I just received a call from a sweet couple who innocently and unwittingly applied for the husband’s adjustment of status. He was denied and will be placed in deportation proceedings because he’s not eligible for adjustment of status. I am posting this example but over the years, I’ve received dozens of these calls.
The USCIS website is deceivingly simple to use. It appears that you fill out a bunch of forms and presto you get a green card. Practically speaking, it doesn’t work that way. First, you need to figure out if the foreign national is eligible to fill out these forms.
In the example above, USCIS sent a Request for Evidence and told them to fill out an I-485 Supplement A. Even though he wasn’t 245(i) protected, they filled out the form, paid the $1,000.00 and didn’t attach any evidence.
If an attorney had been consulted, they would have found out that his only route was consular processing and the filing fees of $2,760.00 that they lost through his adjustment of status would have gone a long ways to a green card the right way.
It pays to consult an attorney before filing any paperwork for immigration benefits.
Recently, I spoke to a prospective client. She has been a lawful permanent resident or green card holder for the past 18 years. She is married to a U.S. citizen, has two U.S. citizen children, she and her husband have a business. In short, she is upstanding in all respects. Why did she call my office? She was accused of arson. She vehemently denies the charge. However, she is forced to spend a lot of money on defending herself. Not only does she have to hire a criminal defense attorney but she also has to hire an immigration attorney. Arson makes her potentially deportable.
I always urge my clients to naturalize at the earliest opportunity for five reasons:
- You can vote;
- You can enter the U.S. with a U.S. passport and not risk being held up in secondary inspection;
- You can petition relatives or a fiance(e);
- You will not be subject to deportation;
- You will never have to deal with immigration again.
On December 26, 2018, 400 Immigration Judges were furloughed in the face of 770,000 pending cases. Hearings for non-detained immigrants have been cancelled. Before this announcement, the average wait time in court is 2 years. Now, we are looking at rescheduled cases years into the future.
An example of the fallout means that applicants hoping to get cancellation of removal based on their relationship with aging relatives or minor children could miss their opportunity to do so if a relative passes away or children turn 18.
Between the quota of resolving 700 cases a year plus 300,000 reactivated closed cases, the current backlog could grow to over 1 million cases.
The callousness of this decision ignores the enormous responsibility we owe to the people that the government has placed in deportation proceedings whose lives have been seriously impacted.
