VARIOUS ITEMS

IMMIGRATION REFORM? MAYBE. MAYBE NOT. At this time, no one knows if there will be new immigration laws during Mr. Obama’s presidency. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee rejected the idea of giving 11 million illegal immigrants a special pathway to citizenship. He said the House of Representatives must produce its own immigration proposals even if these proposals never become law.

 If (repeat IF) there is a Comprehensive Immigration Reform that follows the Senate proposal, there will be some advantages and some disadvantages for the Vietnamese community.

In the Senate CIR, F2A petitions filed by Green Card holders for wife and children would move to the Immediate Relative Category, thus eliminating any waiting time.
 
F2B petitions filed for >20 children who were left behind in Vietnam would gain the priority date of their parent's petition, thus eliminating a waiting time for them.

Two items in the Senate CIR would not be helpful. US citizens sponsoring married children would need to file the petition before the child reached the age of 31, and the F4 category of siblings of US citizens would be eliminated.

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I-601A Provisional Waivers: If the spouse or child of an American citizen entered the US illegally or overstayed a non-immigrant visa, the I-601A Provisional Waiver procedure allows them to have their unlawful presence excused. To receive approval, they will have to show that if they had to remain outside the US for 3 or 10 years, it would cause extreme hardship to their American citizen spouse or parent. In this procedure, they will obtain their waivers before leaving the U.S. Then they will be interviewed abroad and return to their families in the U.S. within a few days.

CIS says that 35% of the waiver applications have been denied, but immigration practitioners estimate that the denial rate may be as high as 50%.

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Same-sex marriage and fiancée cases: On August 2nd, Secretary of State John Kerry made the situation very clear. He said, “Effective immediately, when same-sex spouses [or fiancées] apply for a visa, the Department of State will consider that application in the same manner that it will consider the application of opposite-sex spouses.” So, from now on, both traditional and non-traditional partnerships can be approved by CIS and the US Consulate in Saigon.

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First Anniversary of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals): The one-year anniversary of the DACA program for childhood arrivals was August 15. During the first year of the program, about 557,400 young immigrants had applied for a deferral from deportation. Roughly 75% of the applications had been approved as of June 30, about 1% had been denied, and 25% were still under review.


The DACA policy applies to undocumented immigrants who were younger than 16 when they came to the United States. They must have lived in the U.S. for at least five years continuously and currently be less than 30 years old. They must have clean criminal records, free of felonies and serious misdemeanors. To receive the two-year exemption from deportation that allows work and study, immigrants must clear a background check and pay a $465 application fee. The DACA status must be renewed at the end of two years. It is a temporary measure and does not lead to a Green Card.

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Q.1. If there are new immigration laws that affect F4 petitions for the siblings of US citizens, when will those laws take effect ?
A.1. No one knows exactly when new immigration laws will take effect. However, the Senate CIR proposal states clearly that after the new law is approved, sponsors will have 18 months to file F4 petitions. After that, no more F4 petitions will be accepted by CIS.

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Q.2. What is the main reason why so many I-601A Waiver applications have been denied?
A.2. CIS says that the reason is very simple. In most of the denied cases, the applicants did not include proof that they had paid the immigrant visa fee to NVC. Obviously, these applicants did not get help from qualified professionals.


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Q.3. Has the US Consulate in Saigon issued any visas for same-sex marriage or fiancée applicants?
A.3. All of the same-sex visa petitions are now being processed by CIS and NVC. After that, they will be sent to the US Consulate in Saigon for interviews. That will be several months from now.

In the US, CIS has already approved several same-sex Green Card applications. These were cases of long term partners living in the US who filed their visa petitions as soon as the DOMA law was removed by the US Supreme Court.

 
ROBERT MULLINS INTERNATIONAL www.rmiodp.com
Immigration Support Services-Tham Van Di Tru

9070 Bolsa Avenue, Westminster CA 92683 (714) 890-9933 
779 Story Road, Ste. 70, San Jose, CA 95122 (408) 294-3888 
6930 65th St. Ste. #105, Sacramento CA 95823 (916) 393-3388 
Cty Rang Mi: 47 Phung Khac Khoan, Q1, HCM (848) 3914-7638