My Law LLC Immigration Lawyers Office: September 2017

Saturday, September 30, 2017

The REAL ID Act and passports

Your passport is valid for 10 years, and a child’s passport is valid for five. However, many countries require you to have validity through six months after your return date in order to travel. So, check your expiration date this month and mark down when you should renew your passport, especially if you travel overseas frequently. Passports can take anywhere from four to six weeks to renew, or three weeks via expedited service that’ll cost you an extra $60.

The REAL ID Act means that U.S. state IDs must have certain security features and data attached to them in order to be valid, and IDs are typically necessary to get on a plane. Not all states currently have standardized these enhanced security features, yet the REAL ID Act is set to take effect in early 2018 — so all states that are not compliant have been granted an extension. The full list of states with non-complying features can be found on the Department of Homeland Security’s website. If your state is one, you’ll need to make sure you’re flying with a REAL ID-compliant id by October 2020.

B2 Visitor Visa

When you apply for visitors visa extension, it can either be approved or denied. If your visitors visa extension is denied, there are several consequences depending upon various situations.

Prior to I-94 Date

If your visitors visa extension is denied prior to the expiration date of the CURRENT I-94 date, there are no consequences and you should leave normally before it expires.

Past the I-94 Date

As long as you filed the extension application before the expiration date of the current I-94 form, you are in legal status as long as the application is pending or 240 days, whichever comes first. However, if you are still in the U.S. when your extension application is denied, you immediately go out of status. You will have to leave immediately. It is understood that there are practical difficulties in leaving on the same day. It takes time to arrange the air tickets, pack the bags and so on, but legally, there is no grace period.

Visa is Void

If you are in the U.S. past your I-94 date, and if your visitor visa extension is denied, then the visa is considered automatically cancelled. When the visa is cancelled, they don't have to stamp or strike off the actual visa stamp in the passport. They just make an entry in their computer. That means, if you try to enter the U.S. with that visa stamp again, you will not be allowed.

Even though some people have reported that they were allowed entry into the U.S. after such an incident, there are others who have been denied. Some people are not willing to accept the fact and continue to argue and take whatever position is convenient to them. However, the fact remains that your visa is void. You will have to apply all over again at the consulate when you want to visit next time.

My Law, LLC

Immigration & Tax Law Firm

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Phone: (630) 903-9625

1700 Park Street, Suite 203

Naperville, IL 60563

E-mail: attorney@mylawllc.com

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Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Trump Ends DACA, No New Applications Accepted

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday it is ending DACA, the Obama-era program that allowed undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to remain in the country, while also giving Congress a six-month window to possibly save the policy.

For those whose permits are set to expire before March 5, 2018, though, the U.S. government will also allow them to renew their DACA status — provided their applications are received before Oct. 5, 2017. Currently, there are about 201,000 young adults whose authorizations are set to expire this year, officials at the Department of Homeland Security explained Tuesday.

Otherwise, beginning today, the U.S. government isn’t going to consider any new DACA applications, leaving still hundreds of thousands of its beneficiaries, known as Dreamers, in legal limbo.

On one hand, the delay on enforcement gives Congress some time to decide whether to preserve the program by writing a law. Absent that, though, these Dreamers would be at risk for deportation — even as government officials stressed Tuesday they are not going to target these young adults in the future.