACA program once his administration takes office.

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In his first 100 days in office, some of Biden Administration’s pledges include:

• End prolonged detention and reinvest in a case management program
• Rescind the travel and refugee bans
• Ensure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel abide by professional standards
• Expand opportunities for people who served in the military service
• Reverse the public charge rule

After being sworn into office in January, his administration plans to restore many immigration policies of the Obama administration. He is looking into implementing a 100-day freeze on deportations while his administration puts out new guidelines on who can be arrested and deported by ICE agents.

Biden will strive to focus on protecting undocumented immigrants once in office. He believes that he can remove roadblocks to naturalization for green card holders. The Biden administration is focusing heavily on immigration reform especially as the Vice-President Elect comes from a family of immigrants herself. Due to this he has pushed the immigration issue back into the national spotlight.

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The revised version of the exam includes more questions and covers a variety of new topics that will allow the applicant more opportunities to learn about the United States during their preparation. Although the exam is changed the passing score on the exam will not. The passing score will continue to remain at 60%, applicants must answer a minimum of 12 questions correctly out of 20. Furthermore, applicants that are of 65 years of age or older and have held a position of a lawful permanent resident for 20 years or more are only required to get 6 questions correct out of 10.

The new exam will include a total of 128 possible questions compared to the 100 questions in the current exam. This increase in questions may make it harder for applicants to pass because they now need to learn and memorize more information. Also, the interview officers are now required to ask all 20 questions rather than stopping once the applicant answers enough questions correctly to pass.

When will the new exam start being implemented? 

If an applicant has applied for citizenship before December 1st, they will still be tested with the old exam. Any applicants that submitted their N-400 form after December 1st will take the updated version of the exam.

Don’t forget – you can access the USCIS’ Citizenship Resource Center if you want more help and free study material.

Do you need legal assistance with any areas of immigration? See how the Law Offices of Inna Vernikov can help – visit our immigration services page for more information.

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As long as the preliminary injunction is in place, USCIS does not have the authority to raise fees. This Injunction has been put into effect nationwide and there is no telling when or if it is going to be lifted. Judge White had argued that DHS had not done their diligence when it came to research on what impact the price increase would have on the applicants. It proves that they didn’t take into consideration what the fee increase would do to low-income families and or to applicants that are still struggling with the effects of the pandemic. 

When this case was brought before the judge, he sided with the plaintiffs as they had met their burden to show that the public interest to file an injunction is what was best. Although the Trump Administration requested a brief administrative stay, the request was rejected, noting that a stay past the point of October 2nd would already put the final rule into effect.

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1. Men between the ages of 18-25 who hold a green card must register with the U.S. Selective Services (see sss.gov)
2. Previously, as long as you remain in the United States for over six months out of the year, you could maintain your permanent resident status. With the new rules taking effect, an extended trip overseas could be considered as abandonment of a green card. An official rule has not yet been released, but we suggest that new immigrants should refrain from taking prolonged trips.
3. You may also be at jeopardy at losing your green card if you fail to admit you are an immigrant on your tax return or fail to report some of your income.
4. The “crimes of moral turpitude” list is being expanded. This may impact your eligibility for citizenship, and even lead to deportation.
5. Using or applying for welfare programs within five years of becoming a permanent resident can make you eligible for deportation.

Most assume that once you obtain a permanent residence card you are in the clear from deportation but that isn’t the case. It is important to understand that obtaining a green card and obtaining citizenship are separate and apart.  With the government doubling down on immigration reforms, they are making it harder for immigrants to obtain citizenship once green card holders become eligible to apply.

Some other possible changes that may impact immigration and citizenship heavily include:

1. The Trump administration is considering a rise in the application fee for U.S citizenship from $640 to $1,170 nearly doubling in price. This has not yet taken effect.
2. There is also a revision in the process of being made to the U.S. civics test. The questions on the written test and the oral test may be more difficult to demonstrate English efficiency in the applicant.

So, what are green card holders to do in order to secure their residency in America? We recommend that green card holders start the naturalization process as soon as possible. Obtaining U.S. citizenship provides immigrants a sense of protection because they won’t be at risk for deportation and also allows for many more opportunities once you get past that final step.

At Law Offices of Inna Vernikov PLLC, we handle immigration matters including green card and citizenship petitions. Call us at today at (212) 729-3497 or learn more about how the Law Offices of Inna Vernikov can help you.

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With an executive order like this being signed, there will always be some pushback from the media. The media is speculating that the main reason for the order is so that president Trump can further his agenda for limiting immigration altogether. As health experts have assured that these restrictions would do little to help stop the spread of coronavirus, as the U.S. has already had a large spread of the virus. Trump insisted that the main goal of the order was to protect the economy as much as possible after all the damage that has been done during the coronavirus pandemic.  With 22 million American fillings for unemployment, this is roughly the highest unemployment rate America has seen to date.

But with the new immigration policy, there are off course some exceptions. All essential workers such as medical personal as well as members of the defense force are exempt from the policy. It also does not apply to immigrants that are already in the United States, or for anyone looking to obtain a temporary visa, including students or guest workers such as farmers. The current policy is set to last 60 days at which the president will revalue it and its necessity when the 60 days have passed. Trump has also stated that the administration is looking to sign a second order limiting immigration further but has not provided any details as to what that order would entail.

There has been some criticism from the public questioning the motives behind the order. It has become clear that with the new policies in place it would help the American citizens economically once we get through the current pandemic. Recent studies have shown that American citizens do stand behind the current order to restrict immigration during the crisis. The president has a duty to ensure that Americans are able to obtain employment and this is the first step in doing that.

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Unsealed documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS and ICE, has used its resources to target immigrants going through legal proceedings for detention and deportation. The documents show USCIS actively worked with ICE to strategically schedule and facilitate arrests at USCIS offices.

Kirstjen Michele Nielsen is an attorney and national security expert who has been serving as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security since 2017. On August 13, 2018, the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit with the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts against Nielson, challenging the arrests of immigrants seeking legal status through marriage. Lilian Calderon, the lead plaintiff in the case, is a Guatemalan woman who was arrested and detained for a month following her interview with USCIS. Calderon was only released after the ACLU had sued.

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