D.A.P.A. Denial Upheld by Appeals Court

A federal appeals court on Monday agreed to keep on hold President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration -- nearly a year after he announced it as a backstop measure to Congress' failure to enact comprehensive immigration reform.

The divided, 124-page ruling deals a blow to the administration's Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program, known as DAPA, and there may be just enough time for a formal appeal to the Supreme Court to be resolved ahead of the 2016 election.

In ruling against the government, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit largely agreed with a lower court judge, who in February issued a “nationwide injunction” that effectively stopped DAPA from taking effect, and concurred that Texas and other states that sued the president over the program had legal “standing” to challenge its constitutionality in federal court.

Read more at Huffington Post

JQK @ Southwestern Law School Immigration Panel

JQK @ Loyola Law School, Immigration Law Student Association Panel Oct. 2015 (1)

Draft USCIS Guidance on EB-5 Released

USCIS Released Draft Guidance on the Job Creation Requirement and Sustainment of the Investment for EB-5 Adjudication of Form I-526 and Form I-829.

Please see: http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Draft%20Memorandum%20for%20Comment/PED-Draft_Policy_Memo_Guidance_on_the_Job_Creation_Requirement_and_Sustainme.pdf

Episode 3 of the Immigration Lawyers' Podcast released!

Please visit www.ImmigrationLawyersPodcast.com for more.

4 Basic Requirements for the K-1 Fiance Visa

U.S. Judge Orders Release of Detained Immigrant Children

A federal judge in California has ruled that the Obama administration’s detention of children and their mothers who were caught crossing the border illegally is a serious violation of a longstanding court settlement, and that the families should be released as quickly as possible.

In a decision late Friday roundly rejecting the administration’s arguments for holding the families, Judge Dolly M. Gee of Federal District Court for the Central District of California found that two detention centers in Texas that the administration opened last summer fail to meet minimum legal requirements of the 1997 settlement for facilities housing children.

To read more, go to LATimes.com

Photo by Chris Potter

TPS Registration Period Extended for Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended the deadline for initial registration from May 20, 2015, to Aug. 18, 2015, for eligible nationals of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone (and people without nationality who last habitually resided in one of those three countries). 

For more information, please visit USCIS

USCIS Releases Processing Times for International Operations Offices

This month USCIS began releasing processing times for Applications and Petitions submitted to its International Operations Offices. This will help immigrants and their families and employers better plan their immigration timeline.

To see the timeline of the various international offices, please go to:

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/ptIntlIntro.do

To learn more about USCIS International Operations Offices, please go to: 

http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/directorates-and-program-offices/refugee-asylum-and-international-operations-directorate/international-operations

State Dept. Facing Technological Issues in Visa System

From the Department of State:

Passport/Visa Systems Errors

• The Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our visa systems.  These issues have resulted in delays in printing visas and may mean rescheduling some visa interviews.
• This issue is not specific to any particular country or visa category. 
• Overseas passports are now being processed.  Domestic passport services are functioning, and we were always able to issue emergency passports to U.S. citizens overseas with urgent travel needs.
• The Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) problems we are experiencing are not the same challenges we overcame last summer.  We are working urgently around the clock to correct the problems and restore our system to full operational status as soon as possible.
• We apologize to applicants who are experiencing delays or were unable to obtain a passport overseas, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or U.S. visa.  
• We are seeking to assist nonimmigrant visa applicants with urgent humanitarian travel.  Individuals with an urgent humanitarian need for travel should contact their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. 
• We are aware of pending overseas adoption cases, including in China.  We are prioritizing these cases and seek to issue these visas with few delays.
• We regret the inconvenience to travelers, and remain committed to facilitating legitimate travel while protecting our borders. 
• We will post updates to Travel.State.Gov as more information becomes available.

Q: Is this the same issue as last year? Was it not fixed?

• This is not the same issue as last year.

Q: What is going on?  Why can’t the Department issue visas, passports, and other travel documents? 

• We are working as quickly as possible to resolve our technical issues. 
• We apologize to travelers and recognize that this may cause hardship to individuals waiting for visas overseas.

Q: What caused this outage?  Was it a malicious action or hack?

• There is no evidence the problem is cyber security related. We are working urgently to correct the problem and expect the system to be fully operational again soon. 

Q: How is this affecting consular operations?

      Passports – Overseas Issuance of Passports

• Passport applications accepted overseas on or after May 26, 2015, were affected, but overseas passports are now being issued.  If you applied for a U.S. passport between May 26 and June 14 and have travel plans within the next 10 business days, please consider requesting an emergency passport at the U.S. embassy or consulate at which you originally applied.  Information about how to apply for an emergency passport is available on the website of the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

      Visas

• A hardware failure on June 9 halted the flow of biometric clearance requests from posts to the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD).   Individuals who submitted online applications or were interviewed for visas on or after June 9 may experience a delay in the processing. 
• The systems in place to perform required national security checks before we issue visas are experiencing technical difficulties.  As a result, we are unable to print visas. 
• We cannot bypass the legal requirements necessary to screen visa applicants before we issue visas for travel.
• As a result, there is a backlog of visas waiting to be processed.  We are working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue and to clear the backlog.  
• The technical issues we are experiencing have disrupted or prevented some of the Department’s primary data-share partners from accessing visa records.  

Q: Can you print a visa without using the data system?

• Security measures prevent consular officers from printing a visa until the case completes the required national security checks. 
• Service to our customers will be interrupted until the system is brought back online.  

Q: Can the Department just print travel letters for those who need to travel quickly?

• At this time we are able to issue passports to U.S. citizens overseas for emergency travel.
• Domestic passport operations are functioning.  U.S. citizens applying for a passport domestically will receive passports within the four-to-six week standard for routine passports and two-to-three weeks for expedited passports.
• We are seeking to assist nonimmigrant visa applicants with urgent humanitarian travel.  Please contact the embassy or consulate where you applied for additional information.

Q: How long before you restore full system functionality?

• Overseas passports are now being issued.  We are working urgently to restore visa processing.  We expect the systems to be fully operational again soon.

Q: How many overseas passport applicants have been affected?

• Overseas passport applications account for less than five percent of our annual passport workload. During the overseas passport systems issues that have since been resolved, we ‎were able to issue emergency overseas passports to U.S. citizens who needed them for urgent travel.

JQK Law Firm Now On Instagram

Follow the JQK Law Firm Now on Instagram!

https://instagram.com/LosAngelesImmigrationLawyer/

BREAKING: Govt. Hiring Thousands of Employees for Applications For Obama's Immigration Executive Order #DACA

A December 1 bulletin from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) details the immediate opening of 1,000 permanent federal employee positions at a new operational facility that will open soon in Crystal City, Virginia. Newly hired employees will be tasked with approving applications submitted by illegal immigrants taking advantage of President Obama's recently announced executive amnesty program...(Link)

Facebook Founder Supporting Immigration Reform - Skilled Workers

Facebook founder Mr. Zuckerberg and other Corporate giants have been making noise about pushing immigration reform. According to reports: 

"The 28-year-old billionaire is forming a political campaign group that is expected to focus initially on liberalising the US immigration and visa system. 

Mr Zuckerberg, who has previously donated $100 million (£65 million) of his $13 billion fortune to the state school system in his native New Jersey, is said to be ready to use another $20 million on the new venture. 

Work on the group will reunite him with Joe Green, his room-mate at Harvard University, who also went on to be a successful technology entrepreneur.  

The pair are courting other financial backers. Technology firms such as Mr Zuckerberg's social networking giant have complained that America's strict migration controls prevent them from recruiting talented foreigners and overseas graduates." (The Telegraph)

Hopefully their lobbying will help increase the H-1B visas for top level international talent to come and increase US productivity.