The International Business Law Firm PC

Author: Albert Lewis

  • President’s Executive Order Restoring America’s Welcome to Immigrants

    A man in suit and tie holding a microphone.

    The President has issued an Executive Order which changes the policy direction of the Federal agencies which implement the immigration system. This order, issued February 2, 2021, has already had changed policy in substantial ways, including the recent reversion of the plan to modify the Naturalization Civics test in ways that would have meant substantially more denials, based on a rationale that has now been rejected. As stated by the USCIS in a policy email:

    We determined the 2020 civics test development process, content, testing procedures, and implementation schedule may inadvertently create potential barriers to the naturalization process. This action is consistent with the framework of the Executive Order on Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems, which directs a comprehensive review of the naturalization process to eliminate barriers and make the process more accessible to all eligible individuals.  

    Applicants who filed their naturalization applications on or after Dec. 1, 2020, but before March 1, 2021, with an initial examination (interview) before April 19, 2021, will have the choice to either take the 2008 civics test or the 2020 civics test. We will notify applicants who are affected by the change. If the initial interview is scheduled on or after April 19, 2021, applicants will take the 2008 civic test. 

  • 4th Circuit Affirms Blocking of Trump Executive Order on Refugees

    Today, January 8, 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction of the Maryland US District Court blocking the President’s Executive Order 13,888 attempting to create an “opt-in” system requiring that both a state and a locality provide their affirmative consent before refugees will be resettled there, thereby substantially burdening and blocking the settlement of refugees to the United States as established by Congress. Upholding the preliminary injunction the Court stated:

    “The refugee resettlement program by its nature impacts refugees
    assigned to all nine resettlement agencies, which place refugees throughout the country. Enjoining the Order and Notice only as to the plaintiff resettlement agencies would cause inequitable treatment of refugees and undermine the very national consistency that the Refugee Act is designed to protect.”

    The full decision is located at 201160.P.pdf (uscourts.gov)

  • Re-Starting DACA – Filing as a Dreamer!

    A man in suit and tie holding a microphone.

    Thanks to recent court action, those who are eligible under the original DACA rules can now file new applications, despite the President’s executive order attempting to terminate the program. To do so, forms I-821, I-765, I-765WS must be filed with a $495 filing fee to the appropriate address. Substantial documentary evidence of eligibility must also be provided or the application will be either denied or rejected, even if the applicant is truly eligible.

    There are various online resources discussing eligibility and the filing, such as available through the Immigrant Legal Resource Center or the website Immigrants Rising. The USCIS page showing the changes to policy is located here.

    Of course it is strongly recommended that you file with the assistance of a lawyer to avoid the problems and delays or denials that result from incomplete applications, and IBLF stands ready to assist you with this process. To setup a consultation with IBLF and get started, submit this inquiry form: Click Here.

  • EMPLOYERS: How to Fill out or Update your Foreign Worker I-9s

    Every US employer must maintain USCIS Form I-9 for their US based employees, whether US Citizens, legal permanent residents or foreign workers. But for foreign workers, whose work authorization may be term limited, it is necessary to track and update that form when it expires.

    NEW HIRES: The work authorization document needs to be listed in Section 2 of the I-9 form, listing the expiration date of the document as listed on the document. However for certain TPS workers (from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan), subject to the automatic extension of their authorization in the recent Federal Register notice, the expiration date is as listed on the following table:

    A man in suit and tie holding a microphone.
    Table from Federal Register Document 20-27154

    EXISTING HIRED FOREIGN WORKERS: For RE-VERIFICATION of existing hires, you must update Section 3 of the I-9 with the new expiration date listed above. Note that if you have already used Section 3 on the original form, simply print a new copy of page 2 of the I-9 and attach it to the original I-9.

    Call or text IBLF (202-296-1111) if you have any questions on this procedure.

  • Extension of TPS Until October 4, 2021!

    The Department of Homeland Security is finally acting (on December 9, 2020) to comply with a court injunction affecting TPS holders for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras and Nepal, automatically extending their TPS status and work authorizations through October 4, 2021.

    Those people with expiring driver’s licenses should be able to obtain a necessary extension of their licenses until that date by taking their existing EAD card and a copy of the Federal Register Notice implementing that that extension, located at: http://federalregister.gov/d/2020-27154.

    Please call or text IBLF if you have any questions: 202-296-1111.

  • 4th Circuit Further Defines Family Asylum Group

    A comprehensive decision, Sandra Hernandez-Cartagena v. William Barr (https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/191823.P.pdf) by the 4th Circuit overturning and remanding a denial of asylum by an immigration judge, affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), affirms the legitimacy of a family unit as an appropriate social group for asylum protection. The Fourth Circuit found that the BIA’s decision denying the asylum claim was ” manifestly contrary to the law and an abuse of discretion.”

    The immigration judge and the BIA decided the case based on an analysis that a young woman was targeted by a gang individually, raped and beaten because she could not pay extortion, even though her brother had also been injured and the stated purpose of the extortion was to get the parents to pay money to the gang. This decision provides a good analysis for the pleading and testimonial requirements that support such an asylum claim, a situation which often results in denials when the victim of such extortion does not understand the legal requirements for such a claim.

  • CHANGE OF ADDRESS!!!

    IBLF has now changed its physical address from 1915 Eye Street NW – Fifth floor to a location just down the street on Farragut Square, same zip code (20006) on the 4th floor of the legendary Barr Building — 910 17th Street, Suite 408. Please note that this building has nothing to do with the current attorney general (William Barr) but was built in 1927 in the gothic style, named for prominent DC real estate developer John L. Barr, and is registered on the National Register of Historic places. In light of the Covid pandemic, we will continue working virtually as much as possible, but can receive clients in our new offices by appointment and with masks (!) and provide the services that we need including in-person meetings and business support. All other aspects of our business remain the same.

    NEW ADDRESS:
International Business Law Firm PC (IBLF PC)
910 17th Street NW - Suite 408
Washington, DC 20006-2604

    We look forward to serving our clients at this new location.

  • PROPOSED New USCIS Fees (Oct 2, 2020) – NOT IN EFFECT DUE TO COURT INJUNCTION

    Immigration benefit requestCurrent fee $Final fee $Change ($)Percentage change
    I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (online filing)455405−50−11
    I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (paper filing)455415−40−9
    I-102 Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document445485409
    I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant worker460N/AN/AN/A
    I-129CW, I-129E&TN, and I-129MISC46069523551
    I-129H14605559521
    I-129H2A—Named Beneficiaries46085039085
    I-129H2B—Named Beneficiaries46071525555
    I-129L46080534575
    I-129O46070524553
    I-129H2A—Unnamed Beneficiaries460415−45−10
    I-129H2B—Unnamed Beneficiaries460385−75−16
    I-129F Petition for Alien Fiancé(e)535510−25−5
    I-130 Petition for Alien Relative (online filing)535550153
    I-130 Petition for Alien Relative (paper filing)535560255
    I-131 Application for Travel Document575590153
    I-131 Refugee Travel Document for an individual age 16 or older135145107
    I-131 Refugee Travel Document for a child under the age of 161051151010
    I-131A Application for Travel Document (Carrier Documentation)5751,01043576
    I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker700555−145−21
    I-191 Application for Relief Under Former Section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)930790−140−15
    I-192 Application for Advance Permission to Enter as Nonimmigrant (CBP) 45851,400815139
    I-192 Application for Advance Permission to Enter as Nonimmigrant (USCIS)9301,40047051
    I-193 Application for Waiver of Passport and/or Visa5852,7902,205377
    I-212 Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the U.S. After Deportation or Removal9301,05012013
    I-290B Notice of Appeal or Motion675700254
    I-360 Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant435450153
    I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status 51,1401,130−10−1
     ——- (children under 14 years old)7501,13038051
    I-526 Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor3,6754,0103359
    I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (online filing)370390205
    I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (paper filing)370400308
    I-589 Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal05050N/A
    I-600/600A Adoption Petitions and Applications775805304
    I-600A Supplement 3 Request for Action on Approved Form I-600AN/A400N/AN/A
    I-601 Application for Waiver of Ground of Excludability9301,010809
    I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver63096033052
    I-612 Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement (Under Section 212(e) of the INA, as Amended)930515−415−45
    I-687 Application for Status as a Temporary Resident1,1301,13000
    I-690 Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility715765507
    I-694 Notice of Appeal of Decision-890715−175−20
    I-698 Application to Adjust Status from Temporary to Permanent Resident (Under Section 245A of the INA)1,6701,615−55−3
    I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence59576016528
    I-765 Application for Employment Authorization (Non-DACA)41055014034
    I-765 Application for Employment Authorization (DACA only) 641041000
    I-800/800A Adoption Petitions and Applications775805304
    I-800A Supplement 3 Request for Action on Approved Form I-800A385400154
    I-817 Application for Family Unity Benefits600590−10−2
    I-824 Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition465495306
    I-829 Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions3,7503,9001504
    I-881 Application for Suspension of Deportation or  72851,8101,525535
     —– Special Rule Cancellation of Removal5701,8101,240218
    I-910 Application for Civil Surgeon Designation785635−150−19
    I-924 Application For Regional Center Designation Under the Immigrant Investor Program17,79517,79500
    I-924A Annual Certification of Regional Center3,0354,4651,43047
    I-929 Petition for Qualifying Family Member of a U-1 Nonimmigrant2301,4851,255546
    N-300 Application to File Declaration of Intention2701,3051,035383
    N-336 Request for Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings (online filing)7001,7251,025146
    N-336 Request for Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings (paper filing)7001,7351,035148
    N-400 Application for Naturalization (online filing)6401,16052081
    N-400 Application for Naturalization (paper filing) / (prior reduced fee for low income) 640 / 3201,170530 / 85083 / 226
    N-470 Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes3551,5851,230346
    N-565 Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document (online filing)555535−20−4
    N-565 Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document (paper filing)555545−10−2
    N-600 Application for Certificate of Citizenship (online filing)1,170990−180−15
    N-600 Application for Certificate of Citizenship (paper filing)1,1701,000−170−15
    N-600K Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate (online filing)1,170935−235−20
    N-600K Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate (paper filing)1,170945−225−19
    USCIS Immigrant Fee220190−30−14
    Biometric Services (Non−DACA) 98530−55−65
    Biometric Services (DACA only) 10858500
    G-1041 Genealogy Index Search Request (online filing)6516095146
    G-1041 Genealogy Index Search Request (paper filing)65170105162
    G-1041A Genealogy Records Request (online filing)65255190292
    G-1041A Genealogy Records Request (paper filing)65265200308

  • 4th Circuit Upholds Block of Anti-Abortion Rule

    In a 9 to 6 en banc published ruling on September 3, 2020, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court injunction preventing implementation of a agency rule designed to prevent abortion counseling or referral by medical personnel on the grounds that it improperly violated medical ethics, interfering with the physician patient relationship, and improperly imposed costs on medical institutions and facilities without a permissible basis, violating Title 10 by requiring any entity receiving such funds to “physically separate their abortion-related services from the Title X services.”

    The decision (Baltimore v. Azar, US Dept of Health & Human Services, No. 19-164) had a strong dissent arguing that the agency’s ethical and moral policy judgments and analysis justified such restrictions and should not be questioned by a reviewing court, and that since federal money could not be used for abortion, denying information and referrals to clients was not gagging since the agency claimed it was simply restricting counseling on family planning, not health counseling, and therefore would be consistent with the goals of Congress in restricting such funds, and furthermore that the costs of physical separation in facilities was not adequately proven.

    Ironically, the dissenters are really arguing that providing knowledge of abortion is tantamount to promotion or encouraging it, in keeping with current administration policy that seeks to deny knowledge as a method of obtaining some policy goal. The majority strongly denied that there was any weakening of the rule against federal funding, and based their decision on medical ethics and costs.

  • 4th Circuit Denies Asylum Claim On Family Relation

    One of the most difficult areas of asylum law is to determine what social group you are in if you are claiming asylum, and if that is the reason that you are in danger of persecution. While membership in a family is now established as a possible social group, it is important to tie the danger of persecution to the membership in that family and not related dangers that may arise related to membership. At least in the US 4th Circuit.

    On June 26, 2020, the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its published opinion in the case of Jexte Cedillos-Cedillos v. William Barr (https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/182233.P.pdf) denying asylum because his claim was based on his personal danger due to having reported the crimes of those that would persecute him, and since it was based on his personal conduct, he was not eligible for asylum. This is a tricky issue that most may not understand. Reading this case, especially since it is a “published” opinion, and therefore has precedent value, explains the difficult analysis that must be made for a claim to be successful.