Cambridge Immigration Law
Cambridge Immigration Law

Category: News

Will I need to go to an interview?

February 24, 2023

interviewHistorically all marriage-based green card applicants were required to attend a USCIS interview to talk about their relationship and eligibility for a green card. Recently, I learned that USCIS is approving some marriage-based green card applications without an interview. However, I have never had this happen in my cases. At this point, you should plan that you’ll have a USCIS interview if you file a marriage-based green card interview. 

For other case types, such as a green card for the parent of an adult US citizen, most of my cases do not have interviews. Also, many employment-based green card cases are approved without an interview.

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call 617-676-0503 or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch

Why an Immigration Attorney is worth your investment

February 23, 2023

immigration attorneyOur team at Cambridge Immigration Law is amazing and we truly believe that working with us is worth every penny of your investment. However, we strongly believe that you should work with any good, experienced attorney–not just our amazing team–if you are going to submit any application to or attend any interview with the US government. 

First, an immigration attorney is worth your investment because the immigration attorney will confirm that you are eligible to win your application before you submit it. If you are not eligible to win, the attorney should refuse to help you submit the application. Or, if your case has gray areas in terms of your eligibility, the attorney should tell you the potential problems and potential outcomes, if there is a legal or factual reason your case could be denied.

Second, an immigration attorney is worth your investment because the immigration attorney will prepare your case based on her years of experience practicing immigration law and seeing actual results of cases presented in a variety of ways. An experienced immigration attorney will know what your case needs–and what your case does not need. An experienced immigration attorney probably has seen a case just like yours, and she can use her experience to win your case just as she did for other clients. On the other hand, if your case is different from others, an experienced attorney knows how and where to find the resources necessary to properly evaluate and present your case. 

Third, an immigration attorney–who values client services–will deliver not only the legal result you want but will also support you and your family through the long, confusing immigration process. You should be able to email or meet with your immigration attorney or her legal team frequently before you submit the application. You should be able to email or meet with your attorney or her legal team after your attorney submits your case, because you will have questions along the way. Your immigration attorney should insist on meeting with you before she represents you at any hearing so that you are well prepared. Finally, you should be able to talk to your attorney or her legal team after your interview when you have questions about how it went or what the next steps are. In short, you should work with an attorney who will call you back, email you back, and meet with you. You can’t imagine how many clients I meet who transitioned to my team after working with an attorney–to whom they pay thousands of dollars–who would not return the clients’ phone calls!

Fourth, an immigration attorney will prepare you for future necessary steps in your immigration journey when you need to renew your green card or visa, when you want to apply for US citizenship, and when you want to sponsor other relatives, such as your parents, to immigrate to the US.

Finally, it costs more to not hire a lawyer. Yes, you pay money to hire an immigration attorney. In the end, however, you save time and money. The cost of hiring an attorney pays for itself with the time you save not trying to learn US immigration law and procedure yourself, not worrying if you did things right, not scouring the internet when you have more questions after you file (and you will!), not trying to fix mistakes that you made, and not losing opportunities that come with US immigration benefits. Instead of asking how much it costs to hire an experienced immigration attorney, think about how much it costs not to have an experienced, approachable, and compassionate immigration attorney on your side as you work to achieve your life goals.

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Deadlines for I-751 Joint Petitions and I-751 Waiver Petitions

February 16, 2023

Deadlines for I-751 Joint Petitions and I-751 Wavier Petitions Renewing your conditional green card (or “removing the conditions on your residence”) requires you to file Form I-751 with your US Citizen spouse**. You must file Form I-751 in the 90 days before the expiration of your conditional card. Do not file it early–it may get rejected. If you file late (that is, after the expiration of your conditional green card), you will need to submit an explanation of why you filed late and convince USCIS that there was “good cause” for your lateness. 

**You will not be required to file Form I-751 with your US Citizen spouse if, if you were abused by your spouse, OR if you are divorced, or if your spouse has died, you can file a waiver application (still on Form I-751). There is no deadline for I-751 Waiver Applications. You can file them before the expiration of your green card (at any time) and you can file them after the expiration of your green  card (at any time). If you wait to file after the expiration of your green card, you run the risk that USCIS will notice that you have not filed and will send a notice of termination of your conditional residence status. If you receive a notice of termination of conditional residence status, you should file Form I-751 Waiver as a waiver as soon as possible. 

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Renewing your conditional green card when no longer living with spouse

February 15, 2023

Renewing your conditional green cardRenewing your conditional green card (or “removing the conditions on your residence”) requires you to file Form I-751 with your spouse. If you are no longer living together, your spouse can still support your application to renew your conditional green card by signing Form I-751 and providing information and documents for the application. If you are separated, you should explain to USCIS what happened with the relationship. 

If you were abused by your spouse, OR if you are divorced, or if your spouse has died, you can file a waiver application (still on Form I-751). However, if you are NOT legally and fully divorced AND your spouse will not help you with the I-751, you can apply for the waiver if there was abuse in the marriage OR if you prove that you will suffer if the I-751 is not approved. If there is no abuse, we advise our clients to move forward with divorce as quickly as possible so that their case is not solely based on hardship.

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Can I have my case processed in Massachusetts if I live in another state?

February 14, 2023

case processed in another state Generally, no. You cannot choose which USCIS will process your case. USCIS determines this by where you live at the time of filing the application. Some USCIS applications are processed at centralized offices, such as the National Benefits Center, the California Services Center, and the Vermont Service Center. Until USCIS sends you a notice about the case with information about which central office has your case, it is often difficult to know where your case is. Certain types of applications are always processed at the same place, but other applications are processed in different offices based on the workload of the various offices. You can call USCIS’s hotline to ask where your case is processed if you did not receive a receipt notice or you think that the case may have been transferred. 

Where to process other USCIS applications?

Other USCIS applications are processed at local offices. USCIS assigns these cases to the local offices based on the applicant’s residential address. 

If you move after you file your application with USCIS, but before USCIS approves it, you are required to notify USCIS of your address change within 10 days. It is important to do this because if you do not update your address and USCIS sends you a notice that you do not receive, you will be at fault, not USCIS. Also, if you do not update your address, receive an interview notice at the Field Office for your prior address, and report to that office for an interview, that local Field Office may decide not to interview you and will send your case to the local Field Office that corresponds to your new address. 

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

What is a Request for Evidence?

February 13, 2023

request for evidenceAn RFE is a Request for Evidence. USCIS sends RFEs after you have filed an immigration application. If USCIS needs information or documents that you did not include in your application, USCIS will send you an RFE. Sometimes, however, USCIS makes a mistake and requests information or documents that you’ve already submitted. Even if USCIS made a mistake, you still must respond to the RFE before the deadline on the RFE. At our firm, we receive many mistaken requests, and we respond to the RFE with an explanation that the information or document was already included, we submit a new copy of the document, and we ask USCIS to return to processing the application as soon as possible. We also note that the RFE caused an undue delay and that we’d like the case expedited. 

USCIS’s RFE’s cover almost all types of missing information and documents. USCIS may send an RFE because a signature is missing on an application. USCIS may send an RFE because a particular box on the application is not complete; because of this, we always answer ALL questions with an answer or with “none” or “n/a.” Do not leave any boxes or fields empty!

USCIS’s RFE’s can request much more complicated information. Sometimes the RFE essentially asks you to re-prove your case with more legal arguments and more documentation. 

Most of the time USCIS sends an RFE instead of sending a denial, but in some cases, USCIS issues denials without requesting the missing information or document. While this is rare, it is a reason to make sure that your entire application is complete and all supporting documents are submitted the first time you submit an application. At our firm, we very rarely submit non-complete applications. Other firms may submit a bare-borns application with the expectation that they will be able to supplement the application when USCIS sends an RFE. 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

US citizenship in less than 3 months

February 13, 2023

This week one of our clients became a US citizen in less than three months. She had been a permanent resident for more than 5 years and decided that it was time to take the next step in her immigration process. We immediately began to work with her and submitted a strong application to USCIS on her behalf. She was scheduled for her Naturalization interview within 3 months. Our attorney prepared our client for her naturalization interview and went with her to the interview. The attorney was with our client through the whole interview process to make sure everything went smoothly. Our client’s naturalization application was approved the same day. She is now a United States citizen, in what we consider record time.

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-272-7980) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Humanitarian Parole allows eligible Nicaraguans to US

February 9, 2023

Humanitarian Parole allows eligible Nicaraguans to US

If you are Nicaraguan and are currently outside the US, you may be eligible to enter the US on a new, and limited, program called Humanitarian Parole. You will need a valid Nicaraguan passport and a person in the US who promises to financially sponsor you. The program would allow you to enter the US, stay here for two years, and be eligible to work in the US during that time. If you are eligible for a US Green Card after you enter, you would be eligible to file for the Green Card once you are in the US, instead of through the long process at a US Embassy outside of the US. Act fast on this opportunity to enter the US because the program could end as quickly and unexpectedly as it started. 

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call (617-714-4375) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Humanitarian parole allows Haitians working abroad to enter the United States and work

February 8, 2023

If you are Haitian and are currently outside the US, you may be eligible to enter the US on a new, and limited, program called Humanitarian Parole. You will need a valid Haitian passport and a person in the US who promises to financially sponsor you. The program would allow you to enter the US, stay here for two years, and be eligible to work in the US during that time. If you are eligible for a US Green Card after you enter, you would be eligible to file for the Green Card once you are in the US, instead of through the long process at a US Embassy outside of the US. Act fast on this opportunity to enter the US because the program could end as quickly and unexpectedly as it started.

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call 617-714-4375 or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

Humanitarian Parole for Venezuelans

February 7, 2023

Parole for VenezuelansIf you are Venezuelan and is currently outside the US, you may be eligible to enter the US on a new, and limited, program called Humanitarian Parole. You will need a valid Venezuelan passport and a person in the US who promises to financially sponsor you. The program would allow you to enter the US, stay here for two years, and be eligible to work in the US during that time. If you are eligible for a US Green Card after you enter, you would be eligible to file for the Green Card once you are in the US, instead of through the long process at a US Embassy outside of the US. Act fast on this opportunity to enter the US because the program could end as quickly and unexpectedly as it started.

 

If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well.  Call 617-714-4375 or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.

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