Kuzmin & Associates, PC

Kuzmin & Associates, PC Experienced immigration, Family, and Business Trancaction Attorneys.

09/17/2021

It's not a full Immigration Amnesty yet. But! Last week, the House Judiciary Committee wrote a provision for the upcoming reconciliation bill in the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending plan. Under this proposal an estimated 8 million Dreamers (children who came to the U.S. illegally as minors), TPS beneficiaries (from countries designated for temporary protection due to a natural disaster, for example), and undocumented essential workers will be able to apply for permanent residency. So if it passes, the Democratic proposal will allow over 8 million illegal residents to apply for permanent resident status in the US, leading to naturalization in just 5 years.

07/16/2021

On Thursday, July 15, US Attorney General Merrick Garland reversed a prior order by Trump’s Attorney General that barred immigration judges from closing deportation cases. Because of that, in the past, it was necessary to obtain consent from the ICE attorneys to close cases. In turn, ICE was very unwilling to consent to closure. Thus, many people, even those who were married to a US citizen and qualified to file an illegal presence waiver, could not file immigration waivers right away. They were forced to proceed with a deportation hearing and file two waivers – waiver of removal order and waiver of illegal presence. Now the judges are authorized to administratively remove cases, especially those considered “low priority”, essentially “freezing them.” This removes a case from court’s scheduling docket. Aliens can still get a work authorization and potentially remain in “authorized” status in the US for years to come. Aliens can also file an illegal presence waiver right away without any need to file a deportation waiver, if they have a qualifying relative who filed an I-130 for them. The legal rule reversal is great news. It will cut down on the backlog of immigration cases in the U.S., now estimated at over 1.3 million. Garland said that this new order will help immigration judges “to focus on higher-priority cases,” such as criminal aliens.

06/03/2021

International travel is still very restricted as COVID-19 pandemic is raging in many parts of the world. US Department of State announced that certain categories of travelers are eligible for exceptions and may apply for permission to travel to the US. These include travelers who are seeking to provide vital support or executive direction for critical infrastructure; those traveling to provide vital support or executive direction for significant economic activity in the US; journalists; students and those covered by exchange visitor programs; immigrants; and fiancé(e)s. These travelers may now qualify for a National Interest Exception (NIE) to travel to the United States.

03/26/2021

This week, in a rather dry piece of news largely ignored by the media, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to review a temporary order blocking a Trump policy that barred migrants who cross from Mexico outside a port of entry from applying for asylum. So for now the temporary freeze on the policy remains in force. However, the six judges disagreed. So who knows how the court will eventually rule on the policy itself? The bitter split between federal judges shows how polarized the immigration issues are even among judges. An average person may ask: Isn't law supposed to be clear? Why are even judges not sure if the law is lawful? Maybe President Biden will finally push the immigration reform through? Otherwise, it is not Congress, but federal judges who end up making rules, "shaping" public policy, and also "enforce" the current controversial immigration policies.

01/22/2021

On Wednesday, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Biden was set to send a comprehensive immigration reform bill to Congress shortly after being sworn in to office, proposing overhauls to key parts of the country’s system that would include a pathway to citizenship for many. The proposed legislation, titled the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, provides a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants, includes additional funding for border technology, and aims to address the root causes of migration in Central America. The bill would also seek to overhaul aspects of the legal immigration system by expanding certain visa programs, such as providing dependents of H-1B visa holders work authorization and preventing children from aging out of the system.

11/20/2020

USCIS is planning to limit work permits given to people with final orders of deportation who cannot be deported and granted release. While the goal is to protect the US workers, this new rule will spell disaster to many immigrant families, including their US-born children.
Also in the news: A new naturalization test is coming for those applying after December 1, 2020. It has not been revised in years.

11/15/2020

On Saturday November 14, a federal judge n NY found Trump's new rules on DACA invalid. Those rules did not allow filing of new DACA applications and limited renewals to 1 year only. Changes are on the way- slowly but surely!

11/06/2020

We recently filed two federal court petitions challenging denial of credible fear of asylum applicants who were then ordered removed. The decisions by DHS were totally unsupported and, frankly, twisted the truth. Apparently we are not the only ones having a problem with asylum guidelines. In its Nov 2, 2020 decision, the federal court in DC found that the Trump administration's new guidelines on asylum-seekers' initial fear screenings are illegal and ordered new fear screenings of those who were rejected. The truth prevails!
The case is Kiakombua et al. v. Wolf 19cv01872.

11/04/2020

UPDATE to previous post. The Seventh Circuit just stayed the decision of the District Court. This means that Form I-944 must still be filed if an immigrant wants to apply for a green card. But the fight is not over yet... Stay tuned.

11/02/2020

DHS public charge rule was finally invalidated today! This means that green card applicants do not need to prove that they have sufficient funds in order to qualify for US residency. You no longer need to file I-944 and supporting documents, including credit report, to get a green card. It has been a quite a fight in the last several months!
US District court sided with immigrants in Cook County, Illinois, et al v. Wolf et. al., (19-cv-6334) and ruled that (1) the public charge exceeds DHS’s authority under the public charge provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(4)(A); (2) is not in accordance with law; and (3) is arbitrary and capricious.

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