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 U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez offers a video on what to expect when going to the Consulate for a visa interview.
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.
“They say there are about 12 million illegal immigrants in this country. But if you ask a native American, that number is more like 300 million.” -David Letterman
“Arizona signed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country, which would allow the police to demand identification papers from anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. I know there are some people in Arizona worried that Obama is acting like Hitler, but can we all agree that there’s nothing more Nazi than saying, ‘Show me your papers?’ There’s never been a WWII movie that didn’t include the line, ‘Show me your papers.’ It’s their catchphrase. Every time someone says ‘Show me your papers,’ Hitler’s family gets a residual check. So heads up Arizona, that’s fascism. I know, I know, it’s a dry fascism, but it’s still fascism.” —Seth Meyers, on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update”
“As you know, Arizona recently passed the toughest anti-immigration bill in American history. The idea behind this bill is to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona and back to their homeland of Los Angeles.” –Jay Leno
“Immigration is the big issue right now. Earlier today, the Senate voted to build a 370-mile fence along the Mexican border. … Experts say a 370-mile fence is the perfect way to protect a border that is 1,900 miles long.” –Conan O’Brien
“Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation’s toughest anti-immigration bill into law. It’s unbelievable. It makes it a crime as a state law to be in the country illegally. It lets police question anyone about their status. You know what this means? Rich people in Arizona may have to start raising their own children now.” —Jay Leno
Records show that about 47,000 people have been removed or deported from the U.S. after the Homeland Security Department sifted through 3 million sets of fingerprints taken from bookings at local jails. About one-quarter of those kicked out of the country did not have criminal records, according to government data obtained by immigration advocacy groups that have filed a lawsuit. The groups plan to release the data Tuesday and provided early copies to The Associated Press. As issue is a fingerprint-sharing program known as Secure Communities that the government says is focused on getting rid of the “worst of the worst” criminal immigrants from the U.S. Immigration advocates say that the government instead spends too much time on lower-level criminals or non-criminals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement divides crimes into three categories, with Level 1 being the most serious. Most of those deported committed Level 2 or 3 crimes or were non-criminals, a monthly report of Secure Communities statistics shows. “ICE has pulled a bait and switch, with local law enforcement spending more time and resources facilitating the deportations of bus boys and gardeners than murderers and rapists and at considerable cost to local community policing strategies, making us all less safe,” said Peter Markowitz, director of the Immigration Justice Clinic at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.
Read more here
USCIS on January 4, 2007 issued a “fact sheet” regarding traveling outside the U.S. as an asylum applicants, asylees, and lawful permanent residents who obtained such status based on their asylum status. Those people are subject to special rules.
For an asylum applicant, if he leaves the U.S. without first obtaining advanced parole, he will be presumed to have abandoned his or her asylum application. Advance parole does not guarantee that the alien will be paroled into the U.S.
For an asylee, he can travel with a refugee travel document which is valid for one year. Like advance parole, a refugee travel document does not guarantee admission into the U.S.
For lawful permanent residents who obtained such status based on their asylum status, they can also travel abroad with refugee travel documents.
There may be serious consequences of those people returning to the county of claimed persecution. Asylum status could be terminated based on fundamental change in circumstances in the asylee’s country of persecution. Termination could also occur due to fraud in the asylum application. Return to the country of feared persecution can in some circumstances, be considered evidence that the asylee’s alleged fear of persecution is not genuine.
An individual’s underlying asylum status may be terminated even if the individual has already become a lawful permanent resident. Accordingly, an asylee or a lawful permanent resident may be questioned as to why he was able to go back to the country of alleged prosecution, and in some circumstances, may be subject to proceedings to terminate asylum status.
Supreme Court holds that criminal defense counsel has a Sixth Amendment obligation to inform a defendant about immigration consequences or to advise when consequences are clear.
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-651.pdf
The case, Padilla v. Kentucky, involved a Vietnam War veteran who has resided lawfully in the U.S. for over 40 years. His criminal defense lawyer advised him on the guilty plea which made Mr. Padilla subject to mandatory deportation from the United States. The state of Kentucky’s position was that Mr. Padilla had no right to withdraw his plea when he learned of the deportation consequence. The Supreme Court reversed the Kentucky court’s decision and rejected the federal government’s position that a noncitizen is protected only from “affirmative misadvice” and not from a lawyer’s failure to provide any advice about the immigration consequences of a plea.
“These changes to our immigration law have dramatically raised the stakes of a noncitizen’s criminal conviction. The importance of accurate legal advice for noncitizens accused of crimes has never been more important.These changes confirm our view that, as a matter of federal law, deportation is an integral part—indeed, sometimes the most important part — of the penalty that may be imposed on noncitizen defendants who plead guilty to specified crimes.”
Employers who employ foreign worker in H-1b position are required to submit Labor Condition Application (LCA). Because one cannot submit an LCA earlier than six months prior to the beginning date of the period of intended employment (20 CFR § 655.730(b)), it is suggested by AILA that to get the LCA in hand before April 1, the employment start date on the LCA can be set for a date in September. Later, one can file the I-129 with a start date of October 1, but with an expiration date that coincides with the expiration date of the LCA.
Example:
LCA start date: 9/1/10
LCA end date: 8/31/13
Form I-129 start date: 10/1/10
Form I-129 end date: 8/31/13
USCIS recently announced revised filing instructions and addresses for filing several forms, including Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization), and I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status). To download most recent forms, please visit www.uscis.gov.
If a Permanent Resident is out of U.S. continuously for more than one year, DHS takes the position that residency has been abandoned. The criteria in determining whether a LPR abandons his residency include purpose of departure, existence of fixed termination date for visit abroad, and objective intention to return to U.S. as place of permanent employment or actual home.
When a Permanent Resident seeks to be out of U.S. for more than one year, he must apply for a re-entry permit (Form I-131). However, possession of re-entry permit does not prevent DHS from inquiring as to whether holder abandoned his residency. It simply prevents the DHS from relying solely on the duration of the holder’s absence as a basis to determine abandonment.
When applying for citizenship, one must show a continuous resident subsequent to LPR status. An absence between 6 months and 1 year raises a rebuttable presumption that continuity of residence has been interrupted. With certain statutory exemptions, an absence of 1 year or more shall disrupt the continuity of residence.
Employees who work for the U.S. government, an American research institute, a U.S. firm engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce, or a public international organization of which the U.S. is a member can file form N-470 to preserve their residency for naturalization purpose. N-470 is not a re-entry permit.
