Category Archive

Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “IMMIGRATION”

Legal Permanent Residents should avoid traveling outside the US

During the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions can change quickly for both lawful permanent residents and others seeking to enter or return to the United States. If at all possible, traveling outside the United States should be avoided except in the most urgent situations. If you are a lawful permanent resident (LPR), you should keep the following concepts in mind when …

When Will the US Embassy Act on My Visa?

US Embassies Prioritize Visa Applications to Remedy Backlog The Covid-19 crisis has affected immigrant and nonimmigrant visas processing at U.S. Embassies and has created a backlog. The State Department is working to reduce this backlog by prioritizing visa categories. The highest priority is given to immigrant visa applications for U.S. immediate relatives, fiancé applicants and other family-sponsored applicants. Priority is …

Since the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) became available to Venezuelans and Burmans, many questions have arisen for the citizens of these countries, who previously filed for political asylum

One of the most common is: Does the asylum office act differently towards me if I have also applied for TPS or Deferred Deportation (DED)? The answer is both “no” and “yes”. “No”, the asylum office does not process an asylum claim differently if the applicant had been granted DED or holds TPS. Eligibility for asylum is not adversely influenced …

Presidential Proclamation Ends Discrimination of certain Foreign Nationals

Did you apply before January 2021 for an immigrant Visa? Was it rejected because you are a national of one of the group of countries that were banned during Trump’s administration? If so, you can now reapply with a waiver or ask the embassy to reconsider your prior application. On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed a Presidential Proclamation “Ending …

Burma has been designated for TPS

Syria extended till September 2022 Secretary of Homeland Security is designating Burma (Myanmar) for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. This new designation of Burma for TPS enables Burmese nationals (and individuals without nationality who last habitually resided in Burma) currently residing in the United States to file initial applications for TPS, so long as they meet eligibility requirements. …

Are you a national of Liberia or Venezuela?

The Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status allows citizens from Liberia, and soon, Venezuela, to remain in the country for the time established in the Federal Register and with the option to obtain work authorization. The DED is a temporary migratory benefit for individuals from designated countries and regions, facing political or civic conflict or natural disaster to stay in the …

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

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 …

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 …

Re-Starting DACA – Filing as a Dreamer!

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 …

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 …

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Steffanie J. Lewis is a founding attorney, vice president and secretary of IBLF and, since 1999. She is counsel to several corporations, including an international trade association, an international foundation, an international computer demographic marketing corporation, a U.S. airline with international routes, an international artist & company, a national medical laboratory, a national self defense association, and numerous individuals with claims in products liability, aviation and real estate contract, medical malpractice, and numerous criminal offenses.

In addition to her corporate role, Ms. Lewis supervises all immigration work, representing clients in Immigration Court and multiple Federal circuits, most actively in the Fourth Circuit dealing with the immigration implications of fraud, criminal matters, due process, and statute interpretation.

Albert Z. Lewis is the managing attorney of the law firm, responsible for the administration, and service for the various technologies being used.

Mr. Lewis’s particular specialties are the electronic filing done with the USCIS, as well as through the ECF systems for the US District Courts, as well as EDGAR, the computer filing system for the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He also appears regularly in Immigration Court, supervises all aspects of family-related immigration filings, and has written numerous appeal briefs for immigration and other appeals. He has represented children and adults under the Criminal Justice Act, through programs at the DC Superior Criminal Court as well as the DC Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect.