A lot can be determined by just looking at the category on a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) card.

USCIS is now accepting applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Entrants (DACA) as of August 15, 2012.

In order to apply, you need to consider and/or submit the following:

• Strongly consider hiring or discussing your eligibility with a qualified immigration attorney;
• Submit a check or money order payable to "U.S. Department of Homeland Security" for $465;
• Two (2) Passport Photos;
• Carefully complete forms G-28 (with attorney submissions*), I-821D, I-765, and I-765WS;
• Educational (or Armed Forces) Requirements:
• School- proof of current enrollment, graduation or completion, OR
• GED (General Educational Development) - proof of certification or current enrollment, OR
• Evidence that you are enrolled in an education, literacy, or career training program (including vocational training) designed to lead to placement in postsecondary education, job training, or employment and where you are working toward such placement, OR
• Evidence of English as a Second Language (ESL) programs will qualify if the program is intended and designed for your placement in postsecondary education, job training, or employment, OR
• Military information;
• Evidence that you have been in the United States for 5 years:
• School records, cell phone bills, medical records, doctor's bills, school transcripts, rent receipts, utility bills, employment records, bank records, church docs, parental information, taxes, paystubs, W-2's, 1099's, money order receipts, children's birth certificates, passport entries, letters between you and another person or organization, title and vehicle registration, DMV records, rental agreements, postmarked letters, receipts, and any other relevant documentation;
• Were born after 6/15/81- Biographical page of passport OR other ID document such as a translated Birth Certificate;
• Are aged 15 or older right now. If younger than 15, you can still apply if you are now in immigration court or have ever been previously;
• Any proof you entered the U.S. without inspection before 6/15/12 or you were out of status by 6/15/12;
• Any proof you arrived in U.S. before the age of 16 (passports, visa or immigration docs, travel records, school records, hospital, medical, any official records, anything with name and date);
• Any proof you have continuously resided in the U.S. since 6/15/07 up to the present time and were physically present in the United States on 6/15/12;
• Any documentation about any criminal or traffic convictions or citations, if you have any;
• You cannot have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety (For more on criminal disqualifiers, click here).
• If ever in immigration court or apprehended by Immigration, those documents;
• Only had brief departures from the United States since June 15, 2007 or no departures at all.

Ricky Malik, Esq.

Contact me now at dream@rmlegal.com or toll free 877-577-VISA [8472]

*Attorney respresentation requires the use of a Form G-28 Notice of Entry of Appearance which places a double notice requirment on USCIS to send all correspondence to BOTH applicant and attorney doubly ensuring important mail, appointment and approval notices reach you.

This post is not intended as legal advice and you should not rely on it as a basis for you application.

On Monday, June 11, 2012 and the following day, the Washington Post ran a story about one of the Law Offices of Ricky Malik's clients. Today, June 15, 2012, after many years of advocating by thousands, the Obama administration announced that it will offer Deferred Action to those who know only the United States as home, for those who were brought to this country as children and has issued a DREAM act type directive which includes work permits.

There are five criteria to be eligible. The applicant:

1. Came to the United States under the age of sixteen;

2. Has continuously resided in the United States for a least five years preceding June 15, 2012 and is present in the United States as of June 15, 2012;

3. Is currently in school, has graduated from high school, has obtained a general education development certificate, or is an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States;

4. Has not been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise poses a threat to national security or public safety; and

5. Is not above the age of thirty.

Full Memo below. Huge and significant announcement. Way to go Heydi, DREAMers and all the thousands who helped make this happen.

Ricky Malik, Esq.

www.rmlegal.com

United States Citizenship & Immigration Services released final memo guidance for coordination with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the adjudication of applications and petitions involving individuals in removal proceedings before the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR).



Ricky Malik, Esq.
www.rmlegal.com

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is now issuing employment and travel authorization on a single card for certain applicants filing an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Form I-485. This new card represents a significant improvement from the current practice of issuing paper Advance Parole documents.

The card looks similar to the current Employment Authorization Document (EAD) but will include text that reads, “Serves as I-512 Advance Parole.” A card with this text will serve as both an employment authorization and Advance Parole document. The new card is also more secure and more durable than the current paper Advance Parole document.

• Although section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1154(j) (2000), provides that an employment-based immigrant visa petition shall remain valid with respect to a new job if the beneficiary's application for adjustment of status has been filed and remained unadjudicated for 180 days, the petition must have been "valid" to begin with if it is to "remain valid with respect to a new job."
• To be considered "valid" in harmony with related provisions and with the statute as a whole, the petition must have been filed for an alien who is "entitled" to the requested classification and that petition must have been "approved" by a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") officer pursuant to his or her authority under the Act.
• Congress specifically granted USCIS the sole authority to make eligibility determinations for immigrant visa petitions under section 204(b) of the Act.
• An unadjudicated immigrant visa petition is not made "valid" merely through the act of filing the petition with USCIS or through the passage of 180 days.

The Administrative Appeals Office published a postive case that addressed burden of proof. Hopefully, USCIS adjudicators will use this case as their guide when deciding cases.  In Matter of Chawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369 (AAO 2010) it was held that:

"In most administrative immigration proceedings, the applicant must prove by a preponderance of evidence that he or she is eligible for the benefit sought.

Even if the director has some doubt as to the truth, if the petitioner submits relevant, probative, and credible evidence that leads the director to believe that the claim is "more likely than not" or "probably" true, the applicant has satisfied the standard of proof. Matter of E-M-, 20 I&N Dec. 77, 79-80 (Comm'r  1989), followed.

If the director can articulate a material doubt, it is appropriate for the director to either request additional evidence or, if that doubt leads the director to believe that the claim is probably not true, deny the application or petition."

The Fourth Circuit, in an appeal of a criminal case, upheld a conviction for false claim of citizenship on an I-9 Form.  An I-9 is the form anyone seeking employment in the United States, and their employers, must complete in order to work.  In this case a former TPS holder's misrepresentation as a U.S. Citizen on the I-9 was deemed material.  US v. Garcia-Ochoa, 607 F. 3d 371: