Ellen Sullivan, Author at Marriage Green Card and Citizenship Attorneys

Filing for I-90 Will Automatically Extend Your Green Card for 12 Months!

January 12, 2021

Filing for I-90 Will Automatically Extend Your Green Card for 12 Months!

USCIS announced a new policy that will help green card holders whose green cards expire while Form I-90 is pending. This is great news, except that this policy should not be necessary because USCIS should be processing Form I-90 much, much, much quicker than the current processing times.

What does this all mean? When a person has a ten-year green and is six months away from the expiration of the card, that person can file Form I-90 to renew the green card. In recent years, Form I-90 would be processed in as little as one month, a reasonable amount of time for a basic document to be renewed for a person with lawful permanent resident status. In recent months, however, Form I-90 processing exceeds 6, 7, 8 months and more. Since a person cannot file Form I-90 more than six months prior to its expiration (unless the card was lost or had an error), then of course the person would end up with a pending I-90 and no unexpired proof of her green card status. To fill the gap between the green card expiration date and the receipt of a new green card, USCIS is provided a Receipt Notice for Form I-90 that serves to extend the green card by 12 months.

Unfortunately this policy only begins this month, so my clients who filed cases last year still have no approved I-90 and do not have a Receipt Notice that serves to extend their status. In those situations, we can call USCIS to request an in-person appointment at USCIS to get a stamp in the foreign passport or sticker on the green card to serve as proof of continued LPR status.

If you have a ten-year green card, you should consult with an attorney about whether you are eligible for US citizenship/naturalization. If you become a US citizen, you never need to worry again about your expiring green card!

See USCIS to Replace Sticker That Extends Validity of Green Cards | USCIS for more information about this new USCIS I-90 policy.

An Immigration Attorney’s Five Suggestions for the Biden/Harris Administration

January 11, 2021

An Immigration Attorney’s Five Suggestions for the Biden/Harris Administration

On January 20, 2021, we hope for our country to move forward and to heal after four years of intolerance, fear, inequality, impunity, and violence. We hope our country uses the lessons learned to create a fairer and safer home for all who live in the US, but especially for our most vulnerable and exploited neighbors.

Immigrants are some of the most powerful and successful citizens in the US (Madeleine Albright; Dr. Sanjay Gupta; Sergey Brin; Natalie Portman, Wolf Blitzer; Arnold Schwarzenegger; countless entrepreneurs, inventors, doctors, teachers, writers, entertainers, celebrities). However, millions more immigrants are exploited and marginalized, despite what they have already contributed to the US and despite what they still have to give our country.

Our immigration policies must recognize the value of immigrants, and for the past four years they have not. To get there, an immigration attorney provides some suggestions for the Biden/Harris Administration.

Use inclusive speech that recognizes the existence of and value of diversity in our communities.

This is a complicated request because language is steeped in anachronistic or hidden meanings, assumptions, and stereotypes. But, it starts with an easy rule for the President of the United States: Don’t speak like a racist.

Reinstate Obama’s prosecutorial priorities.

Obama’s tenure has been derisively dubbed the “deportation administration” because of the record number of deportation/removal orders it issued. However, the reason why his administration reached high numbers is because it focused on deportation cases that were easier to win than a deportation case against a grandmother who entered the US illegally 30 years ago, married a US citizen; raised children who became a doctor, a lawyer, and a teacher; ran her own business; and now cares for her husband with terminal cancer. That case is cruelly unsympathetic and hard for the government to win, and it takes years for the Immigration Court to figure that out. Obama created a list of priorities that focused on non-citizens who posed national security threats and had criminal convictions that rendered them deportable. Those cases are fast for the government to win; often times for good—and bad—the non-citizen has absolutely no defense to deportation, and the government swiftly wins and moves on to the next case.

Expand DACA eligibility, at minimum; create a path for lawful permanent residence for DACA recipients.

The President can expand DACA eligibility to include children who entered too late, or were too old, or left the US for some other reason. The President should lead Congress in passing a statute to provides for more protection, more safety, more promise for DACA recipients: lawful permanent residence.

Create a path for lawful permanent residence for TPS holders.

TPS prevents an otherwise deportable non-citizen from being deported (absent certain ineligibilities mainly relating to criminal history), grants the person authorization to work in the US, and in some cases provides a way for the person to leave and re-enter the US. However, it does not give the TPS holder any path towards lawful permanent residency or citizenship. That person lives in the US knowing that her status is subject to the whim of the current presidential administration. That person lives in the US knowing that she will never be a US citizen. There are hundreds of thousands of TPS holders in the US. Some TPS holders have had that status since the 1990s. TPS creates an institutionalized slave class. The message of TPS is stay here for as long as we want you; work in a low-paying job (generally); and never think that the US will ever truly welcome or protect you.

Create an I-751 or marriage-based naturalization option.

As an immigration attorney, I am always annoyed that lawful permanent residents who must renew their marriage-based green cards after two years are then eligible for US citizenship one year later. Both stages require expensive filing fees and burdensome applications. Why not combine those two steps to reduce the burden on the couple and also to streamline the government’s work?

Doctors for USCIS Medical Exam

December 29, 2020

You can find a USCIS Civil Surgeon for Form I-693 Report of Medical Examination by clicking here.

People in the US who apply for “green cards” from within the US, apply using Form I-485. Form I-485 requires that a medical exam be submitted with Form I-485, at the in-person I-485 interview, or by mail if/when requested by USCIS.

The medical exam must be conducted by a USCIS Civil Surgeon. You can find a USCIS Civil Surgeon for Form I-693 Report of Medical Examination by clicking here.

Finance Options for Clients

December 28, 2020

I just learned about various lenders that provide loans to clients that need help paying for government filing fees and attorneys fees related to their immigration cases. This is fantastic and important news to share with your clients and with colleagues. I cannot vouch for any of these companies, but I would love to hear feedback from anyone who has experience working with them.

The following information below comes directly from AILA’s website as Document Number 20121738

Quoted article begins here:

“Helping Clients Finance Their Cases

AILA Doc. No. 20121738 | Dated December 24, 2020

The Rules of Professional Conduct say a lawyer can advance costs to a client or “may pay court costs and expenses of litigation on behalf of [an indigent] client.” ABA Model Rule 1.8(e). But a lawyer cannot—nor should she—fund all clients’ cases. All too often, we resort to payment plans for low-income clients, making the law firm a debt collector with a generally uncalculated administrative burden and creating a potential conflict of interest between the lawyer and client if the client has trouble paying in the future.

There are other options besides payment plans that can take the lawyer out of the financial part of the case, get the firm paid quicker, and permit the firm to work solely on the legal issues. Here are six lenders your law firm and client can work with to fund a case. They each work a little differently:

Capital Good Fund is a nonprofit lender designed to help immigrants. They lend in six states: Rhode Island, Florida, Massachusetts, Delaware, Illinois, and Texas. Immigration loans range from $2,000 to $20,000 at 12 percent interest. The lender will accept regular bank statements as proof of income (meaning even under-the-table employment may qualify).
Mission Asset Fund is a nonprofit lender that gives no interest microloans to immigrants for their USCIS filing fees. These loans are designed for pro bono clients who need some way to spread out the expense of the filing fee, but they have the added benefit of helping clients build credit history.
Self-Help Federal Credit Union offers microloans for DACA (up to $800 at 15 percent) and citizenship (up to $1,000 at 17.7 percent) cases. The applicant would need to be eligible for membership at the credit union and become a member. They direct applicants to contact a local branch and have branches in California, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
iQualify Lending is a for-profit lender in all 50 states that lends to clients of lawyers in 10 practice areas, including immigration. iQualify has an invoicing and collections offering to law firms that helps lawyers outsource collecting from clients, as well. It only works with law firms, but clients will have to qualify for the loan, and it may require more income and proof of ability to pay than the nonprofits.
Flexxbuy is a for-profit lender in most states that finances legal fees of up to $50,000 starting at 5.99 percent interest rate. They work with a variety of financers, similar to applying for credit at a car dealership. Lawyers will get paid in full within 72 hours and Flexxbuy lends to clients with low credit scores.
Justice for Me is a new lender focusing on legal services in Texas, Florida, and Colorado that offers clients a line of credit in the amount the lawyer has estimated the case will cost. The lawyer bills Justice for Me, and the client pays Justice for Me. Clients can either select a lawyer through Justice for Me’s network of lawyers or work with a lawyer the client found themselves. It’s a new model in expansion mode. There’s currently only a handful of immigration lawyers in its network.

Loans Solve Some Problems, But Not All

To get a loan, a client must prove sufficient income to make the payment or have a co-signer. Each has an online application process that the firm can work with the client to complete and non-online processes. All lenders will likely require a social security number and a bank account.

Clients borrowing with a lender solves two problems lawyers often have. First, many lawyers are poor bill collectors. Second, many lawyers are poor judges of a potential client’s ability to pay, because they don’t ask for proof of financial ability to pay or check the past record of payments (i.e., credit checks). In other words, this can solve some client-selection issues and get a firm paid quicker.

Finally, if you implement financing and still find too many of your potential clients are unable to qualify for the loans, review your advertising and client referral channels to make sure you are accessing a client base that can sustain your firm. Assess your fees for whether it is the right amount per case type, by tracking your time, averaging it by case type, and analyzing your overhead. Review your caseload to ensure your pro bono commitments are manageable. Alternatively, you could consider creating a nonprofit to offer legal services to this client base and find financing for their cases through grants and donations instead.

Cite as AILA Doc. No. 20121738.”

End of quoted article.

Hip hip hooray! Supreme Court Refuses to Roll Back Marriage Equality

December 18, 2020

On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to protect LGBTQ rights in the workplace. This ruling follows over 17 years after Gerald Bostock’s decision to join a gay recreational softball league left him jobless. This years-long fight culminated in a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court on sexuality and gender identity discrimination in the workplace and Marriage Equality.

TPS Extensions

December 17, 2020

As the result of various lawsuits against the federal government, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for citizens of various countries have been extended. See https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status for a complete list of TPS designations.

Please contact me if you have questions about your current TPS status or your eligibility.

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USCIS Again Accepting Applications for DACA Benefits

December 8, 2020

As a result of federal litigation against the United States government, on December 7, 2020 USCIS began to accept applications for DACA benefits. Those benefits include:

Accepting first-time requests for consideration of deferred action under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) based on the terms of the DACA policy in effect prior to September 5, 2017, and in accordance with the Court’s December 4, 2020, order;
Accepting DACA renewal requests based on the terms of the DACA policy in effect prior to September 5, 2017, and in accordance with the Court’s December 4, 2020, order;
Accepting applications for advance parole documents based on the terms of the DACA policy prior to September 5, 2017, and in accordance with the Court’s December 4, 2020, order;
Extending one-year grants of deferred action under DACA to two years; and
Extending one-year employment authorization documents under DACA to two years

Since 2017 I have meet individuals who would have been eligible for DACA but who never applied. When Trump stopped the DACA program in 2017, they were no longer eligible to apply for DACA. Also since 2017 I met others who had DACA status but who had never applied for and received Advance Parole. Some of those DACA recipients had entered the US without visas and were now married to US citizens. If they had received Advance Parole, left the US and re-entered, they would have been eligible to apply for green-cards through their US citizen spouses. Since they had not used Advance Parole to re-enter the US, the only way for them to get marriage-based green cards was by applying for a provisional waiver of inadmissibility (Form I-601A), waiting for approval, and then leaving the US to get the green card at an embassy.

At this point, I am advising most DACA eligible individuals to apply for DACA and to apply for the accompanying employment authorization and advance parole.

Please contact me if you would like to set up a consultation to discuss your eligibility for DACA and other immigration benefits.

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What is a Fiancé Visa?

November 25, 2020

Deciding to get married is a big step. But for couples who are citizens of different countries, it can be an even more complicated process. In the U.S., US citizens can bring a non-citizen fiancé to the United States to live. Once in the U.S., a non-citizen also has certain rights with the fiancé visa.

How Does the Green Card Lottery Work?

November 23, 2020

The green card lottery is essentially a golden ticket to enter the United States. The visa lottery is officially known as the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, and it one of the simplest and least expensive ways to garner permanent U.S. resident status. Each year more than 20 million people apply for these visas, but the U.S. awards only 50,000 each year.

President-Elect Biden’s Proposed Immigration Reform

November 18, 2020

We can expect to see significant shifts in U.S. immigration policy next year. President-Elect Biden has vowed to begin rapidly dismantling the Trump-era immigration agenda after taking office on January 20, 2021.

Because President Trump used Executive Orders to enact a significant portion of his immigration reform, Biden will be able to overturn certain of Trump’s policies with executive orders of his own. But some of Biden’s proposals will be more challenging to implement, as they will require Congress to pass specific immigration legislation.

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“Helping Clients Finance Their Cases

Loans Solve Some Problems, But Not All