There is currently a backlog of roughly 160,000 U visa cases pending with USCIS. Unfortunately, due to the 10,000 per year visa cap, there are countless individuals who are otherwise eligible for U visas, but are simply waiting in line for their case to be reviewed and ultimately approved. Earlier this year, the Biden Administration created the U Visa Bona Fide Determination ("BFD") process as a means to alleviate some of the current constraints on timely reviewing and adjudicating these cases. For those that qualify under this new process, they will receive work authorization and deferred action for a period of 4 years, which also can be renewed.
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For individuals seeking to naturalize and become U.S. citizens, assuming you are otherwise eligible, the entire process culminates with the Naturalization interview before USCIS. At the interview, a USCIS immigration officer will review your N-400, Application for Naturalization, and go over your responses to each question. In addition, they will conduct the English language exam (unless you qualify for an exemption) and the Civics exam (unless you qualify for an exemption). If you meet all the eligibility requirements and pass the english and civics exam, you will typically be notified of your application approval or denial after the interview has ended. As a resource for our clients, we provide the below ten tips prior to the interview, so that they are best prepared for a successful interview process.
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If you are a non-citizen seeking entry or admission into the United States, whether on a temporary (i.e., non-immigrant) or permanent (i.e., immigrant) basis, one of the most important factors to take into consideration is whether you are subject to any "grounds of inadmissibility," and therefore, at risk of being denied entry into the U.S. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), the U.S. Congress has specified these grounds of inadmissibility as categories of actions, offenses, conditions or circumstances that if applicable, will disqualify you from being eligible for visas or admission into the United States. While some of these grounds allow an individual to apply for a waiver, there are others that act as a complete and total bar to lawfully entering the U.S. Furthermore, it's important to note that not all individuals qualify for a waiver, even if one is available.
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If you are a noncitizen living in the United States and do not currently have lawful status or permission to legally live and work in the U.S. (greencard, DACA, TPS, etc.), there is a strong likelihood that you are accruing unlawful presence. Unfortunately, if you have accrued between 180 days to one year or more of unlawful presence, you've effectively triggered the 3-year and 10-year bars to admissibility. This means that without a waiver, you may not re-enter or attempt to re-enter the U.S. before waiting the allotted time period. For those who are eligible, the I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver is a necessary step in overcoming unlawful presence and qualifying for lawful permanent residence status in the United States.
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In a previous post, we covered the eligibility requirements for becoming a U.S. citizen through the naturalization process. Under the continuous residence requirement, a naturalization applicant must show that they have resided continuously in the United States after being admitted as a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for at least 5 years (3 years if married to a U.S. citizen) prior to filing the naturalization application and up to the time of being naturalized.
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In a previous post, we discussed the two year meeting requirement for fiancé visas and the best evidence to prove that you and your fiancé met in person prior to submitting the K Visa application. Although the meeting requirement is quite rigid, there are two exemptions available to those who qualify. According to the immigration regulations, a petitioner (the U.S. citizen) may be exempted from the two-year meeting requirement "only if it is established that compliance would result in extreme hardship to the petitioner or that compliance would violate strict and long-established customs of the beneficiary's (the non-citizen fiancé) foreign culture or social practice, as where marriages are traditionally arranged by the parents of the contracting parties and the prospective bride and groom are prohibited from meeting subsequent to the arrangement and prior to the wedding day."
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Welcome to this part of your journey towards becoming a U.S. citizen! If you're reading this post it might be because you're curious about the requirements for naturalizing and whether you are eligible to take the next step towards U.S. citizenship. Or maybe you have a friend or family member that has talked about naturalizing and you want to learn more about the process. Regardless of why you're here, naturalization is the process by which a greencard holder (or Legal Permanent Resident ("LPR"), applies for and obtains U.S. citizenship. Among the many benefits of becoming a U.S. citizen, one of the most valuable for green card holders is that they are no longer confined to the various limitations that come with LPR status.
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Last month, we discussed the U-Visa and its eligibility requirements for crime victims seeking immigration benefits. In that post, we explained that in order to obtain relief via the U-visa, one of the guidelines is that you "were helpful, are helpful or are likely to be helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of the qualifying crime." This means that being the victim of a crime is not sufficient on its own, but that you must aid law enforcement in seeking justice. In order to satisfy this eligibility requirement, you must submit a Form I-918 Supplement B, U Nonimmigrant Status Certification, to the relevant law enforcement agency for their review, completion and signature. Essentially, this form certifies that you were, are or are likely to be helpful to law enforcement.
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In 1994, the U.S. Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act ("VAWA"), which provided funding for domestic violence enforcement efforts, research and data collection, prevention programs, and services for victims. VAWA also increased penalties for certain domestic violence-related crimes and expanded the Federal Criminal Code to include new categories of crimes. When VAWA was reauthorized by Congress in 2000, it also created the U Visa, which protects and assists victims who assist law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting an array of crimes, including domestic violence. From an immigration perspective, VAWA amended the Immigration & Nationality Act to provide relief for non-citizens who are abused or battered by their U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident ("LPR") spouse or parent or U.S. citizen child.
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So how is the permanent bar triggered? Well, an individual will trigger the permanent bar if they have left the United States after accruing more than one year of unlawful presence and then attempt to re-enter the U.S. without proper inspection, whether or not they are successful. The permanent bar may also be triggered if an individual departs the U.S. (either voluntarily or not) with an outstanding removal order and subsequently attempts to re-enter the U.S. without proper inspection, whether successful or not.
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Among the many bars to adjusting status while in the U.S., the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") has declared that certain bars do not apply to immediate relatives, and therefore are not a barrier to the adjustment process. One common bar to adjustment is the accrual of unlawful presence. If you have remained in the U.S. without legal status, you typically must request a waiver from the government in order to adjust; however, as an immediate relative, the USCIS will look past your unlawful presence and allow you to adjust status, so long as you are otherwise eligible. Although the USCIS has limited which bars do not apply to immediate relatives, there are still other bases, grounds of inadmissibility and factors that can hold up the adjustment process and prevent these individuals from obtaining a greencard.
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Our immigration laws are incredibly complex and often convoluted, so if you've decided to file for immigration benefits for yourself or on behalf of a family member, there are inherent risks involved that should be taken into consideration. An honest mistake or misunderstanding of an application question can be the difference between having your benefit request denied or being placed into removal proceedings. This is not to strike fear into those who wish to handle these applications on their own, but to simply recommend taking extreme caution, especially if you are unsure how to answer certain questions or feel that you might not have the exact evidence the government is requesting.
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Almost twenty-one years ago, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 ("VTVPA"), which encourages victims to report crimes and contribute to investigations and prosecutions regardless of their immigration status. In addition, the law provides support for investigating and prosecuting crimes committed against immigrant victims. The VTVPA helped establish the U visa, which is an immigration benefit that can be sought by crime victims who are assisting or have assisted law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of a crime or are likely to be helpful in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity.
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If you are recently engaged or looking to become engaged in the near future and your partner is living in another country, now is the best time to start thinking about applying for a fiancé(e) visa to bring them to the United States. As a part of this process, couples are required to collect and submit evidence in support of the fiancé visa application. This includes evidence that one partner is a United States citizen, proof of termination of any prior marriages, proof of an intention to marry within 90 days of the fiancé's admission to the U.S. and more.
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