Many undocumented immigrants across the country—including essential workers, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing conditions— have been unable to receive COVID-19 vaccines due to lack of government issued identification. While most states offer alternatives to identification cards, such as proof of residency through addressed mail, many experts say the requirements still impose barriers on Read More
Move to End Privately Owned Immigrant Detention Centers in Congress
On February 11th, 2021, Arizona lawmaker Raul Grijalva reintroduced the “Justice Is Not For Sale Act.” This bill would phase out government contracts with private prisons and end immigrant family detention. It would also prevent companies from overcharging inmates and would “increase oversight of immigrant detention facilities to ensure humane treatment.” This bill addresses some of the shortcomings of President Read More
Filing for I-90 Will Automatically Extend Your Green Card for 12 Months!
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 Read More
DACA Defended! What happens now?
The US Supreme Court recently ruled that the Trump administration did not properly end the DACA program. This is good and bad news. First the good news: the Trump administration's efforts to end the DACA program still have not been successful. Now the bad news: The US Supreme Court's decision essentially gives the Trump administration general instructions about what the administration would need to do to properly end Read More
Expansion of HHS J-1 Waiver for Clinical Care Physicians
The US Department of Health and Human Services recently expanded the scope of its waiver of the two-year home residency requirement The former waiver was available only to physicians working at Federally Qualified Community Health Centers (CHC), as designated by the government. The expanded waiver allows any facility, such as a hospital or private practice, to apply for an HHS waiver as long as the facility has an Read More
April 2017 Department of State Visa Bulletin
The US Department of State released the April 2017 Visa Bulletin. Find the Visa Bulletin, with priority dates for family-based and employment-based visas, at https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2017/visa-bulletin-for-april-2017.html. Read More
AILA New England Conference
As a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), I benefit from a wonderful, smart community of immigration lawyers in the New England Area. Each month our AILA chapter has a meeting on a timely topic, and each year, the chapter hosts an amazing conference. I am excited to attend this year's conference on March 3. At the conference, I look forward to hearing from government officials about new Read More
USCIS Finalizes New Guidance for Extreme Hardship
USCIS finalized new guidance for "extreme hardship." This standard is applied to many immigration processes, but most commonly to Form I-601 and Form I-601A. The guidance provides a long list of factors to consider when trying to prove extreme hardship to the qualifying relative. You can find the guidance on the USCIS website. Read More
I-601A Waiver Expanded to Include
What does the I-601A Waiver Do? The I-601A waiver helps someone avoid being barred from re-entry from the United States after she departs the US. Someone would be barred from re-entering the US for 3 years or 10 years if she had been present in the US for more than 180 days (3 years) or one year (10 years). This means that someone who is not eligible to get a green card in the US can apply for an I-601A waiver, get Read More
Overworked Immigration Courts: New All-Time High Hearing Wait Times
According to the very latest information (end of August 2015) obtained from the U.S. Department of Justice, there is a backlog of 456,644 cases pending before the judges in the nation's Immigration Courts. This means the court backlog has increased by more than 100,000 cases from the 344,230 that were pending at the beginning of FY 2014. The average wait time for an individual in the Immigration Court's pending Read More
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