Family Based Immigration

Removing Conditional Status While Divorce is not Finalized

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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 … Read more

K3 Process and Approved I-130 Problem

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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 … Read more

Surviving Spouses of U.S. Citizens May Qualify for Deferred Action

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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 … Read more

2008 Federal Poverty Guidelines

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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 Percent1 /$10,400 /$13,0002 /$14,000 /$17,5003 /$17,600 /$22,0004 /$22,200 /$26,5005 … Read more

USCIS Changes Vaccination Requirements

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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: RotavirusHepatitis AMeningococcalHuman papillomavirusZoster The requirements for these … Read more

USCIS Memo on Nautralization Interview Process

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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 testscan 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 seehttp://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=25932