Law Offices of Jane Oak & Associates

In honor of our 15th year (and Jane's 20th year practicing law), here are a few photos of the individuals working hard on your cases! We are LOJO! PC: James Estacio Kim

New H-1B Electronic Registration Process For the Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B cap season, USCIS will implement a new electronic registration process for the next H-1B lottery. Employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions, including advanced degree exemption petitions, must first electronically register and pay a $10 registration fee. Before this electronic registration process was in place, H-1B employers filed their full H-1B petition packages with USCIS. USCIS would random...ly select petitions and then return all unselected petition packages. This resulted in a lot of unnecessary paperwork and mailing costs. Now, H-1B employers will be required to complete registration process that requires only basic information about their company and the beneficiary worker. The initial registration period will be from March 1 to 20. The H-1B lottery process will randomly select from these electronic registration. Selected registrations will then be eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions. USCIS has posted instructions informing employers how to complete the registration process on its website. If USCIS does not receive enough registrations and petitions to each the numerical allocations, the Service may continue accepting registrations or open an additional registration period. Disclaimer: The content in this article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an experienced immigration attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. For more information, please contact [email protected], or call (213) 738-8989 to schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney from the Law Offices of Jane Oak & Associates.

Security-Enhanced Travel Documents On October 24, USCIS began producing new security-enhanced U.S. travel documents to prevent tampering, counterfeiting and fraud. Prior versions of the travel document will remain valid until their expiration dates. The new travel documents are booklets that have the appearance of a passport and can replace two other currently existing documents:... 1. They can serve as Reentry Permits, allowing lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to return to the U.S. after temporary international travel. In some cases, a Reentry Permit can be used for travel in place of a passport. 2. They can serve as Refugee Travel Documents, allowing refugees or asylees to return to the U.S. after temporary international travel. In some cases, a Refugee Travel Document can be used for travel in place of a passport. The new travel document will have the following new features: A redesigned booklet cover Montages of notable U.S. architecture throughout the booklet A combination of visible, microscopic and hidden (required laboratory examination) security features Disclaimer: The content in this article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an experienced immigration attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. For more information, please contact [email protected], or call (213) 738-8989 to schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney from the Law Offices of Jane Oak & Associates.

Parole in place for military members and their families For those who are family members of members of the military and who entered the U.S. without inspection, an option called parole in place is available on a case-by-case basis. In recognition of the important sacrifices made by U.S. armed forces members, veterans, enlistees and their families, USCIS provides support in the form of discretionary parole in place (PIP). Parole is granted in one-year increments to spouses, ...widows/widowers, parents, sons or daughters of active-duty military members, Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve military members, or military members who served (whether still living or deceased) and were not dishonorably discharged. Once the family member receives PIP, s/he is eligible to apply for adjustment of status. According to immigration regulations, individuals who seek to adjust status must have entered the U.S. legally. If PIP is granted, the government is creating a legal entry for the individual without requiring the individual to depart the U.S. and re-enter. Family members who entered the U.S. lawfully but who overstayed are not eligible for PIP. However, they may qualify for deferred action. Those in removal/deportation proceedings who are seeking PIP must persuade the government to join in a request to the court to terminate the proceedings. Disclaimer: The content in this article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an experienced immigration attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. For more information, please contact [email protected], or call (213) 738-8989 to schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney from the Law Offices of Jane Oak & Associates.

New Rule on EB-5 Program Changes to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program have been expected for a while. A new rule changing the EB-5 program was published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and will go into effect on November 21, 2019. The new rule does the following things:... Priority date retention certain investors can keep the priority date of a previously approved EB-5 petition when they file a new petition. Increased minimum investments o The standard investment amount increased to $1.8 million (from $1 million). o The investment amount for targeted employment areas (TEAs) increased to $900,000 (from $500,000). o Increases will occur every 5 years. Designations of targeted employment areas (TEAs) o DHS will determine TEAs, not state and local governments. Clarified procedures for removal of conditions, regarding o Timing of independent I-829 filings of derivative family members o Flexibility in interview locations o Current process for issuing permanent resident cards The basic EB-5 requirements remain the same. To apply for permanent residence, EB-5 investors must make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise, and create/preserve 10 full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers. Disclaimer: The content in this article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an experienced immigration attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. For more information, please contact [email protected], or call (213) 738-8989 to schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney from the Law Offices of Jane Oak & Associates.

New Rule on Public Charge Considerations USCIS plans to implement a new rule on the public charge ground of inadmissibility on October 15, 2019. The new rule expands the definition of public charge, lists the public benefit programs that likely make someone considered to be a public charge, and provides procedures for how will determine whether an application is likely to become a public charge. Immigration law has long held that a foreign national who is likely at any tim...e to become a public charge is inadmissible to the U.S. People who are likely to receive any of the following public benefits for more than 12 months in the aggregate within a 3-year period will be considered a public charge. Prior list of cash programs (having received any of these benefits at any time would be considered a negative factor): o SSI o TANF o Medicaid for long-term care o State general assistance/relief Additional non-cash programs (receiving any of these benefits after October 15, 2019 would be considered a negative factor): o Medicaid (except for emergencies, education-related services, school-based services, benefits received while under age 21, and pregnancy benefits) o Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, a.k.a. food stamps) o Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program o Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, and o Public Housing Adjudicators have been given new guidance related to analyzing applicants for public charge grounds of inadmissibility. The sponsor’s affidavit of support will receive less focus, and more attention will be given to the totality of the applicant’s circumstances, including age, education/skills, health, family status, and financial resources. The new public charge analysis is complex, so we recommend that you seek counsel from an experienced immigration attorney. Disclaimer: The content in this article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an experienced immigration attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. For more information, please contact [email protected], or call (213) 738-8989 to schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney from the Law Offices of Jane Oak & Associates.

As many of you already know, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Wednesday, April 22, which temporarily suspends the issuance of immigrant visas to foreigners seeking permanent residency from abroad (also known as immigrant visas) for 60 days. The Order does NOT apply to those who are in the U.S. already, seeking to change their status to permanent residents with USCIS (also known as Adjustment of Status). The Order also does NOT apply to: Lawful permanent residen...ts of the United States (including conditional permanent residents) Spouses and children of U.S. citizens Healthcare professionals (including physicians, nurses, healthcare professionals, or research scientists) Members of the Armed Forces and their spouses or children Applicants for visas pursuant to the EB-5 program The Order does not directly impact or affect non-immigrant applications filed within the United States, such as applications for change of status or extension of status (non-Immigrant categories include E-2, E-3, H-1B, L-1, O-1, F-1, etc.) The current Order is likely to affect a relatively small group of people, given the exemptions included, and given the fact that travel restrictions and in-person visa interviews abroad had already been suspended, even before the Order. If you have specific questions about the Order and how it may affect your case, please call our office to schedule an appointment to speak to on of our attorneys. Our office continues to monitor any news and policy changes that directly relate to immigration and the services that we provide to our clients.

We realize that you may have several questions about President Trump's recent Twitter announcement about signing an executive order halting immigration. It is rumored that he may sign such an Executive Order sometime this week, however, very little information about the classes of immigrants and non-immigrants who may be affected by this has been provided to the public. We anticipate that there will likely be a federal injunction filed against this Executive Order, likely c...hallenging the legality and constitutionality of such an order, in which case, the execution and implementation of this Order will also likely be stymied as well. USCIS has already postponed and/or delayed all in-person services, including biometrics appointments and interview appointments - both of which have always been required prior to green card approval and issuance. Due to Covid-19 and limitations of these in-person services, we already anticipated that greencard issuances would be delayed even before the Executive Order. Our office continues to closely monitor the situation and will be posting updates on the current situation on our Facebook page (Link: Law Offices of Jane Oak & Associates). We are happy to answer specific questions you may have if/when the Executive Order is signed and invite you to schedule a call with one of our attorneys. However, at this time, no such Executive Order has been signed and details as to what the Executive Order will contain are yet to be revealed. We thank you for your understanding and patience.

USCIS Office Closures On March 18, 2020, USCIS temporarily closed field offices and application support centers (ASCs) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, suspending all routine in-person services. These closures have been extended through May 3, 2020. USCIS plans to reopen its offices on May 4 unless the public closures are extended further. However, USCIS is still operational and continues to perform duties that do not involve contact with the public, and emergency services are a...vailable for limited situations. For example, USCIS service centers continue to accept routine filings, and ESTA visitors are permitted to apply for Satisfactory Departure to obtain a 30-day extension on their status. Field offices will send notices to applicants with scheduled appointments and ceremonies. USCIS asylum offices will send notices of cancellation and of new interview appointments. Only after USCIS resumes normal operations will ASC appointments be rescheduled. Applicants who need InfoPass appointments must call the USCIS Contact Center to reschedule them. The USCIS Contact Center is still operational. Information specific to each field office closure can be found on uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings, and USCIS encourages applicants to check on the status of their local office closure before calling the Contact Center. Certain USCIS field offices have permanently closed. These are the field offices in: Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Jackson, South Carolina Fort Sill, Oklahoma Greer, South Carolina Montgomery, Alabama Oklahoma City, Oklahoma The following USCIS international offices have closed permanently: Amman, Jordan Field Office Athens, Greece Field Office Bangkok, Thailand Field Office Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Field Office Frankfurt, Germany Field Office Johannesburg, South Africa Field Office Lima, Peru Field Office Monterrey, Mexico Field Office Manila, Philippines Field Office Moscow, Russia Field Office Port-au-Prince, Haiti Field Office Seoul, South Korea Field Office Bangkok, Thailand District Office Mexico City, Mexico District Office Rome, Italy District Office The following USCIS international offices are temporarily closed to the public until further notice: Nairobi, Kenya Field Office Rome, Italy Field Office Beijing, China Field Office Guangzhou, China Field Office Disclaimer: The content in this article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an experienced immigration attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. For more information, please contact [email protected], or call (213) 738-8989 to schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney from the Law Offices of Jane Oak & Associates.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all of the people who are suffering due to the COVID-19 crisis. Our entire staff is working from home, but we are still able to provide immigration counsel over telephone/video, and we are able to prepare and send out applications and petitions to USCIS. It is our understanding that USCIS is still receiving and processing applications and petitions, but with potentially longer processing times. The only things that they have stopped are in...terviews, ASC appointments, and premium processing services for I-129 and I-140 petitions. It is important to note that USCIS will still expect timely filings to change or extend your status, so it is imperative to still seek legal counsel early in order to get the filings done before your status expires. We have decided to make all consultations free of charge through the end of April, so please call our office at (213) 738-8989 to set up an appointment if you have any questions or concerns about your immigration status or process. Thank you!