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Archive for the ‘Immigration’ Category
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
We have been securing H-1B visas for our clients for more than 10 years. If you are interested in securing an H-1B visa, please contact our office to discuss the legal requirements and time frames. Please note that the January 8, 2010 Neufeld Memo has changed USCIS’s view on what the employer-employee relationship test is. Also please note that the Department of Homeland Security has been performing administrative site vistits at the worksite.
Please contact my office for more information at 513/793-6555 or immigration@geygan.com
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2011 cap on April 1, 2010. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS takes possession of a properly filed petition with the correct fee; not the date that the petition is postmarked.
The fiscal year cap (numerical limitation on H-1B petitions) for FY 2011 is 65,000. Additionally, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher are exempt from the H-1B cap.
USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received and will notify the public of the date on which USCIS received the necessary number of petitions to meet the H-1B cap. If needed, USCIS will randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit from the petitions received on the final receipt date. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions that are not selected, as well as those received after the final receipt date.
Petitions for new H-1B employment are exempt from the annual cap if the beneficiaries will work at institutions of higher education or related or affiliated nonprofit entities, nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations. Petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries who will work only in Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands are exempt from the cap until Dec. 31, 2014. Employers may continue to file petitions for these cap-exempt H-1B categories seeking work dates starting in FY 2010 or 2011.
Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap also do not count towards the congressionally mandated H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to process petitions filed to:
extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
allow current H-1B workers to change employers; or
allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
Posted in Employment, Employment Visas, Immigration | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
(U.S. 9th Cir) In a prosecution for reentry following removal from the U.S., the dismissal of the indictment is affirmed where the order instructing defendant to report for removal misinformed him that he had no administrative remedies and he was never told that he had a right to reopen to seek voluntary departure.
Posted in Deportation & Removal, Immigration Court, Reform/New Laws | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
In an action by a law firm seeking declaratory relief, arguing that plaintiff was not bound by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act’s (BAPCPA) debt relief agency provisions and therefore could freely advise clients to incur additional debt and need not make the requisite disclosures in its advertisements, the Eighth Circuit’s order rejecting the district court’s conclusion that attorneys are not “debt relief agencies” under BAPCPA, upholding application of BAPCPA’s disclosure requirements to attorneys; and finding BAPCPA section 526(a)(4) unconstitutional, is affirmed in part where: 1) attorneys who provided bankruptcy assistance to assisted persons were debt relief agencies under the BAPCPA; and 2) BAPCPA section 528’s requirements were reasonably related to the government’s interest in preventing consumer deception. However, the court of appeals’ order is reversed in part where BAPCPA section 526(a)(4) prohibited a debt relief agency only from advising a debtor to incur more debt because the debtor was filing for bankruptcy, rather than for a valid purpose.
Posted in Bankruptcy, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Reform/New Laws | No Comments »
Monday, March 8th, 2010
March 05, 2010
The Department of State warns American citizens of the dangers of travel to Colombia. While security in Colombia has improved significantly in recent years, violence by narco-terrorist groups continues to affect some rural areas as well as large cities. The potential for violence by terrorists and other criminal elements exists in all parts of the country. This updates and replaces the Travel Warning for Colombia issued November 10, 2009 to update information on recent security incidents and criminal activity.
In recent months there has been a marked increase in violent crime in Colombia. Murder rates have risen significantly in some major cities, particularly Medellin and Cali. Kidnapping remains a serious threat. American citizens have been the victim of violent crime, including kidnapping and murder. Firearms are prevalent in Colombia and altercations can often turn violent. Small towns and rural areas of Colombia can still be extremely dangerous due to the presence of narco-terrorists. Common crime also remains a significant problem in many urban and rural areas. For additional details about the general criminal threat, please see the Department of State’s Country Specific Information for Colombia.
The incidence of kidnapping in Colombia has diminished significantly from its peak at the beginning of this decade. Nevertheless, terrorist groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN), and other criminal organizations continue to kidnap and hold civilians for ransom or as political bargaining chips. No one is immune from kidnapping on the basis of occupation, nationality, or other factors. Kidnapping in rural areas is of particular concern. On July 2, 2008, the Government of Colombia rescued 15 hostages, including three Americans, who had been held for more than five years. Although the U.S. government places the highest priority on the safe recovery of kidnapped Americans, it is U.S. policy not to make concessions to or strike deals with kidnappers. Consequently, the U.S. government’s ability to assist kidnapping victims is limited.
U.S. government officials and their families in Colombia are permitted to travel to major cities in the country, but normally only by air. They may not use inter- or intra-city bus transportation, or travel by road outside urban areas at night. All Americans in Colombia are urged to follow these precautions.
Americans living or traveling in Colombia are encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy through the State Department’s travel registration website (https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/index.aspx) to obtain updated information on travel and security within Colombia.
The U.S. Embassy is located at Calle 24 Bis No. 48-50 Bogota, D.C. Colombia. Mailing address: Carrera 45 No. 24B-27 Bogota, D.C. Colombia. In case of a serious emergency that jeopardizes the health or safety of an American citizen in Colombia, please call the Embassy at (571) 315-0811; Embassy fax: (571) 315-2197; Consular Section phone: (571) 315-1566. The Embassy’s American Citizens Services office provides routine information at http://bogota.usembassy.gov. For questions not answered there, inquiries may be sent by email to ACSBogota@state.gov.
The U.S. Consular Agency in Barranquilla, which accepts passport applications and performs notarial services, is located at Calle 77B, No. 57-141, Piso 5, Centro Empresarial Las Americas, Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia; telephone (575) 353-2001; fax (011-57-5) 353-5216. The Consular Agency is not staffed to respond to after-hours emergencies; in case of an emergency in the Barranquilla/north coast area, please contact the Embassy in Bogota at (571) 315-0811.
As the Department develops information on potential security threats to U.S. citizens overseas, it shares credible threats through its Consular Information Program documents, available on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov. U.S. citizens should consult warden messages for Colombia at http://bogota.usembassy.gov/acs_wardenmessage.html, as well as the Department of State’s Country Specific Information for Colombia and the Worldwide Caution at http://travel.state.gov.
U.S. travelers may obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. and Canada or, for overseas callers, on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.
Posted in Immigration | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Citations are to the 2009 Statistical Yearbook
- Immigration court receipts increased by six percent between FY 2005
(370,007) and FY 2009 (391,829). Receipts in FY 2009 increased by 11
percent from FY 2008. (Figure 1, Page B2)
- Immigration court completions decreased by less than one percent
between FY 2005 (353,082) and FY 2009 (352,233). However, completions
in FY 2009 increased by four percent from FY 2008. (Figure 1, Page B2)
- Immigration judge decisions decreased by 12 percent between FY 2005
(264,785) and FY 2009 (232,212). (Figure 4, Page D1)
- Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and China were the leading
nationalities of immigration court completions during FY 2009, representing
69 percent of the total caseload. (Figure 6, page E1)
- Spanish was the most frequently spoken language for immigration court
case completions during FY 2009 at over 68 percent. (Figure 8, page F1)
- Thirty-nine percent of aliens whose cases were completed in immigration
courts during FY 2009 were represented. The representation rate for FY
2005 and FY 2006 would be 48 percent if failure to appear completions
were removed from the data. (Figure 9, page G1)
- The failure to appear rate decreased to 11 percent in FY 2009. (Figure 10,
page H1)
- Asylum applications filed with the immigration courts decreased by 27
percent from FY 2005 to FY 2009. Affirmative receipts decreased by 19
percent while defensive receipts decreased by 45 percent. (Figure 13,
page I1)
- In FY 2009, the New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA;
Miami, FL; and Atlanta, GA, immigration courts received 54 percent of the
total asylum applications filed with the courts. (Table 6, page I3)
- Six nationalities were among the top 10 nationalities granted asylum each
year during the five-year period FY 2005-09: China, Ethiopia, Haiti,
Colombia, India, and Albania. (Table 7, page J2)
- The grant rate for asylum applications was 47 percent in FY 2009. The
grant rate was 55 percent for affirmative applications and 36 percent for
defensive applications. (Figures 16, 17, and 18, pages K1 and K2)
- In FY 2009, the percentage of cases in which either asylum or withholding
of removal was granted was 56 percent. (Figure 19-B, page K5)
- In FY 2009, 24 percent of proceedings completed at the immigration courts
had an application for relief. (Figure 22, page N1)
- Fifty percent of FY 2009 immigration court completions involved detained
aliens. (Figure 23, page O1)
- BIA had a 23 percent decrease in receipts between FY 2005 (42,725) and
FY 2009 (32,859) and a 29 percent decrease in completions during the
same period. (Table 17, page T2)
Posted in Asylum, Deportation & Removal, Immigration, Immigration Court | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today issued a final rule amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 515 (CACR), to implement the President’s initiative of April 13, 2009, to reach out to the Cuban people in support of their desire to freely determine their country’s future, promote greater contact between separated family members in the United States and Cuba, and increase the flow of remittances and information to the Cuban people.
Today’s amendments to the CACR change the rules in three major areas: (1) family visits; (2) family remittances; and (3) telecommunications. These amendments also make certain technical and conforming changes to the CACR.
Family visits. OFAC has eased restrictions on travel-related transactions for visits to “close relatives” who are nationals of Cuba by issuing a general license.
Travelers may visit “close relatives” (including, for example, aunts, uncles,cousins, and second cousins) who are nationals of Cuba.
There is no limit on the duration of a visit to these “close relatives.”
There is no limit on the frequency of visits to these “close relatives.”
Authorized expenditure limits for travel within Cuba have been increased to match the expenditures allowed for all other authorized categories of travel to Cuba — specifically, the current State Department “per diem rate” for Havana (for use anywhere in Cuba) plus amounts for additional transactions directly incident to visiting close relatives in Cuba. The current “maximum per diem rate” is $179. For future updates to this rate, travelers may check the Department of State’s Office of Allowances web site (http://aoprals.state.gov).
Travelers may be accompanied by persons who share a common dwelling as a family with them.
Remittances. OFAC has also eased restrictions on remittances (including from inherited blocked accounts) to “close relatives” who are nationals of Cuba by issuing a general license.
Persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States may send remittances to “close relatives” (including, as noted above, aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins) who are nationals of Cuba. These amendments do not affect the prohibition on remittances to a “prohibited official of the Government of Cuba” or a “prohibited member of the Cuban Communist Party,” as defined in the CACR.
There is no limit on the amount of such a remittance.
There is no limit on the frequency with which persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States may send such remittances.
Authorized family travelers may carry up to $3,000 of such remittances to Cuba.
Remittances for emigration-related purposes continue to be subject to separate restrictions.
Remittances may be made from depository institutions. To facilitate this, depository institutions are permitted to set up testing arrangements and exchange authenticator keys with Cuban financial institutions.
Telecommunications. Certain telecommunications services, contracts, related payments, and travel-related transactions are authorized by general licenses. The CACR amendments ease the telecommunications rules in three broad areas, as well as allow travel-related transactions for the specific purpose of conducting business in all three areas.
Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction may contract with and pay non-Cuban telecommunications services providers to provide services to particular individuals in Cuba (other than prohibited officials of the Government of Cuba or prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party, as defined in the CACR). For example, an individual in the United States may contract with and pay a U.S. or third-country telecommunications company to provide cellular telephone service for a phone owned and used by that individual’s friend in Cuba. Moreover, a U.S. telecommunications services provider may enter into a contract with a particular individual in Cuba to provide telecommunications services to that individual.
Telecommunications services providers that are persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are generally licensed (1) to make payments incident to the provision of telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba and the provision of satellite radio or satellite television services to Cuba and (2) to enter into and perform (including making payments) under roaming services agreements with telecommunications services providers in Cuba.
Transactions incident to establishing facilities to provide telecommunications services linking the United States and Cuba, including fiber-optic cable and satellite facilities, are authorized by general license. The Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce licenses the exportation and re-exportation of goods and technology for the establishment of telecommunications facilities linking the United States and Cuba.
Two general licenses have been added authorizing, with certain conditions, travel-related transactions incident to authorized telecommunications transactions. One of these licenses authorizes, with certain conditions, travel transactions incident to the commercial export of telecommunications-related items that have been authorized by the Department of Commerce. The second license authorizes travel transactions incident to participation in telecommunications-related professional meetings.
New general license for TSRA travel-related transactions. The new amendments to the CACR also implement provisions of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Pursuant to section 620 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009, which amended the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSRA), there is a new general license for travel-related transactions incident to agricultural and medical sales under TSRA.
This new general license authorizes, with certain conditions, travel-related transactions that are directly incident to the commercial marketing, sales negotiation, accompanied delivery, or servicing in Cuba of agricultural commodities, medicine, or medical devices that appear consistent with the Department of Commerce’s export or reexport licensing policy.
A traveler may rely on this general license if he or she is regularly employed by a producer or distributor of the agricultural or medical items or by an entity duly appointed to represent such a producer or distributor, and if that traveler’s schedule of activities is consistent with a full work schedule.
Under the new general license, written reports must be submitted to OFAC at least 14 days before departure for Cuba and within 14 days of return.
Posted in Family based Immigration, Immigration, Reform/New Laws | No Comments »
Friday, February 26th, 2010
USCIS has once again changed filing locations for some of it’s most popular applications and petitions. Please double check before you file.
Beginning February 25, 2010, most applicants must submit Form I-485 to a USCIS Lockbox
facility, depending on the eligibility category under which they are filing, as provided in the form
instructions. USCIS Service Centers will forward all Form I-485 applications to the appropriate
Lockbox facility until March 29, 2010. USCIS will accept previous versions of Form I-485 until
March 29, 2010. After March 29, 2010, USCIS will only accept the Form I-485 dated “12/03/09.”Any
previous versions of the the form that are submitted will be rejected. After the transitional period,
the Service Centers will return any incorrectly filed Form I-485 with instructions to send the
application to the correct location.
At this time, applicants should not concurrently file Form I-485 with an Immigrant Petition for Alien
Worker (Form I-140) at a USCIS Lockbox facility. Refer to the Form I-140 filing Instructions for
information on how to file forms concurrently.
When filing Form I-485 at a Lockbox facility, you may elect to receive an email and/or text message
notifying you that USCIS has accepted your application. To receive notification, you must complete
an E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (Form G-1145), and attach it to the first page of
your application.
Revised Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or
Special Immigrant, and Revised Filing Locations
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that it has
posted a revised Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360). The new
form is dated “12/30/09,” and due to the changes, no previous versions of the form will be
accepted 30 days after publication. In addition to the revised form, there are changes to filing
locations. The changes are part of an overall effort to transition the intake of benefit request forms
from USCIS Service Centers to Lockbox facilities. Centralizing form and fee intake allows USCIS
to provide more efficient and effective initial processing of applications and fees.
Beginning February 25, 2010, applicants must file a Form I-360 with either the Vermont Service
Center, the Nebraska Service Center, or at a USCIS Lockbox facility. Where applicable, USCIS
Service Centers will forward Form I-360 petitions to the appropriate Lockbox facility until March 29,
2010. After the transitional period, the Service Centers may return incorrectly filed Form I-360 with
instructions to send the petition to the correct location. USCIS will accept previous versions of
Form I-360 until March 29, 2010. After March 29, 2010, USCIS will reject previous versions of the
form submitted.
When filing Form I-360 at a Lockbox facility, you may elect to receive an email and/or text message
notifying you that USCIS has accepted your petition. To receive notification, you must complete an
E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (Form G-1145), and attach it to the first page of
your petition.
Posted in Employment, Family based Immigration, Green Card, Green Card, Immigration, Reform/New Laws | No Comments »
Friday, February 26th, 2010
All expedite requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and are granted at the discretion of the Director. The burden is on the applicant or petitioner to demonstrate that one or more of the expedite criteria have been met. The criteria are as follows:
- Severe financial loss to company or individual
- Extreme emergent situation
- Humanitarian situation
- Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States
- Department of Defense or National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government)
- USCIS error
- Compelling interest of USCIS
If you are filing your application or petition:
You must provide a written explanation as to why the application or petition needs to be expedited. You may include supporting evidence with the request. Write “EXPEDITE REQUEST” at the top of your letter. When you file your application or petition, place your expedite request letter on the top of your documents.
If you have already filed your application or petition:
You can contact the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 1-800-375-5283. The NCSC will take a “service request” and forward your expedite request to the office with jurisdiction over the application or petition. You also have the options of 1). visiting your local office by scheduling an InfoPass appointment or 2). writing a letter to the local office or service center.
If you have an attorney, it is always best to have the attorney handle this and all other communications with USCIS for you.
Posted in Adoption, Citizenship, Employment, Employment Visas, Family Member, Family Visas, Family based Immigration, Green Card, Green Card, Green Card, Immigration, Investor Visas, Naturalization, Treaty Investors | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Introduction
On Jan. 12, 2010, Haiti experienced an earthquake of devastating proportions. This set of questions and answers provides information for United States citizens that have adopted a child or are in the process of adopting a child from Haiti prior to Jan. 12, 2010.
Questions and Answers
Q. I am in the process of adopting a child from Haiti, what can I do to bring the child to the United States?
A. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano has authorized the use of humanitarian parole for the following categories of orphans in Haiti:
Category 1 Cases
Description: Children being adopted by U.S. citizens prior to Jan. 12, 2010, who have been legally confirmed as orphans available for inter-country adoption by the Government of Haiti (GOH) through an adoption decree or custody grant to suitable U.S. citizen adoptive parents.
Required Criteria
•Evidence of availability for adoption MUST include at least one of the following:
◦Full and final Haitian adoption decree; or
◦GOH custody grant to prospective adoptive parents for emigration and adoption; or
◦Secondary evidence in place of the above.
•Evidence of suitability MUST include one of the following:
◦Approved Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition; or
◦Current FBI fingerprints and security background check; or
◦Physical custody in Haiti plus a security background check.
Please note, some of the children in this category will receive immigrant visas and others will receive humanitarian parole, depending on the completeness of the cases. Those who enter with immigrant visas will enter as aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Those who enter with humanitarian parole will need to have their immigration status finalized after arrival through an application for adjustment of status.
Category 2 Cases
Description: Children who have been identified by an adoption service provider or facilitator as eligible for intercountry adoption, were matched to prospective American adoptive parents prior to Jan. 12, 2010 and meet the below criteria.
Required Criteria
• Significant evidence of a relationship between the prospective adoptive parents and the child; AND of the parents’ intention to complete the adoption, which could include the following:
•Proof of travel by the prospective adoptive parents to Haiti to visit the child;
•Photos of the child and prospective adoptive parents together;
•An Adoption Service Provider (ASP) “Acceptance of Referral” letter signed by the prospective adoptive parents;
•Documentary evidence that the prospective adoptive parents initiated the adoption process prior to Jan. 12, 2010, with intent to adopt the child (filed Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition, and/or Form I-600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative, completed a home study, located an ASP to work with in Haiti, etc.).
• Evidence of the child’s availability for adoption, which would include the following:
•IBESR (Haitian Adoption Authority) approval;
•Documentation of legal relinquishment or award of custody to the Haitian orphanage;
•Secondary evidence in place of the above.
• Evidence of suitability MUST include one of the following:
•Approved Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition; or
•Current FBI fingerprints and security background check.
If the child you have adopted or are adopting meets these criteria, please send U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) detailed information about the adoption case at HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov. This e-mail address is dedicated to collecting information about adoption cases still pending in Haiti. Please include the name of the prospective adoptive parent in the subject line of the e-mail. Once we have your information, we will contact you with further information.
Q. How do I request Humanitarian Parole for the child I am in the process of adopting?
A. If you want to request humanitarian parole for a specific child you are in the process of adopting from Haiti, please send the request to HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov. Please include the name of the prospective adoptive parent in the subject line of the e-mail. You do not need to file Form I-131 or submit a fee for these cases.
Q. If parole is authorized, how will my child get out of Haiti?
A. The Department of State and Department of Homeland Security are coordinating the transport of Haitian orphans with approved travel documents to ensure their safe arrival into the U.S. Currently, children are traveling by both military and private aircraft. We urge families not to make individual arrangements and to assist us in coordinating with the orphanages on the ground. To obtain more information on the process for scheduling appointments for Orphan Screening at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, please see Q&A below on scheduling.
Orphanage directors should first schedule an appointment before taking their group of children to the Embassy for processing. Individuals or groups that appear at the Embassy without prior coordination may be turned away.
Q. If humanitarian parole is authorized, may I travel to pick up a specific child?
A. The Department of State (DOS) Travel Warning urges U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Haiti. Communications and transportation in Haiti are extremely limited and nearly all available resources are dedicated to the immediate search and rescue of Haitians. Updates to the DOS travel warnings for Haiti are available online at http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_4632.html
Once a child receives a visa or is authorized for humanitarian parole, we encourage you to work with your U.S. adoption agency and the orphanage staff in Haiti to identify an escort to bring the child to the United States.
Should you intend to travel to Haiti, USCIS strongly urges you to contact USCIS through Haitianadoptions@dhs.gov before traveling to ensure that all the paperwork necessary for your child to be paroled into the U.S. has been completed and that, if you have not been fingerprinted, you are fingerprinted in the U.S. Getting fingerprinted in Haiti may delay the processing of your case.
Q. Many documents were destroyed in the earthquake. What kind of secondary evidence can be submitted in the place of primary documents?�
A. Secondary evidence may include, but is not limited to, copies of records or correspondence referring to the existence of the destroyed or missing document, as maintained by an Adoption Service Provider or the prospective adoptive family, as well as affidavits of individuals with knowledge of the document or event.
Q. I am a prospective adoptive parent in the process of adopting a child in Haiti, but the adoption was not finalized prior to the earthquake. If DHS authorizes humanitarian parole for a child who was not legally adopted in Haiti, how will I obtain the legal authority to take the child into my home?
A: If you received an order from the Government of Haiti granting custody of the child to you, then the child may be paroled into your custody upon verification of the order, your identity and that of the child after the child’s arrival in the United States.
If you have not received a formal order granting you custody from the Government of Haiti, then the child may be placed in your care but some additional procedures must be followed first. These procedures are intended to protect children and ensure that those without final adoptions are placed with families that are able to care for them. These additional procedures may take a little time, but they are critical for keeping children safe. Children who cannot be placed with prospective adoptive parents will be well cared for. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has contracts with organizations around the country to care for unaccompanied children who are not U.S. citizens. For more information on this process, please review Information for Prospective Adoptive Parents available on the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services website.
Whether you become a sponsor or not, you will need to adopt the child under the adoption laws of your place of residence in order for the child to acquire permanent residence in the United States. More information regarding the process for finalizing the adoption in the U.S. will be provided on the USCIS website once available. If your child is over the age of 14, please contact us immediately by forwarding an email to HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov. To ensure that your request is processed correctly, please follow the instructions below:
1. In the subject line of your email type: “Child in U.S. – Over age 14″
2. In the body of the e-mail be sure to include:
•Your full name
•Your home address
•Your child’s name
•Your child’s date of birth
•Information about how to best contact you
Q. I am a prospective adoptive parent in the process of adopting a child from Haiti. What should I do if my Fingerprint Clearance has expired?
A. USCIS will review each prospective adoptive parent’s request for humanitarian parole on a case-by-case basis. If we determine that your fingerprint clearance(s) has expired, you do not need to take any action. USCIS will electronically rerun your prints. (Please do not send a request for updated fingerprint to HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov.) If you have not been fingerprinted by USCIS at any stage of your adoption process, please send an e-mail message to HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov and we will arrange a fingerprint appointment for you. Please include “FP Request” in the subject line of the e-mail.
Q. Is there any other way I can help orphans in Haiti?
A. We understand that some Americans want to respond by offering to open their homes. We certainly appreciate this generous impulse, but note that it can be extremely difficult to determine whether children are truly orphans. Children may be temporarily separated from their parents or other family members, and their parents or other relatives may be looking for them. In the first instance, we believe it is most important to focus on re-uniting separated children with their relatives. Some individuals may wish to assist by contributing to a reputable relief or humanitarian organization working in that country. More information can be found at the following Web sites:
•Department of State – http://www.state.gov or http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/ha/earthquake/index.htm
•United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – http://www.usaid.gov
•International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – http://www.icrc.org
•Interaction – http://www.interaction.org
Q. I have heard the Government of Haiti has stopped allowing orphans to leave Haiti. What will happen to my child if I am still in the process of adoption?
A. The United States government is working closely with the Government of Haiti to establish an efficient and transparent procedure to allow eligible children to depart quickly while also ensuring the best possible protection of unaccompanied and separated children.
The government of Haiti has not stopped allowing orphans to leave Haiti. USCIS is continuing to process cases that meet the DHS Secretary’s criteria for category 1 and 2, however we are unable to issue travel letters for each child to depart until we receive approval from the Government of Haiti (GOH). Once approval is received, we are able to issue travel documents to authorized children.
Q. Once the children in an orphanage have been screened, and evaluated, should the orphanage director bring the children to the U.S. Embassy?
A. We recommend against attempting to enter the U.S. Embassy, particularly with a group of children, without first scheduling an appointment in advance. There is a possibility that you may be turned away and scheduled to come back another day.
USCIS is proactively scheduling appointments at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince to screen Haitian children who were adopted or were in the process of being adopted by U.S. citizens prior to the January 12 earthquake. Whenever possible, we will schedule all children from the same orphanage/facility, at the same time.
To obtain more information on the process, please review the How to Schedule an Appointment for an Orphan Screening at the U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince fact sheet at www.uscis.gov.
Q. What are the medical screening requirements for adopted children from Haiti?
A. Before internationally adopted children come to the United States, they are usually required to go through a medical exam. However, due to the lack of available medical screening facilities and the burden of emergent medical needs in Haiti as a result of the January 12 earthquake, we anticipate that many children arriving as humanitarian parolees will not have completed their medical exams before they depart Haiti. Medical examinations are not required as a part of the humanitarian parole program.
As a result, it is important that all arriving adoptive children from Haiti undergo a medical screening process soon after arrival to screen for infectious diseases and other general health concerns. Additional guidance regarding medical exams for adopted children from Haiti is available from the Department of Heath and Human Services, Centers for Prevention and Disease Control Web: Information on Haiti Earthquake. �
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Q. If my child is traveling from Haiti, are there any specific provisions I should know when he or she arrives in the United States?
A. Please note that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer must inspect all individuals traveling to the United States when they arrive at a port of entry. For more information on the process for obtaining the legal authority to take into your home your child or the child you are in the process of adopting, please review the questions above or the Information for Prospective Adoptive Parents available on the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) website.
Q. I submitted the original adoption decree and other documents to the USCIS field office in Port-au-Prince. How do I get these documents back after my child arrives in the United States?
A. To request the return of original documents submitted to establish eligibility for an immigration benefit, please fill out Form G-884, “Return of Original Documents,” which is available to download from the forms section on USCIS’ Web, http://www.uscis.gov/forms.
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