The 2010 federal poverty guidelines are exactly the same as the 2009 federal poverty guidelines.
After a long delay, the US Department of Health & Human Services published the 2010 federal poverty guidelines on August 3, 2010 in the Federal Register.
| Persons in family | Poverty guideline |
|---|---|
| 1 | $10,830 |
| 2 | 14,570 |
| 3 | 18,310 |
| 4 | 22,050 |
| 5 | 25,790 |
| 6 | 29,530 |
| 7 | 33,270 |
| 8 | 37,010 |
The newly published Visa Bulletin for September can be checked here. The priority date for family sponsored preference 2A (spouse and children of permanent resident) is now January 1, 2010 for people from China.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a change in filing location instructions and addresses for the Petition for Alien Fiancé(e) (Form I-129F). The new instructions, dated 6/14/10, are part of an overall effort to transition the intake of forms from Service Centers to USCIS Lockbox facilities. Centralizing form and fee intake to a Lockbox environment allows USCIS to provide customers with more efficient and effective initial processing of applications/petitions
and fees.
Beginning Aug. 3, 2010 all Form I-129F petitions being filed by a U.S. citizen on behalf of a fiancé(e) or spouse must be submitted to the USCIS Dallas Lockbox facility.
Detailed guidance can be found in the updated Form I-129F instructions online at www.uscis.gov (click
on the Forms tab).
Conditional resident aliens are required to file a Form I-751 within 90 days before the second anniversary of the date on which the alien obtained permanent resident. If the marriage is terminated by divorce, the resident alien can file a waiver of the joint petition requirement. However, if the divorce is filed but not finalized before filing of I-751, the conditional resident is not allowed to apply for the waiver based on good faith marriage. In this case, the conditional resident can still file a joint I-751 if the spouse is willing to cooperate. Otherwise, the conditional resident has to file a waiver under other grounds and then amend the application or file under a waiver once the divorce is final. Other grounds for waiver include (1) The marriage was entered into in good faith, but the conditional resident has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the citizen spouse; or (2) Termination of permanent residency and deportation would result in extreme hardship.
Many petitioners after the filing of I-130 for their foreign spouses choose to file an I-129F so that their spouses can get a K3 visa to enter the U.S. to await the approval of the previously filed I-130. Normally, the I-129F petition will be approved before the I-130 petition. However, sometimes, before the foreign spouse’s K3 interview, the I-130 is approved. If the I-130 petition has been approved and received at the consular post, a K-3 visa will not be issued. If the foreign spouse begins the K3 process at the post by returning the DS-2001 thereby notifying the post they are ready to be interviewed, she or he may opt to continue the K3 process even if the approved I-130 has arrived at the post.
USCIS issed guidance on requesting deferred action for surviving spouse of U.S. citizens who died before the second anniversary of their marriage. Surviving spouses qualify for this temporary program if they were married to, but not legally separated from their U.S. citizen spouse at the time of that spouse’s death; did not remary; and are currently residing in the United States.
Surviving spouses qualify for deferred action regardless of whether the U.S. citizen spouse filed a Form I-130 petition for them. Surviving spouses who apply for deferred actio will need to file Form I-360 with supporting documentation. Work authorization and travel authorization will be available.
Deferred action is an exercise of prosecutorial discretion not to pursue removal from the United States of a particular foreigner for a specific period. It is a temporary discretionary solution to remedy the situation commonly referred to as the “widow penalty”, which prevents widow(er)s of deceased U.S. citizens, who were married less than two years at the time of the U.S. citizen’s dealth, from becoming permanent residents based on the marriage.
The 2008 Federal Poverty Guidelines are used in calculating levels of income and assets that immigrant visa petitioners and joint sponsors must demonstrate in the I-864 Affidavits of Support.
(for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia)
Size of Family Unit/ Poverty Guidelines /125 Percent
1 /$10,400 /$13,000
2 /$14,000 /$17,500
3 /$17,600 /$22,000
4 /$22,200 /$26,500
5 /$24,800 /$31,000
6 /$28,400 /$35,500
7 /$32,000 /$40,000
8 /$35,600 /$44,500
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today a revised list of vaccines required for applicants seeking to adjust status to become legal permanent residents.
CDC’s revised Technical Instructions to Civil Surgeons for Vaccination Requirements require the following age-appropriate additional vaccinations to adjust status to legal permanent resident:
Rotavirus
Hepatitis A
Meningococcal
Human papillomavirus
Zoster
The requirements for these new vaccines went into effect on July 1, 2008, however CDC approved a 30-day grace period for any medical exam conducted before August 1, 2008. At that time the new vaccinations, if appropriate, must be administered in order for USCIS to approve the applicant for adjustment of status.
For more information, check here.
USCIS issued a memo on changes to the naturalization interview process.
“The only difference from current practice is the sequence – that the English and civics tests
can be administered before the interview following the pre-examination check-in process,
as opposed to during the actual interview. “
For a copy of the memo, please see
http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=25932
