Volume Nineteen, Number Nine

SHUSTERMAN’S IMMIGRATION UPDATE October 2014 is the Web’s most popular e-mail newsletter regarding U.S. immigration laws and procedures with over 40,000 subscribers located in more than 150 countries. It is written by a former INS Trial Attorney (1976-82) with over 35 years of experience practicing immigration law.

Published by the Law Offices of Carl Shusterman, 600 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1550, Los Angeles, California, 90017. Phone: (213) 623-4592 x0.

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Client Reviews

Newsletter US Immigration Update October 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Illegal Deportation of Women and Children
2. DV-2016: The Last Green Card Lottery?
3. Shusterman’s Upcoming Immigration Seminars
4. E-1 Visa as Alternative to E-2 Visa
5. Success Story: Cancellation of Removal Victory
6. Trivia Quiz: Famous Immigrant Magicians
7. State Department Visa Bulletin for October 2014
8. Immigration Government Processing Times
9. Ask Mr. Shusterman: Questions at Your Marriage Interview
10. Winner of Our September 2014 Trivia Quiz!

Immigration Update October 2014 – NEWS FLASHES

• AB 60: Implementation of California Driver’s Licenses for the Undocumented – On September 19, 2014, the California DMV released a statement describing the progress it has made up until now in implementing Assembly Bill 600 (effective January 1, 2015) which promises to improve public safety for all Californians by making it a requirement that undocumented people follow the same license requirements as legal permanent residents and U.S Citizens living in California.

• Congressional Research Services Releases Report on Asylum and Gang Violence – The report describes the role that gang-related violence in Central America may play in determining whether or not unaccompanied children detained at the southwest border are eligible to apply for asylum.

• Deferred Enforced Departure Extended for Eligible Liberians in U.S. – On September 26, USCIS announced that it will automatically extend Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for Liberian nationals covered under Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). Current DED Liberia EADs that have an expiration date of September 30, 2014, will now be valid through March 30, 2015.

• Immigration “How-To” Videos – Our 60+ “How-To” Immigration Videos have been viewed over 700,000 times. Join our 1000+ subscribers on our YouTube channel. Subjects include how to obtain a green card through employment, how to become a US citizen, how to win your case in immigration court, how to select an immigration attorney and many other topics. Our video Green Cards through Marriage has been viewed over 200,000 times. We encourage you to take advantage of this free resource.

• TPS Extended and Redesignated for Sudan and South Sudan – On September 2, the DHS announced the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Sudan and South Sudan, effective November 3, 2014 through May 2, 2016. This allows eligible individuals to retain TPS and additional eligible individuals to apply for TPS. Those beneficiaries seeking to extend their TPS must re-register during the 60-day period from September 2 through November 3 of this year.

1. Illegal Deportation of Women and Children

Are we living in a country which allows women and children fleeing violence in their home countries to be denied the right to be released on bond and to be deported without a fair hearing before an Immigration Judge?

The following is a statement from Leslie A. Holman, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA):

“I am utterly outraged by the latest tactics the Obama Administration has used to inflict needless misery on mothers and children seeking asylum in the United States. I thought I’d heard it all: detention of thousands, separating families, speeding unaccompanied children through the courts, all done by a President who claims to be the “Champion in Chief” of immigration reform.

“But now he has sunk to a new low. After pro bono attorneys fought for weeks and months to finally get mothers and children allowed the chance to be released on bond, after relatives scrimped and scrounged to be able to cover the outrageously high bond requirements, now the Administration is trying to drag those mothers and children back to detention by appealing the bond decisions.

“We’ve only been able to get a handful of reasonable bond decisions from judges. Instead of modifying its approach, DHS has upped the ante. Its counsel is appealing bonds granted weeks ago, saying that their own immigration judges failed to correctly apply case law and that the cases need to be reviewed by a three-judge panel.

“The Administration’s argument that these families should be detained has been the same in every case. They should be ashamed to call these vulnerable families national security risks. How can the government say it has concluded that every infant, toddler, and mother poses a risk to our nation? I don’t understand why there has been this concerted campaign to imprison legitimate asylum seeking families, families who have fled violence and sought safety within our borders, as our law allows.

“He has chosen to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on jailing mothers and children and now he wants to renege on the approved bonds and lock them back up. He should be ashamed. Well, AILA and its volunteer lawyers stand behind these mothers and children and will stand beside them as they fight for their lives and the lives of their children. What appalls me the most is that this President refuses to do the same.”

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It is time for all immigration attorneys to stand up for women and children who are being refused bond and who are being denied due process of law by our government.

About 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico, the Artesia Temporary Facility for Adults with Children is a federal law enforcement training facility run by the Department of Homeland Security. Now the federal government has converted three former barracks to house the nearly 700 mothers and children under the age of 17.

Most of the women and children are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. They were captured after crossing the border into Texas and bussed here. Officials say most will be sent home.

In a YouTube video, former AILA President Laura Lichter describes the horrendous conditions at the Artesia prison. She spends long days inside the facility working with mothers. Laura says that many of her clients have spoken to her about issues of disrespect and name-calling from the agents on duty.

The actions of our government are inexcusable and harken back to the age of “separate, but equal” and the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

I urge immigration attorneys to consider volunteering to help women and children incarcerated in Artesia, New Mexico and across the US. Many immigration attorneys have already done so. Google “Snapshots from Artesia” to watch these attorneys describe what is happening in the detention facility.

You can also volunteer to represent a women/child in your home state. On September 27, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill appropriating funds for the legal representation of these women and children.

Working together, we can make a difference!

2. DV-2016: The Last Green Card Lottery?

On October 1, 2014, you should, if you are qualified, apply for the DV-2016 green card lottery.

Why?

It is free. If you win, you can get green cards for you and your family within a short period of time. There are 50,000 green cards and this may be your final chance to apply.

The Senate, in 2013, passed an immigration reform bill which would eliminate the DV lottery. It looks like the House will refuse to pass the Senate bill, but not because they like the lottery. They don’t! So, if both houses of Congress can get their act together in 2015 and pass immigration reform legislation, the DV-2016 green card lottery may be the last of its kind.

Do You Qualify for the DV-2016 Lottery?

You may unless you were born in a country listed below:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

By the way, persons in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are eligible to apply.

Just to make things a bit more complicated, if you were born in a country on the list, but your spouse was not, both of you can apply for the lottery.

If you were born in a different country where neither of your parents was born, and they were not legal residents of that country at the time of your birth, feel free to use the country of birth of either of your parents to apply for the DV-2016 lottery.

Also, you must be a high school graduate (or the equivalent) or have 2 years experience during the past 5 years in an occupation requiring at least 2 years of training or experience to perform.

You don’t need an attorney to apply, but you do need access to a computer (or a tablet or smart phone) since you must apply online at www.dvlottery.state.gov

The application period starts at noon on October 1, 2014 (Eastern Daylight Time) and ends at noon on November 3, 2014 (Eastern Standard Time). My advice: Apply early and avoid the crowds. Read the State Department Instructions carefully before you apply.

Be realistic: Over 10 million people will apply for 50,000 green cards and all applicants are not treated equally. About 20,000 of the DV-2016 green cards will be given to persons born in Africa and another 20,000 to persons born in Europe.

So, if you were born anywhere else in the world (Asia, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand), winning the DV-2016 will be a longshot, but what have you got to lose?

3. Shusterman’s Upcoming Immigration Law Seminars

AILA Southern California Chapter
Los Angeles, CA
October 1, 2014
Topic: Immigrant Visa Options for Self-Petitioners

AILA

Audio Seminar
October 9, 2014
Topic: Petitions for Nurses and Allied Healthcare Workers

Kaplan

Pasadena Kaplan Center
October 9, 2014
Topic: Immigration for IMGs – A Step by Step Guide

US Representative Grace F. Napolitano

Immigration Clinic
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
Baldwin Park, CA
October 25, 2014

City of Hope

Duarte, CA
October 30, 2014
Topic: Traveling Abroad on a Temporary Visa

Pincus Professional Education

Asylum, Detention, and Removal Seminar
Los Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles, CA
November 7, 2014
Topic: “Case Studies – Asylum”

2014 AILA California Chapters Conference

San Jose Marriott
San Jose, CA
November 13-15, 2014
Topic: Naturalization

JacobsCLE

The American Immigration Law Informer
Los Angeles, CA
November 24, 2014
Topic: “Temporary Working Visas and Green Cards through Employment”

PIHRA District #1

Anaheim Convention Center
Los Angeles, CA
February 18, 2015
Topic: “Employment-Based Immigration”

Immigration CLE

St. Mary’s University
San Antonio, TX
March 6, 2015

4. E-1 Visa as Alternative to E-2 Visa

One of the more commonly-asked questions by our clients during consultations is if they qualify for an E-2 non-immigrant investor visa. After learning of the qualifications, some people become disappointed to know that they may not have adequate funds to start a business in the United States. However, all may not be lost. What many people are surprised to hear is that they have another, less expensive, option. They can start a business using an E-1- Treaty Trader Visa.

Simply put, the main difference between the E-1 and E-2 visa is that E-2 visas are for investors while E-1 visas are for traders. E-1 visas are available to nationals of a treaty country (a country with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation) who want to come to the United States solely to engage in international trade on their own behalf. Certain employees of these persons, or even a qualifying organization, may also be eligible for E-1 classification.

Requirements for E-1 Treaty Trader Status

To qualify for E-1 classification, the foreign-born person must:

• Be a national of a country with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation;
• Carry on substantial trade; and
• Carry on principal trade between the United States and the treaty country which qualified the treaty trader for E-1 classification.

The issue then to be considered is what amounts to “Substantial Trade” and “Principal Trade”?

Substantial trade requires continuous flow of sizable international trade items, involving numerous transactions over a period of time. There is no minimum requirement regarding the monetary value or volume of each transaction. Even though monetary value is considered, more emphasis is given to the number of transactions. Essentially, this means that more frequent trading of machine parts of smaller value may be given higher importance than the import-export of one large value machine.

Principal trade between the United States and the treaty country exists when over 50% of the total volume of international trade is between the US and the trader’s treaty country.

Trade is the existing international exchange of items of trade for consideration between the United States and the treaty country. Items of trade include but are not limited to Goods, Services, International banking, Insurance, Transportation, Tourism, Technology and its transfer, Some news-gathering activities etc. As you can see, this is a very broad definition.

General Qualifications for an E- 1 Treaty Trader Employee

To qualify for E-1 classification, the employee of a treaty trader must:

• Be the same nationality of the principal employer (who must have the nationality of the treaty country)
• Meet the definition of “employee” under the relevant law
• Either be engaging in the duties of an executive or supervisory character, or, if employed in a lesser capacity, have special qualifications.

If the principal alien employer is not an individual, it must be an enterprise or organization at least 50% owned by persons in the United States who have the nationality of the treaty country. These owners must be maintaining nonimmigrant treaty trader status. If the owners are not in the United States, they must be, if they were to seek admission to this country, classifiable as nonimmigrant treaty traders.

Just like an E-2 visa, E-1 treaty traders and employees will be allowed a maximum initial stay of two years with unlimited extensions of two years at a time. All E-1 nonimmigrants, however, must maintain the intention to depart the United States when their status expires or is terminated.

How to Obtain E-1 Classification

If the foreign-born person seeking an E-1 visa is not physically present in the United States, he can apply directly at the appropriate US Embassy or Consulate. If the foreign beneficiary is in the United States on another valid non-immigrant status, he can file an I-129 petition along with all the required documentation with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

5. Success Story: Cancellation of Removal Victory

This month’s success story focuses on our client, Christine, who was granted cancellation of removal despite the fact that she came to the United States from the Philippines using a fraudulent passport and visa as well as an alias.

Once in the US, Christine obtained a social security number under her assumed name and began working. A few years later, she married her husband, also from the Philippines, and they had two sons together.

Unfortunately, during the birth of Christine’s two sons, there arose some unexpected complications. To begin with, Christine’s health insurance was provided through her employer and therefore was issued under her alias. When the time came to issue their birth certificates, she had to use this false name for consistency. Additionally, Christine’s youngest son, Mark, was born with congenital unilateral and atresia on the right side of his ear. He had a deformed outer ear, a missing ear canal, and suffered a significant loss of hearing, and required a lot of attention to ensure this condition would not worsen.

In 2005, Christine was charged with being present in the country without inspection and applied for cancellation of removal in order to remain in the US with her family. Two years later, however, the court denied her application and ordered her to depart the United States. The judge concluded that Christine had not sufficiently established that her family would experience sufficient hardship in her absence. The judge stated that Mark appeared to have recovered from his ear surgery that had been mentioned during Christine’s initial hearing and that the only pending care for him would be cosmetic. Furthermore, the court denied Christine’s request for a continuance to gather documents to show the future prognosis of Mark’s medical condition as additional evidence.

It was at this point that Christine came to our office seeking to appeal the decision.Attorney Elif Keles was assigned to the case, and explained to Christine that persons can obtain a green card through cancellation of removal if they can satisfy 3 requirements. Luckily, Christine already satisfied the first 2 requirements as she had maintained over 10 years of physical presence within the United States and was a person of good moral character.

The 3rd requirement, however, would be harder to meet, as Christine would have to show that she had qualifying relatives who would suffer “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” as a result of her removal. Therefore, the key to successfully reversing the court’s decision would be to establish such hardship to Christine’s US citizen sons.

Attorney Keles’ first step towards success was instructing Christine to obtain a court order to change the name on both of her son’s birth certificates. Although Christine had provided DNA test results indicating that she was the mother of her two sons during her first hearing, the corrected birth certificates would eliminate any further confusion as to the identity of the children’s true birth mother.

To help satisfy the hardship requirement, Attorney Keles highlighted the fact that Mark had been nominated as a good candidate for a Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid and that the Children’s Hospital had stated that Mark’s medical and social success would depend heavily upon the ongoing care and support from his family, especially his mother as the primary caregiver.

In the original hearing, the court had also claimed that Christine would have economic support from family members currently residing in the Philippines if she were deported. However, Attorney Keles argued that this was not true as both of Christine’s parents were now retired and that her brother and two nephews lived with her parents and relied on their support.

Furthermore, Attorney Keles submitted new evidence of the worsening country conditions in the Philippines, such as recent bombing activities, that would put Christine and her family in danger if they were forced to move. She also provided evidence showing that Christine’s employment in the Philippines would be uncertain due to the harsh age limit and job discrimination employers are freely allowed to practice.

Due to Attorney Keles’ perseverance, Christine application for cancellation of removal was approved. She now has permanent residence in the United States and can remain in the country with her family and give Mark the care he needs.

6. Immigration Quiz

Quiz Removed

7. State Department Visa Bulletin for October 2014

EMPLOYMENT CATEGORIES

In October, the beginning of the Federal Government’s fiscal year, most of the Employment-Based preference categories move forward, although there are some major exceptions.

EB-2 worldwide remains current and EB-2 PRC advances 5 weeks. However, EB-2 India does not advance at all, and it is expected to retrogress several years as the fiscal year progresses.

EB-3 worldwide (which now includes the Philippines) moves forward by 6 months, and EB-3 PRC advances 5 months. EB-3 India moves forward, but only by 1 week. Clearly, Congress needs to take action to abolish country-specific quotas.

EB-5 PRC is current again, but the State Department warns that this category will retrogress several years starting in May or June of 2015.

The following chart tells the story of the EB numbers in detail:

Categories	Worldwide	China (PRC)	India	Mexico	Philippines
1st	Current	Current	Current	Current	Current
2nd	Current	11-15-09	5-1-09	Current	Current
3rd	10-1-11	4-1-09	11-15-03	10-1-11	10-1-11
Unskilled	10-1-11	7-22-05	11-15-03	10-1-11	10-1-11
4th	Current	Current	Current	Current	Current
Religious	Current	Current	Current	Current	Current
5th	Current	Unavailable	Current	Current	Current

FAMILY CATEGORIES

The worldwide family-based (FB) categories each advance between 2 weeks and 2 months in October.

The Philippines family categories move forward between 1 and 5 weeks while 2 of the Mexican categories advance between 2 and 3 months.

The chart below tells the story in detail:

Categories	Worldwide	China (PRC)	Mexico	Philippines
1st	5-22-07	5-22-07	6-22-94	9-1-04
2A	2-1-13	2-1-13	7-22-12	2-1-13
2B	11-1-07	11-1-07	8-1-94	12-15-03
3rd	12-1-03	12-1-03	10-22-93	6-1-93
4th	1-22-02	1-22-02	2-1-97	4-8-91

8. Immigration Government Processing Times

We link to the most recent immigration waiting times for each of the four USCIS Service Centers, the National Benefits Center and the Administrative Appeals Office. We also link to the processing times of all of the 83 USCIS District Offices and Sub-offices. We link to the Labor Department’s page entitled “Processing dates for labor certification applications”. Finally, we link to the State Department’s “Visa Wait Times” page.

Read more…

9. Ask Mr. Shusterman: Questions At Your Marriage Interview

I used to conduct marriage interviews for the INS (now the USCIS). These are some of types of questions that I would ask. You should be prepared to answer these questions at your interview:

1. Questions About Your Home

The USCIS wants to make sure that you are really living together. They may ask whether you are living in a house, a condominium or an apartment. Do you own your residence or are you renting? If you are renting, whose name is on the lease, what is the amount of the monthly rent, who pays the rent, what checking account do you use to pay and what is the name of your landlord?

They may also ask how many bedrooms you have, have many sinks are in your bathroom, do you use an electric or a manual toothbrush, the size of your bed, the color of your sheets, whether your floor is carpeted and if so, the color of your carpet. What is your apartment number and on what floor is it?

2. Questions About Your Relationship

When and how did you meet? Were you introduced by a friend? What is the friend’s name? Have you met your spouse’s parents? Brothers and sisters? What are their names?

Who are you spouse’s best friends? Where does your spouse work? At what type of job? What is his/her salary? How long has he/she worked there?

3. Questions About Your Wedding

Who attended your wedding? Did your parents attend? Did your spouse’s parents attend? What did each of you wear? Did you have a religious or a civil wedding? Did you have a wedding reception, and if so, where was it held? Do you have wedding photos? What type of gifts did you receive and from who?

4. Questions About Your Honeymoon

Where did you go for your honeymoon? How long did you stay there? Do you have photos of your honeymoon? What hotel did you stay at?

5. Questions About Your Property

If you own your house, do you own it jointly? If you rent, do you have a joint lease? How many cars do you own? What kind of car do you drive? What color is it? What kind of a car does your spouse drive? What color is it? Do you have a joint car insurance policy? Do you have joint banking and checking accounts? What is the name of your bank? Do you have joint credit cards? What type of utilities do you and your spouse have?

When answering these questions, please remember the following 3 rules:

• Always tell the truth;
• Keep your answers short and do not volunteer information; and
• Never, never guess! If you do not remember an answer, simply say “I don’t remember”

10. Winner of our September 2014 Immigration Trivia Quiz!

Quiz Removed

Below is the message we received from the winner:

“Dear Mr. Shusterman,

The answers to the trivia questions are as follows:

Passports:

1. El Salvador
2. Philippines
3. Guatemala
4. Mexico
5. Honduras

The state that is seeing a growing number of undocumented immigrants come through its border is Texas.

The country from which most undocumented immigrants arrived is Mexico.

My name is Alicia. I am from Trinidad and I live in Florida. I am a stay at home mom. I have been a subscriber since 2007. I searched Google for the answers. I use your newsletter to stay up to date with the latest immigration news.”

Congratulations, Alicia! I look forward to helping you!

Carl Shusterman

Certified Specialist in Immigration Law, State Bar of California
Former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Attorney (1976-82)
Served as Member of AILA Board of Governors (1988-97)
Law Offices of Carl Shusterman, 600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1550
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: (213) 623-4592 x0, Fax: (213) 623-3720

“Mr. Obama needs to suspend all deportations until he can create a system that meets the basic standard of giving a fair hearing to every detainee who expresses a fear of persecution. He should allow the nearly 300 women and children who have already been deported to return and have their cases re-examined.”

– New York Times Editorial
August 25, 2014

Immigration Update October 2014 – Quick Links

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September 29, 2014

Disclaimer: Shusterman’s Immigration Update October 2014 is not intended to establish an attorney-client relationship. All information contained in this newsletter is generalized. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.