If you file to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, the process may finish in time for you to vote in the 2020 Presidential election . . . if you wait much longer, you will probably miss the election.
The fee to file for naturalization with our office will be going up in November, so come in and get started now! Save money and be a citizen in time to vote for President!
Call for an appointment – Midland 432-682-8855; El Paso 915-881-9711
By Jeanne Morales Attorney
With the backlog of cases in immigration court recently passing one million nationwide, it seems that no part of the immigration system is immune from delays that threaten to crash the system. This has now become apparent with regards to Mexican spouses of U.S. citizens that must go through “consular processing”.
A U.S. citizen who wishes to bring their foreign-born spouse to live permanently in the United States must first petition for them using form I-130, which is processed by a regional service center. The processing of the form I-130 only involves three things: does the petitioner have proof of identity and proof of U.S. citizenship, does the foreign spouse have proof of identity, and are the individuals legally married. Yet through the magic of bureaucracy that process can take 8 to 10.5 months at the Texas Service Center (The California Service Center’s processing time is at 12.5 to 16 months!).
Once the petition is approved, the National Visa Center (NVC) prepares a packet for the U.S. Consulate abroad so that the consular officer has everything they need to conduct an interview and issue a visa. The NVC takes approximately two months to issue a case number, and then the person wanting to immigrate must file a form DS-230 online. Once the intending immigrant completes the online process, they will receive a letter from the NVC that tells them that the process is complete, and they will work with the U.S. Consulate to set up the interview for the foreign spouse.
At this time, the wait time for a foreign spouse that will have to process through U.S. Consulate at Ciudad Juarez is over a year. A year long wait – not for document gathering or fee submission (already done) – but a year long wait for an appointment. This year long wait for an appointment is on top of the nearly year process for the I-130 petition and the 2-3 months for the NVC process.
A U.S. citizen bringing a spouse to the United States is just one part of the legal (do it the right way) process for immigration; but this more than two-year delay is for the spouse of a U.S. citizen – someone that the system has deemed to be an “immediate relative”. And this delay is recent – the 2017/early 2018 processing for the same spouse would have taken less than a year in total. The delays with both the I-130 petition and the NVC process have increased substantially since late 2018.
Decades of neglect and political infighting have given U.S. citizens an immigration system that is broken and on the verge of collapse. While the media blasts images of immigration law enforcement and court delays across the public psyche, an individual U.S. citizen who is only wanting to reunite his or her family, is now looking at processing time that is more than two years – and that is hardly an incentive to “do it the right way”.
La regulación promueve la autosuficiencia y éxito de los inmigrantes
WASHINGTON — Hoy, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos (DHS, por sus siglas en inglés) anunció una regla final que define claramente la ley establecida desde hace mucho tiempo, para garantizar que los extranjeros que buscan ingresar y permanecer en Estados Unidos, ya sea temporal o permanentemente, sean autosuficientes y dependan de sus propias capacidades y los recursos de familiares, patrocinadores y organizaciones privadas, en lugar de depender de beneficios públicos.
Esta regla final modifica los reglamentos de DHS al indicar cómo DHS determinará si un extranjero es inadmisible a Estados Unidos basado en la probabilidad de convertirse en una carga pública en cualquier momento en el futuro, según lo estipulado en la Ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad. La regla final también aborda la autoridad que tiene el Servicio de Ciudadanía e Inmigración de Estados Unidos (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglés) para permitir que un extranjero pague una fianza por concepto de carga pública en el contexto de las solicitudes de ajustes de estatus. La regla también hace que los extranjeros no inmigrantes que recibieron algunos beneficios públicos por encima de un límite específico sean generalmente inelegibles para extender su estadía y cambiar de estatus.
“Por más de cien años, la causal de inadmisibilidad por motivos de carga pública ha sido parte de las leyes de inmigración de nuestra nación. El presidente Trump ha cumplido su promesa al pueblo estadounidense de hacer cumplir la ley de inmigración establecida desde hace mucho tiempo, al definir las causales de inadmisibilidad por carga pública que han existido durante décadas”, dijo el director interino de USCIS, Ken Cuccinelli. “A lo largo de nuestra historia, la autosuficiencia ha sido un principio fundamental del sueño americano. La autosuficiencia, la laboriosidad y la perseverancia sentaron las bases de nuestra nación, y desde entonces han definido a generaciones de laboriosos inmigrantes que buscan oportunidades en Estados Unidos. Mediante la aplicación de la ley de inadmisibilidad por carga pública, promoveremos estos ideales establecidos desde hace mucho tiempo, y el éxito de los inmigrantes”.
DHS ha revisado la definición de “carga pública” para incorporar la consideración de más tipos de beneficios públicos recibidos, lo que el Departamento cree que asegurará mejor que los solicitantes que están sujetos a la causal de inadmisibilidad por carga pública sean autosuficientes. La regla define el término “carga pública” como una persona que recibe uno o más beneficios públicos designados por más de 12 meses en total, dentro de cualquier período de 36 meses (como, por ejemplo, recibir dos beneficios en un mes cuenta como dos meses). La regla define además el término “beneficio público” para incluir cualquier beneficio en efectivo para el mantenimiento de ingresos, Seguridad de Ingreso Suplementario (SSI, por sus siglas en inglés), Asistencia Temporal para Familias Necesitadas (TANF, por sus siglas en inglés), Programa de Asistencia Nutricional Suplementaria (SNAP, por sus siglas en inglés), la mayoría de los tipos de Medicaid y algunos programas de vivienda.
La regulación también excluye de la definición de beneficios públicos aquellos beneficios públicos recibidos por miembros en servicio activo o en la Reserva Lista de las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos, y sus cónyuges e hijos; los beneficios públicos recibidos por algunos adoptados internacionalmente e hijos que adquieren la ciudadanía estadounidense; los beneficios de Medicaid para extranjeros menores de 21 años de edad y mujeres embarazadas; Medicaid por servicios escolares (incluidos los servicios proporcionados bajo la Ley de Educación para Personas con Discapacidades); y los beneficios de Medicaid para servicios médicos de emergencia.
Esta regla también hace que algunos extranjeros no inmigrantes que están en Estados Unidos y recibieron beneficios públicos designados que se exceden del límite máximo, resulten inelegibles para el cambio de estatus y la extensión de la estadía si recibieron los beneficios después de obtener el estatus de no inmigrante que buscan extender o desde el cual desean cambiar.
Es importante destacar que esta regulación no aplica a los programas de inmigración basados en razones humanitarias para refugiados, solicitantes de asilo, jóvenes inmigrantes especiales (SIJ, por sus siglas en inglés), algunas víctimas de trata de personas (visa T de no inmigrante), víctimas de actividades delictivas cualificadas (visa U de no inmigrante) o víctimas de violencia doméstica (autopeticionarios VAWA), entre otros.
Esta regla explica cómo USCIS ejercerá su autoridad discrecional, en circunstancias limitadas, para ofrecerle a un extranjero que es inadmisible solo bajo la causal de carga pública la oportunidad de pagar una fianza por concepto de carga pública. La regla final fija la cantidad de la fianza mínima en $8,100; la cantidad actual de la fianza dependerá de las circunstancias individuales.
Esta regla final reemplaza la Guías Provisionales de Campo de 1999 sobre Deportabilidad e Inadmisibilidad Basadas en Causales de Carga Pública, y entra en efecto a la medianoche, hora del este, del 15 de octubre de 2019, 60 días a partir de la fecha de publicación en el Registro Federal. USCIS aplicará la regla final de inadmisibilidad por carga pública solo a las solicitudes y peticiones mataselladas (o presentadas electrónicamente, si aplica) en o después de la fecha en que entra en vigor dicha regla. Las solicitudes y peticiones que ya están pendientes con USCIS en la fecha de efectividad de la regla (por ejemplo, están mataselladas y aceptadas por USCIS) serán adjudicadas según las Guías Provisionales de 1999.
USCIS proporcionará información y detalles adicionales al público como parte del enlace con la comunidad relacionado con la implementación de esta regla. En las próximas semanas, USCIS llevará a cabo sesiones de enlace para el público y otros grupos de interés a fin de asegurar que el público entiende cuáles beneficios están incluidos en la regla de inadmisibilidad por carga pública y cuáles no lo están.
Para más información de USCIS y sus programas, visite nuestro sitio web uscis.gov/es o síganos en Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook y LinkedIn.
Regulation promotes self-sufficiency and immigrant success
WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule that clearly defines long-standing law to better ensure that aliens seeking to enter and remain in the United States — either temporarily or permanently — are self-sufficient and rely on their own capabilities and the resources of family members, sponsors, and private organizations rather than on public resources.
This final rule amends DHS regulations by prescribing how DHS will determine whether an alien is inadmissible to the United States based on his or her likelihood of becoming a public charge at any time in the future, as set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act. The final rule addresses U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) authority to permit an alien to submit a public charge bond in the context of adjustment of status applications. The rule also makes nonimmigrant aliens who have received certain public benefits above a specific threshold generally ineligible for extension of stay and change of status.
“For over a century, the public charge ground of inadmissibility has been part of our nation’s immigration laws. President Trump has delivered on his promise to the American people to enforce long-standing immigration law by defining the public charge inadmissibility ground that has been on the books for years,” said USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli. “Throughout our history, self-sufficiency has been a core tenet of the American dream. Self-reliance, industriousness, and perseverance laid the foundation of our nation and have defined generations of hardworking immigrants seeking opportunity in the United States ever since. Through the enforcement of the public charge inadmissibility law, we will promote these long-standing ideals and immigrant success.”
DHS has revised the definition of “public charge” to incorporate consideration of more kinds of public benefits received, which the Department believes will better ensure that applicants subject to the public charge inadmissibility ground are self-sufficient. The rule defines the term “public charge” to mean an individual who receives one or more designated public benefits for more than 12 months, in the aggregate, within any 36-month period (such that, for instance, receipt of two benefits in one month counts as two months). The rule further defines the term “public benefit” to include any cash benefits for income maintenance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), most forms of Medicaid, and certain housing programs.
The regulation also excludes from the public benefits definition: public benefits received by individuals who are serving in active duty or in the Ready Reserve component of the U.S. armed forces, and their spouses and children; public benefits received by certain international adoptees and children acquiring U.S. citizenship; Medicaid for aliens under 21 and pregnant women; Medicaid for school-based services (including services provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act); and Medicaid benefits for emergency medical services.
This rule also makes certain nonimmigrant aliens in the United States who have received designated public benefits above the designated threshold ineligible for change of status and extension of stay if they received the benefits after obtaining the nonimmigrant status they seek to extend or from which they seek to change.
Importantly, this regulation does not apply to humanitarian-based immigration programs for refugees, asylees, Special Immigrant Juveniles (SIJs), certain trafficking victims (T nonimmigrants), victims of qualifying criminal activity (U nonimmigrants), or victims of domestic violence (VAWA self-petitioners), among others.
This rule also explains how USCIS will exercise its discretionary authority, in limited circumstances, to offer an alien inadmissible only on the public charge ground the opportunity to post a public charge bond. The final rule sets the minimum bond amount at $8,100; the actual bond amount will be dependent on the individual’s circumstances.
This final rule supersedes the 1999 Interim Field Guidance on Deportability and Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds and goes into effect at midnight Eastern, Oct. 15, 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register. USCIS will apply the public charge inadmissibility final rule only to applications and petitions postmarked (or, if applicable, submitted electronically) on or after the effective date. Applications and petitions already pending with USCIS on the effective date of the rule (postmarked and accepted by USCIS) will be adjudicated based on the 1999 Interim Guidance.
USCIS will provide information and additional details to the public as part of public outreach related to the implementation of this rule. In the coming weeks, USCIS will conduct engagement sessions for the public and other interested groups to ensure the public understands which benefits are included in the public charge inadmissibility rule and which are not.
For more information on USCIS and its programs, visit our website at uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.
The pass rate above represents the cumulative pass rate of applicants who took both the English and civics components of the test since it was fully implemented on October 1, 2009.
The overall national pass rate is determined based solely on an applicant’s first test within the current naturalization application.
The data reflected above were taken from internal case management systems used to track naturalization applications and have been gathered to provide a general snapshot of how applicants are performing on the naturalization test. Please note that test results for each applicant are manually entered into the case management system and some errors may occur during manual entry. Although every effort has been undertaken to eliminate any errors made during manual data entry, errors may exist that would impact the publicized national pass rate.
Data on previous pass rates can be accessed below by date.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today plans to maintain operations at its international field offices in Beijing and Guangzhou, China; Nairobi, Kenya; and New Delhi, India. Previously, Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli directed the agency to continue operating in Guatemala City, Guatemala; Mexico City, Mexico; and San Salvador, El Salvador, as part of a whole-of-government approach to address the crisis at the southern border.
While retaining these seven international offices, USCIS plans to close the remaining thirteen international field offices and three district offices between now and August 2020. The first planned closures are the field offices in Monterrey, Mexico, and Seoul, South Korea, at the end of September. These organizational changes will allow more effective allocation of USCIS resources to support, in part, backlog reduction efforts.
“This cost-effective and high value international footprint allows USCIS to efficiently adjudicate complex immigration petitions that require in-person interviews, to enhance integrity through fraud detection and national security activities, and to liaise with U.S. and foreign government entities to improve migration management capacity,” said Cuccinelli. “In the months ahead, USCIS will close its other international offices on a staggered schedule, ensuring a smooth transition of workloads to USCIS domestic offices and State Department consular sections, while mitigating impacts on USCIS staff who will rotate back to domestic positions.”
Many functions currently performed at international offices will be handled domestically or by USCIS domestic staff on temporary assignments abroad. As part of this shift, the Department of State (DOS) will assume responsibility for certain in-person services that USCIS currently provides at international field offices. In addition to issuing visas to foreign nationals who are abroad, DOS already performs many of these service functions where USCIS does not have an office. USCIS is working closely with DOS to minimize interruptions in immigration services to affected applicants and petitioners.
For more information on USCIS and our programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and LinkedIn (/uscis)
Evil visited the City of El Paso Saturday.
“This guide will assist law enforcement in submitting the appropriate certification required for U visas and will support efforts to bring criminals to justice and protect victims of crime,” said Acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli. “By ensuring that law enforcement submits the appropriate certification, we will reduce fraud and abuse in the U visa program and more effectively adjudicate petitions for victims.”
Law enforcement authorities and other certifying agencies provide certifications for U nonimmigrant status (U visa) petitioners. Individuals seeking a U visa because they have been a victim of a serious crime resulting in substantial mental or physical abuse must establish their eligibility.
USCIS Form I-918, Supplement B, U Nonimmigrant Status Certification, is a required certification to establish eligibility for U nonimmigrant status. The Form I-918, Supplement B, must be signed by an authorized official of the certifying agency (PDF, 1.58 MB) and the official must confirm the petitioner was helpful, is currently being helpful, or will likely be helpful in the detection, investigation or prosecution of a case.
The guide includes an overview of:
Historically, this guide has addressed certifying procedures for both the T and U visa programs. This publication is focused solely on U visa certification practices. This change was made to assist certifying agencies who work with victims of qualifying crimes requesting certification. When the new T Visa Law Enforcement Resource Guide is released, it will address information specific to the T visa requirements.
We will be providing training to our law enforcement partners in the future.
Visit Victims of Human Trafficking & Other Crimes to learn more about other protections for victims of crime, human trafficking, and domestic violence.
For more information on USCIS and our programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis) and LinkedIn (/uscis).
by Lesley Fair
The next time users visit Facebook, things might not look different, but big changes are brewing behind the scenes. The FTC’s record-breaking $5 billion settlement requires Facebook to conduct a massive overhaul of its consumer privacy practices. The settlement also makes major changes to Facebook’s operations and CEO Mark Zuckerberg no longer has sole control over privacy.
First, some background. Facebook is a social networking site, but it makes money by serving up targeted ads based on users’ personal information. Many consumers are hesitant about sharing certain data, so Facebook calms that concern by promising that people can control the privacy of their information through the platform’s privacy settings.
The FTC sued Facebook in 2012 for making misleading promises about the extent to which consumers could keep their personal information private. For example, Facebook told users they could select settings to make information available just to “friends.” But despite that promise, Facebook allowed apps used by those friends to access consumers’ information, a decision that put money in Facebook’s pocket. The 2012 FTC order put penalties in place if Facebook made misleading statements in the future about consumers’ control over the privacy of their personal information.
According to the FTC, that’s just what happened. Facebook violated the order by again giving companies access to information that consumers said they didn’t want to share. The FTC also alleges Facebook made other misleading statements about how it used facial recognition, consumers’ cell phone numbers, and other personal data.
Here are three things to know about the FTC’s history-making settlement with Facebook.
The $5 billion settlement is one for the record books. It’s the largest civil penalty ever imposed on a company for violating consumers’ privacy and it’s one of the largest penalties assessed by the U.S. government for a violation of any kind. That tells you just how seriously the FTC takes it when companies break their privacy promises. The settlement also sets a new benchmark if companies fail to honor their promises in the future. (In case you’re wondering about the $5 billion, by law, it goes to the general fund of the U.S. Treasury. It does not go to the FTC.)
The order establishes a new era of privacy transparency at Facebook and at WhatsApp and Instagram, which Facebook owns. It creates an independent committee of Facebook’s board of directors to oversee privacy decisions and requires an independent third-party assessor to evaluate the effectiveness of Facebook’s privacy program. Mark Zuckerberg also must certify every quarter that Facebook is in compliance with the new privacy program. Any false certification will be subject to civil – and criminal – penalties.
How much personal information do you really want to share? A platform’s default settings may not be your most privacy-protective option. Whether it’s Facebook or any other platform, revisit your toolbars, privacy settings, etc., to make sure the system is set up to honor your choices and preferences.
Posted on: July 24, 2019
Source: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2019/07/what-ftc-facebook-settlement-means-consumers?fbclid=IwAR25kadvKTIPqkYV8xV6nRPSyDBpJYlN8oWg1YWmgIudSdir2X_iEgN3DRk
WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is revising the current naturalization test with improvements to ensure it continues to serve as an accurate measure of a naturalization applicant’s civics knowledge and that it reflects best practices in adult education assessments. The goal is to create a meaningful, uniform, and efficient test that will assess applicants’ knowledge and understanding of U.S. history, government and values.
This spring, the former USCIS director signed the Revision of the Naturalization Civics Test Memorandum (PDF, 202 KB). This memorandum announces the revision of the naturalization test and formalizes a decennial revision schedule of the naturalization test based on adult education best practices.
“Granting U. S. citizenship is the highest honor our nation bestows,” said USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli. “Updating, maintaining, and improving a test that is current and relevant is our responsibility as an agency in order to help potential new citizens fully understand the meaning of U.S. citizenship and the values that unite all Americans.”
In December 2018, USCIS formed a naturalization test revision working group with members from across the agency. The working group has been reviewing and updating the naturalization test questions. The working group will also assess potential changes to the speaking portion of the test. USCIS is soliciting the input of experts in the field of adult education to ensure that this process is fair and transparent. After careful analysis of the pilot, and thorough officer training, USCIS will set an implementation date in December 2020 or early 2021.
Section 312 of the Immigration and Nationality Act outlines the English and civics requirements for naturalization. By law, candidates for naturalization must have “…an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language…” and “…knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States…” This test revision will comply with all statutory and regulatory requirements, and USCIS will pilot it this fall.
In Fiscal Year 2018, USCIS naturalized nearly 757,000 people, a five-year high in new oaths of citizenship. The naturalization test revision is a key part of preparing legal immigrants to fully exercise their rights and meet their responsibilities.
For more information on USCIS and our programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and LinkedIn (/uscis).
Social media restrictions and other Texas laws go into effect Sunday. Here's what you need to know.
#JeanneMoralesAttorney #TexasLegislature #ScopeAct
Nonprofit sues Ken Paxton to block SCOPE Act that aims to protect kids from harmful internet content
