Obama Immigration Executive Order:

Deferred Action for Millions of People

President Obama announced today that he will be signing an executive order granting deferred action and work authorization for up to 5.5 million aliens currently residing in the U.S. Here are some key points regarding what this executive order includes, what you should do at this time, and what to watch out for:

(1) The executive order grants Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, to children who entered the U.S. under the age of 16 and have lived in the U.S. continuously since January 1, 2010. The applicant no longer needs to have entered by June 15, 2007. The executive order also eliminates the age limit of 31 and does not create an upper age limit by which you would need to apply for DACA.

(2) The executive order grants deferred action and work authorization for a three-year period to parents whose children either have green cards/lawful permanent residence in the U.S. or are United States citizens.

(3) The executive order expands the provisional waiver program (I-601A waivers), meaning that if the applicant has been out of status or entered the U.S. illegally and therefore cannot get a green card in the U.S., he or she can now file an I-601A waiver application and if granted, be absent from the U.S. only for a week or so to pick up his or her visa from the consulate in the applicant’s home country.

(4) The executive order also directs ICE to concentrate their enforcement efforts onto criminal aliens, especially violent ones. If you have a felony in California, under Proposition 47, NOW would be the best time to talk to a criminal attorney to get it reduced to a misdemeanor ASAP. (We will be posting an article about how Prop. 47 could affect your immigration case within the upcoming week.)

(5) The executive order contains numerous other provisions regarding making travel outside the U.S. on advance parole easier and safer for recipients of deferred action, creating new categories for work visas and making existing business immigration laws friendlier to students in the science and technology fields. There are many other provisions that have not yet been rolled out that we will update you about in the upcoming weeks.

(6) The executive order will be signed tomorrow BUT will not be implemented until about 180 days after enactment or sometime during the middle of Spring of 2015 at the very earliest. Until then, there will be NO forms to fill out, NO applications to be submitted, and NO application fees to be submitted until it is implemented so please do NOT be fooled by unscrupulous immigration consultants, “notarios” (non-licensed “paralegals”), and attorneys who claim otherwise.

SO, SHOULD I DO ANYTHING NOW IF WE CANNOT FILE ANY FORMS YET WITH USCIS UNTIL SPRING? WHAT SHOULD I DO TO GET STARTED?:

***AT THE PRESENT TIME, WHAT YOU CAN AND SHOULD DO IS FILE A FOIA REQUEST WITH USCIS AND THE IMMIGRATION COURT TO OBTAIN YOUR ENTIRE IMMIGRATION FILES AND RECORDS. WE HELP PREPARE THOSE FOIA REQUESTS. WE CAN ALSO HELP YOU GET STARTED ON COLLECTING ALL OF THE EVIDENCE OF PHYSICAL PRESENCE IN THE U.S. FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS TO BE READY TO FILE FOR DEFERRED ACTION ONCE THE EXECUTIVE ORDER IS IMPLEMENTED IN SPRING OF 2015.***

CALL US NOW TO START THE PROCESS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT YOUR FILES/FOIA REQUESTS WILL BE RECEIVED IN TIME AND YOUR DOCUMENTS WILL ALL BE READY TO FILE WHEN THE FORMS ARE ISSUED BY USCIS AND THE EXECUTIVE ORDER IS IMPLEMENTED IN FULL IN THE UPCOMING MONTHS. (THIS WAY YOU CAN ALSO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE TOWARD THE FRONT OF THE LINE WHEN IT COMES TIME FOR OUR OFFICE TO FILE YOUR PAPERWORK WITH USCIS ONCE THE FORMS ARE ISSUED.)

WE ARE DACA EXPERTS AND EXPERTS IN DEFERRED ACTION WHO CAN HELP YOUR CASE SUCCEED. DON’T TRUST YOUR LIVES TO AMATEURS OR LESS EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS!

Call us at (818) 244-0310 to set up a consultation with one of our experienced professionals and to start the process of obtaining deferred action in the U.S.