On June 10th of 2014, the Southern California
Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) (http://www.socalaila.org/) held their
annual “State of the District: Annual Meeting with USCIS” at the Los Angeles
Athletic Club in Downtown Los Angeles, California.
The dinner event had a panel of the leading agents of the
District 23 – Los Angeles District Office. This Government Immigration Office
has jurisdiction over the Southern California field offices in Los
Angeles County and City, Santa Ana, San Bernardino, and the San Fernando
Valley.
The acting District Director is Anna Chau, and the mailing
office for the District is: 300 North Los Angeles Street, Room 6570, Los
Angeles, CA 90012.
The event was filled with local immigration attorneys and a
10 person panel representing nearly all of the immigration field offices. The
panel reviewed several important issues and updates these offices were
experiencing and answered many questions from attendees. Unfortunately the
panel had to exit early due to the visit of Alejandro Mayorkas, Deputy
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Below are some of the questions and answers provided by the
District 23 agents:
·
Infopass:
o
Each field office has substantially increased
the number of infopasses it provides.
o
Limited emergency passes are provided at each
office for those that appear on the same day for emergency requests.
·
New Field Office building in San Bernardino at
995 Hardt Street San Bernardino, CA 92408.
·
Appointment for Biometrics:
o
Can have the biometrics appointment happen earlier if providing proof of need for expedited appointment. The best method is to schedule an
infopass first and to bring the appointment letter.
·
Motion to Reopen: when sending in a motion to
reopen to the district, email the field office director as well to give them
notice of the submitted motion.
·
You cannot speak or contact the specific officer
directly regarding issues.
·
To receive immigration benefits at a field
office, the beneficiary must be present with government identification (ID).
For example, a person with a lost Green Card must come with identification to
request the issuance of another card. In cases of emergency where the
beneficiary cannot attend, contact district supervisors.
o
If you need your Alien Number (A#), bring your
ID and the field office can look it up for you.
·
There is a backlog of I-90s currently.
·
Field Office cannot give I-551 stamps as they do
not have the authority or special ink required for the stamp.
·
Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly: the
consequences are still under discussion, but are accepted for DACA applicants
for now.
·
TPS is not considered departure for Advanced
Parole.
· In cases where appointments are pending more
than 60 days, email the Service Manager.
o
Recent scheduling issues with regards to cases
that were sent from Immigration Court have been corrected.
·
Gay Marriage: for conditional permanent
residents, the date is based on actual marriage and not the start of domestic
partnership.
·
Matter of
Qulantan cases are being approved at field offices.
o
If case is coming to the field office after
being approved by an Immigration Judge, officers will review the case fully
again to review the “entire picture”, though the standing of factual review from
court holds.
·
If any of the decisions that they say they will
do are not happening, go to the Director or Section Manager of the field
office.
·
The District is waiting for guidance for Notice
of Intent to Deny (NOID) for prior marriage fraud and due process issues
(Chambers v. Mayorkas)
- Due not rely on
this information as law – Please consult an immigration attorney -
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