USCIS has announced that it will provide certain relief for Filipino victims of Typhoon Hiyan that struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Many people were hoping that the Attorney General would declare the Philippines eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) treatment authorizing those Filipinos in the US as of November 8, 2013 to apply for a special status and work authorization as has been done historically for other countries such as Somalia, El Salvador, Haiti and Syria, among … [Read more...]

USCIS has finally released a long awaited policy memo about "Parole in Place" or PIP. PIP is a procedure that permits qualifying family members who entered the U.S. without inspection (EWI), who ordinarily would need to leave the US to process a family based green card abroad, to be able to apply for green cards (adjustment of status) in the U.S., provided USCIS agrees to "parole" the individual. At this Seattle immigration law firm, we have worked on these cases before, and have found the … [Read more...]

The Washington Post has an interesting look at famous people who have given up US citizenship. Rock 'n roll icon Tina Turner recently gave up her citizenship at the US Embassy in Bern, Switzerland. A recent Wall Street Journal article stated that in 2013, 2369 US citizens expatriated according to figures released from the US Department of Treasury. Intentional renunciation of citizenship is a solemn process that must be voluntarily and knowingly made before a US consular officer. The US … [Read more...]

A colleague of mine who adopted a foreign born child who is a US citizen reports problems signing up for health care under the Washington Health Care Exchange. The problem is that the system does not seem to recognize the Social Security Numbers of individuals with Certificates of Citizenship or Certificates of Naturalization. She has reported this to the powers that be at the Exchange. But it is representative of a larger issue we immigration lawyers frequently see. We don't just represent … [Read more...]

Now that the government has reopened, there are a few lingering immigration related issues. Today, USCIS issued this advisory concerning work visa applications: We would like to share the following information on Form I-129 H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B petitions. If an H-1B, H-2A, or H-2B petitioner submits evidence establishing that the primary reason for failing to timely file an extension of stay or change of status request was due to the government shutdown, USCIS will consider the government … [Read more...]

This blog post discusses my personal reflections about the impact of the fall of DOMA on same sex couples from an immigration lawyer's perspective. I have interviewed and represented numerous same sex couples in the first quarter since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2013 that section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) impermissibly violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. In U.S. v. Windsor, the Court required the federal government to recognize same-sex … [Read more...]

In the world of immigration and citizenship law, our clients deal with many government agencies. My readers know that I like to cite directly to government sources; so, let's take a look at the contingency plans of various federal agencies in case Congress puts us all over the fiscal cliff into a government shutdown next week. Keep in mind that things are changing by the hour. If ever there is a time for it, should there be a shutdown, patience will certainly be a virtue while our crazy … [Read more...]

The US State Department has announced the start of registration for the DV-2015 Visa Lottery program. Visas will be available for processing between October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015. This means that all selected applicants must receive their visas no later than September 30, 2015. This Diversity Visa Lottery allocates up to 50,000 visas to individuals and their dependents from countries with low immigration rates to the US. The registration process will begin October 1, 2013 at noon … [Read more...]

Today, USCIS announced two FAQs on implementation of immigration procedures for same sex marriage couples. The first one is pretty basic in that I130 visa petitions can be filed now for spouses of US citizens and green card holders. The second FAQ is rather wishy washy about cases where couples are lawfully married in a state that authorizes same sex marriages but where the couple lives in a state that does not recognize such marriages. There, USCIS says that petitions can still be filed but … [Read more...]

Just a quick note about yet another exciting and historic moment here at the American Immigration Lawyers Association Conference in San Francisco. The Senate just passed the ""Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act" with a bipartisan vote of 68 to 32! This is a mixed bag bill with lots of good stuff: pathway to legalization for the undocumented, albeit a very long and arduous path, some new visas for investors and entrepreneurs, retirees and guest workers, … [Read more...]