Perspective on the interviews at our local immigration office

Lately, we have been going to lots of immigration interviews at our local immigration office. At the interviewing office, we often witness common mistakes that are made with applicants, and sometime with their representative. Here are a few tips we want to share with our clients and perspective clients. First and foremost, please be on time. Many applicants get lost even if they are using a GPS device. Worst, the Houston office where the interviews for permanent residency are held is not an easy location to find, but it is an easy location to get lost going to it. It is located in a warehouse building where most ordinary people would not think of. Remember that there are several immigration offices in the area. There is a main immigration building for naturalization and case status inquiries; and there is an immigration building for detaining foreign nationals. Then there are offices in other immigration buildings for secondary inspection and for asylum interviews. Applicants often go to the wrong building, and adjudication officers don’t appreciate tardiness because one delayed interview will cause the rest of the scheduled interviews to be delayed. Second, please dress appropriately. Applicants should avoid short pants, T-shirts with bold logos, and revealing clothes. Some of the adjudicating officers consider the interview to be a very important and formal event. Third, please bring the original documents that were used to submit the applications to the interview. Those documents include, but are not limited to: original birth certificate, certificate of naturalization, passport, I-94 form, marriage certificate, etc. Fourth, please bring documents to substantiate the proof of the claimed relationship. For marriage based cases, these documents are critical, and they include but are not limited to: photo albums, joint checking account statements, joint bills, leases, insurance, etc. In addition, please make Xerox copies of these proofs to submit to the adjudicating officers. The adjudicating officers are on a busy schedule, and they conduct interviews every 20 to 30 minutes. After the interviews, they have to process and complete the administrative matters for these cases, and sometime will have to follow-up on other cases in which the matters are complex or additional documents are missing. They do get frustrated when the applicants or their representatives are not prepared. Fifth, please be courteous with the adjudication officers. The applicants’ manner at the interview is part of the interview. Applicants should sit straight and should not be slouching on the seat at the interview. It is not necessary to bring children to the interview. The children’s birth certificates are sufficient to show the existence of a good faith relationship. However, please do bring an interpreter if the applicant’s English is not proficient.

Lastly, the adjudicating officers have heavy cases loads. There are interviews that are straight forward, and the documents and eligibility are identifiable. However, it just takes one interview for the officer to get behind or to get frustrated. They will have their good and bad days. Hopefully, you will help the officers to do their job by simply being truthful, respectful and being prepared so that the adjudicating officer will understand the issues and favorably adjudicate the applications.

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Posted on May 15, 2012 | Category: Newsletters

Changes at the U.S. Consulate in Saigon

Over the past years, the U.S. Consulate in Saigon has made significant strides to streamline the process of immigrant visa processing. The U.S. Consulate in Saigon is still considered to be a relative young post compare to other countries. The Consulate has only been processing immigrant and nonimmigrant visa about 10 years ago. Prior to this time period, the immigrant visa processing was conducted through the auspices of the U.S. Orderly Departure Program based in Bangkok, Thailand, and the nonimmigrant visa processing was not possible until the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi began the limited processing of student visa in 1996 and the tourist visa sometime in 2000. Now, the U.S. Consulate in Saigon has become a full service post and is the fifth largest post for immigrant visa processing in the world. The changes and the technological progress that the Consulate has made have led the U.S. Consulate in Saigon to be a competitive post for visa progressing as in any other countries.

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Posted on April 15, 2012 | Category: Newsletters

Trong hơn 10 năm qua, Tuấn đã đến với quý thính giả trong chương Trình Di Trú và Nhập Tịch mỗi tuần vào thứ Ba từ 3 giờ tới 4 giờ chiều qua làn sóng Saigon Houston Radio 900 AM và Saigon Dallas 890 AM. Từ ngày hôm nay và với sự nuối tiếc sâu sắc, Tuấn sẽ không còn phục vụ quý vị trên các đài phát thanh này. Đối với Tuấn, đây là một quyết định rất khó.

Cám ơn Chú Dương Phục và Cô Vũ Thanh Thủy và tất cả các nhân viên trên Đài đã dành cho Tuấn một cơ hội để phục vụ quý vị.

Và trên hết, Tuấn thành thật cảm ơn tất cả các thính giả cho phép chương trình Tuấn trở thành một thói quen đón nghe hàng tuần của quý vị. Thêm vào đó, Tuấn cũng chân thành cảm ơn nhiều thính giả đã gọi vào và đặt câu hỏi cho Tuấn.

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Posted on April 3, 2012 | Category: Newsletters

Updating address…

We cannot emphasize the importance of updating your address when you are seeking an immigration benefits before the government, especially, when there is a pending petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). It is frustrating to see a petition that has been pending for a long time with USCIS denied simply because the address was not updated and the petitioner failed to respond to a request for additional evidence. Even worst, an applicant or a foreign national could potentially have an in absentia order of removal because he or she fails to appear for the immigration hearing. There are a couple of examples that we want to share from our experience. A foreign national entered the United States as a tourist and overstayed on her visa. She married a U.S. citizen and filedfor adjustment of status with USCIS. Prior to the interview, she and husband were divorced. She and her husband did not communicate with each other thereafter. USCIS sent the denial notice to her ex-husband’s address and placed her in removal proceedings because she had overstayed. The immigration court sent her notice of the hearing to her ex-husband’s address as well. The court ordered her to be removed in absentia when she could not appear in court. Another typical example is a foreign national was admitted to the United States as a conditional lawful resident by marriage to a U.S. citizen spouse. She received her 2 years conditional residency card; thereafter, she and her husband moved to another city to start a business. She failed to remove her conditional residency, and her residency was terminated. She was placed in removal proceeding and notice was sent to her last known address that she provided when first entered the United States. She did not appear for court and was ordered remove in absentia. She then went to a local district office to ask for guidance for her residency card. The information officer advised her that she had an order of removal and Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) had to take her into custody. She was fortunate that the proceeding was reopened and her application for conditional removal of residency was granted.

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Posted on March 14, 2012 | Category: Newsletters

Changes that make sense

It has been a while that I have seen changes from the Department of Homeland Security that made sense. I am not talking about changes in the law but changes in the implementation of the law that was assigned to the duty and task of the Department of Homeland Security. The first of these changes occurred in early 2011 when the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) began to implement its elimination of the low priority cases from the immigration court dockets and instead to focus on its highest immigration enforcement priorities which include cases that involve national security, public safety, border security, and cases that compromise the integrity of the immigration system.  I want to be absolutely clear that there is no amnesty, no stoppage in removal of foreign nationals from the United States, and there are no changes in the enforcement side of the immigration law.  Rather, ICE devotes more attention and resources to the enforcement of the high priority cases.  After all, how many could you deport or remove when the budget and resources do not even amount to the enforcement of one tenth of the overall population of foreign nationals that are in the United States unlawfully.   Keep in mind that most of the low priority cases that were eliminated from the court dockets are cases in which the foreign nationals were eligible for relief from removal and should be granted residency status or cases in which it is not in the public interest to remove the foreign national, such as the victim of a criminal act.

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Posted on February 15, 2012 | Category: Newsletters