John Stahl

Executive order on visa process, screening and refugees temporarily halted

 

On February 3, 2017, a District Court judge in Seattle issued a temporary injunction which halted the enforcement of the Jan. 27th executive order banning travel for persons from seven countries and suspending refugee processing. Over the past weekend, the Trump administration requested the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to immediately lift the injunction. The injunction halted the travel ban on people from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen and restarted the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, including allowing Syrian refugees to be resettled in the U.S.

The State Department, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Customs and Border Protection have issued respective statements announcing their compliance with the injunction.

The 9th Circuit denied the administration’s request to lift the injunction and have scheduled a hearing for today, Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 6pm Eastern Time. A decision is expected soon afterwards and the case will most likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, regardless of the outcome.

The injunction could be lifted and the travel ban put back in place at any moment. People who are affected are advised to book flights immediately. Currently, those with valid visas may travel to the U.S. They do not need to apply for a new visa unless their visas were canceled with a physical stamp or annotation.

Some airlines have confirmed that affected people traveling to the U.S. will be allowed to board flights. Travelers covered by the orders should confirm that the airline they choose will allow them to board before they book a flight. Travelers also should carry contact information for an attorney before boarding a flight. The travel ban could potentially be reinstated during a flight and people covered by the restrictions could be detained by Customs and Border Protection upon arrival.

Updates on the Executive Order affecting the visa process and entry to the U.S.

 

According to the U.S. Department of State, the Executive Order does not restrict the travel of dual nationals, so long as they hold the passport of an unrestricted country and possess a valid U.S. visa.

“Our Embassies and Consulates around the world will process visa applications and issue nonimmigrant and immigrant visas to otherwise eligible visa applicants who apply with a passport from an unrestricted country, even if they hold dual nationality from one of the seven restricted countries.

At this time, there are no changes to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).  However, as before the Executive Order, dual nationals of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Sudan are not eligible for the Visa Waiver Program and must have a visa for travel.  Such individuals may apply for a visa as needed at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate.  Dual nationals of Yemen, Libya, and Somalia and a VWP country may continue to travel under the VWP unless they have travelled to any of the seven countries on or after March 2011, in which case they must first apply for a U.S. visa.

The Executive Order does not restrict the travel of dual nationals from any country, so long as they hold the passport of an unrestricted country and possess a valid U.S. visa, if required.

The U.S. Department of State has posted additional information on the affect of the Executive Order on the visa process for nonimmigrants and immigrants.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on their website with further information and developments regarding entry to the U.S. under the Executive Order.

President Trump Signs Three Executive Orders on Immigration

 

On January 25, 2017, President Trump signed two executive orders–one addressing border security and enforcement and the other addressing interior enforcement. On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed a third executive order relating to visa issuance, screening procedures, and refugees.

In the first two executive orders, the President announced that he would order the Department of Homeland Security to construct a Southern border wall, increase the size of the enforcement agencies, and require that states and localities engage in immigration enforcement to supplement federal efforts. “Sanctuary” cities will now be at risk of losing federal grant funding. The President also drastically altered the current immigration enforcement categories, eliminating guidance that directed officers to prioritize the most dangerous individuals for removal. The order reinstates the Secure Communities program that resulted in the widespread unlawful detention and subsequent removal of numerous individuals for traffic stops and other civil violations. The announced enforcement actions will take Secure Communities of the past even further by directing law enforcement to focus their attention on individuals who have not even committed a crime. Over the next few weeks and months, we expect the President’s cabinet and agencies’ staff to begin implementing the directives in these orders.

Late Friday, the President issued another executive order announcing an immediate four month suspension of the entire U.S Refugee Resettlement program, a reduction of the annual refugee admissions ceiling by more than half, and a ban on the admission of all Syrian refugees for the immediate future. In addition, the President will impose an immediate 90-day ban on nearly all admissions of nationals from the seven designated Muslim-majority countries: Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan.

The US Department of Homeland Security provided further details of the travel ban in a recent statement:

“For the next 90 days, nearly all travelers, except U.S. citizens, traveling on passports from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen will be temporarily suspended from entry to the United States. The 90 day period will allow for proper review and establishment of standards to prevent terrorist or criminal infiltration by foreign nationals.

Importantly, however, Lawful Permanent Residents of the United States traveling on a valid I-551 will be allowed to board U.S. bound aircraft and will be assessed for exceptions at arrival ports of entry, as appropriate.  The entry of these individuals, subject to national security checks, is in the national interest. Therefore, we expect swift entry for these individuals.

In the first 30 days, DHS will perform a global country-by-country review of the information each country provides when their citizens apply for a U.S. visa or immigration benefit. Countries will then have 60 days to comply with any requests from the U.S. government to update or improve the quality of the information they provide.

DHS and the Department of State have the authority, on a case-by-case basis, to issue visas or allow the entry of nationals of these countries into the United States when it serves the national interest.  These seven countries were designated by Congress and the Obama Administration as posing a significant enough security risk to warrant additional scrutiny in the visa waiver context.

The Refugee Admissions Program will be temporarily suspended for the next 120 days while DHS and interagency partners review screening procedures to ensure refugees admitted in the future do not pose a security risk to citizens of the United States.

The Executive Order does not prohibit entry of, or visa issuance to, travelers with diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, C-2 visas for travel to the United Nations, and G-1, G-2, G-3, and G-4 visas.

The Department of Homeland Security along with the Department of State, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation will develop uniform screening standards for all immigration programs government-wide.

Upon resumption of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, refugee admissions to the United States will not exceed 50,000 for fiscal year 2017.

The Secretary of Homeland Security will expedite the completion and implementation of a biometric entry-exit tracking system of all travelers into the United States.”

Any inquiries can be made to the Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC) at their Woodside, Queens’s office at (718) 478-5502 or at their Woodlawn, Bronx office at (718) 324-3039.

Further updates will be posted on the EIIC website www.eiic.org.

 

 

 

 

Diversity Visa (DV-2018) Green Card Lottery Public Meetings

dv2018-all-meetings-flyer

EIIC announces dates for Public Immigration Information sessions for the community at Bronx and Queens offices and continues to offer free assistance with green card lottery applications and general consultations

The annual diversity visa lottery registration and application period opens once again on October 4th through noon on November 7th for those who are eligible to apply for a green card to reside permanently in the United States. Applications will only be accepted online via the U.S. Department of State official website at www.dvlottery.state.gov.

In recent years there has been an increase in online scams promising green cards or quicker service for a fee.  EIIC’s Immigration Attorney and Director of Immigration Legal Services, John A. Stahl, Esq., urged those interested in applying to note, “There is no fee to apply and there is only one official website to register.” He advises individuals to ignore any email offers to help complete or expedite the application process.

Please call either of our offices if you need assistance with your application. Alternatively, if you have questions about any immigration matter, please note the dates and places of our upcoming public meetings from 6pm to 8pm:

  • October 25, 2016, Queens, EIIC Office, 59-26 Woodside Ave, 2nd Floor, Woodside, NY
  • October 27, 2016, Bronx, EIIC Office, 4275 Katonah Ave, Woodlawn, NY

The immigration legal services staff at the Center is once again appealing to potential applicants to apply early this year, cautioning that the official DV Lottery website can get frozen closer to the deadline of noon on Monday, November 7th. Regretfully, we will be unable to accommodate last minute walk-ins during the final week of the DV Lottery registration period.

If you are a member of a local group or organization and would like our staff to speak to your group on the DV Lottery in October or on any immigration topic at a future meeting, please contact John A. Stahl, Esq., Director of Immigration Legal Services and Immigration Attorney at 718-478-5502, extension 201.

Check our website for additional information and upcoming public meeting dates at www.eiic.org

EIIC Immigration legal services staff has helped many apply who are currently in the United States on the visa waiver program or on a temporary work visa and are still in status. “The green card lottery is a yearly opportunity for qualified applicants who are legally in the United States or overseas to attain permanent resident status here with no strings attached”, according to EIIC’s Immigration Legal Services Director, John A. Stahl.

Each year, 50,000 green cards are made available through a lottery system to individuals who come from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The State Department’s Kentucky Consular Center holds the annual lottery and chooses winners randomly from about 8-10 million qualified entries. About 100,000 entries are selected and given the opportunity to apply for permanent residence. If permanent residence is granted, then the individual, their spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21 will be authorized to live and work permanently in the United States. “The DV Lottery is one of the few ways that exist to apply for a green card. Despite the low allocation of green cards to Ireland, it is worth the effort, if you really do want a long term option to stay legally in America,” stated Siobhan Dennehy, EIIC’s Executive Director. “I equate the odds to playing the New York State Lottery as there are over 8 million applications from all over the world annually. Although you apply for the green card in 2016, you will not be notified about your application until 2017 and you won’t actually receive the green card itself until 2018, that’s why they call it the 2018 DV Lottery, which can be confusing.”

Only natives of certain countries are eligible to apply for the green card lottery. Those born in the following countries are NOT eligible to apply for the DV-2018 lottery because a total of more than 50,000 immigrants came from these countries to the U.S. in the previous five years: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom and its dependent territories (except Northern Ireland) and Vietnam. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible. An applicant may, however, claim the country of birth of their spouse, if eligible, or of either parent if they were born in a country of which neither of their parents was a native or a resident at the time of their birth.

All applicants also must have a high school diploma or the equivalent, defined in the United States as the successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education or they must have two years of work experience within the last five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform. Entries for the DV-2018 diversity visa lottery must be submitted electronically from noon on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 through noon on Monday, November 7, 2016. Applicants may access the electronic diversity visa entry form at www.dvlottery.state.gov only during the 30-day registration period beginning October 4th. Paper entries will not be accepted. All entries by an applicant will be disqualified if more than one entry for the applicant is received, regardless of who submitted the entry. Applicants may prepare and submit their own entries, or have someone submit the entry for them. The Department of State will issue DV lottery entrants an electronic confirmation number and notice upon receipt of a correctly completed Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form.

Applicants must also attach separate digital photographs of themselves, their spouses and unmarried children less than 21 years of age (except children who are already permanent residents or U.S. citizens). The photographs must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format and meet specific resolutions (minimum 600 pixels high by 600 pixels wide), color depths (24-bit color) and kilobytes (maximum 240 KB) requirements. If a photograph print is scanned, the print must be two inches square and be scanned at a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) and with specific color depths. The photograph must be taken within the last six months and no glasses may be worn in the photo. If the digital image does not conform to the specifications, the application will be automatically disqualified.

Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified entries. All applicants will be required to go back to the website to find out whether their entry has been selected in the DV-2018 lottery or to find out they have not been selected. Selectees will only be notified of their selection through the “entry status check” available starting May 2, 2017 at the website www.dvlottery.state.gov. The online entry status check will be the only means by which selectees will be notified of their selection for DV-2018. The Kentucky Consular Center will not be mailing out notification letters. Those selected in the random drawing are not notified of their selection by e-mail. Those individuals not selected will be notified of their non-selection through the web-based “entry status check.”

No fee is charged to enter the annual DV program. The U.S. Government employs no outside consultants or private services to operate the DV program. Any intermediaries or others who offer assistance to prepare submissions for applicants do so without the authority or consent of the U.S. Government. Use of any outside intermediary or assistance to prepare a DV entry is entirely at the applicant’s discretion. A qualified entry submitted electronically directly by an applicant has an equal chance of being selected by the computer at the Kentucky Consular Center as does an entry submitted electronically through a paid intermediary who completes the entry for the applicant.

The current immigration laws carry heavy penalties for visa overstays.  Those who have overstayed their visa by 6 months, face a 3 year bar upon their departure from the United States, if they have overstayed for one year or more, they are subject to a 10 year bar. Successful lottery applicants who are undocumented in the US must be processed for a visa at a US Consulate abroad under existing immigration laws. Departing the US will trigger the 3 or 10 year bars making them ineligible for a visa. Undocumented lottery winners with a relative petition or an employer labor certification pending before April 30, 2001, may be eligible to be interviewed in the United States under Section 245(i), provided they have not triggered the 3/10 year bars by leaving the US.

Inquiries may be made to the EIIC at their Woodside, Queens’s office at (718) 478-5502 or at their Woodlawn, Bronx office at (718) 324-3039 or on the EIIC website www.eiic.org.

The EIIC is a member of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers, for further information about Irish centers in the US providing free assistance with DV lottery applications please refer to their website at www.ciic.usa-org

DV-2018 Handout

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