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Every family should have a Family Preparedness Plan. While it is our hope that you never have to use your plan, it is a good practice to have one in place to help reduce the stress of the unexpected. This packet will help everyone create a Family Preparedness Plan, regardless of immigration status. However, because of the additional challenges immigrant and mixed status families face, we also have additional advice for immigrants.

Alien smuggling can affect an immigrant in several different ways:  Alien smuggling is a ground of inadmissibility, a ground of deportability, a bar to good moral character, and a conviction for alien smuggling is an aggravated felony.  Screening for alien smuggling is particularly important in light of Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security John Kelly’s memoranda directing his agency to prioritize immigration enforcement against alien smugglers, and U.S. Attorney General Jefferson Sessions’ directive to federal prosecutors to prioritize prosecution of alien smuggling.  This practice advisory will walk through what “alien smuggling” is, how it can affect an immigrant client in each of these contexts, and practice tips for when alien smuggling might come up in your client’s case.

Sobre la base de una reciente decisión del Noveno Circuito o viajando por Advance Parole, una persona que entró inicialmente sin inspección en los EEUU puede ajustar de estatus y solicitar la residencia permanente. Este aviso en español contiene información para personas con el estatus de protección temporal y para personas que viajaron con Advance Parole sobre cómo pueden ser elegibles para este proceso.

The recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, Ramirez v. Brown, provides an opportunity for certain people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to apply to adjust status. This advisory explains the implications of the Ramirez decision, with examples to illustrate. This advisory is particularly significant for people, such as TPS holders from Nicaragua, whose TPS will end. 

A conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) may or may not hurt an immigrant, depending on a number of factors set out in the Immigration and Nationality Act:  the number of CIMT convictions, the potential and actual sentence, when the person committed or was convicted of the offense, and the person’s immigration situation. A single CIMT conviction might cause no damage, or it might cause a variety of penalties ranging from deportability to ineligibility for relief to mandatory detention.

This practice advisory is designed to introduce practitioners to the concept of Conditional Permanent Residence, and to explain the requirements and processes  for removing the conditions on residence,  thereby enabling the conditional resident to obtain Lawful Permanent Residence that can last indefinitely.

USCIS recently updated the Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status.  Among other notable changes, the new form has increased in length from six pages to 18 pages, the form instructions are now 42 pages, and the section on eligibility and inadmissibility has been expanded to include entirely new questions about working without authorization, false claims to U.S. citizenship, and unlawful voting.  This advisory provides an overview of changes to the Form I-485, and discusses a few new or changed questions that we think merit particular attention.  The changes we discuss apply to both the June 2017 and December 2017 revisions to the Form I-485.

This page provides several tools: an updated and a comprehensive Practice Advisory on the legal issues; a Practice Alert on the Policy Manualamendment; community flyers that you can download and use to help warn clients and community; and a sample written warning about working in the industry from the California Employment Development Department.

This advisory is a follow-up to the ILRC’s free webinar on hardship in waivers from the fall, 2017. Given the volume of questions received during the webinar and overall strong interest in this topic (over 1,000 people registered for this webinar!), this advisory covers the basics and also incorporates frequently asked questions. In this practice advisory you will find an overview of hardship in waivers: when you need to prove hardship, whose hardship counts, and what is hardship. It also covers tips and strategies for analyzing and proving “extreme hardship” in your case by using USCIS guidance, case law, and working closely with your client.

This advisory provides an introduction to the Affidavit of Support including various ways to meet the financial requirements, different types of sponsors who may submit Affidavits of Support, who is considered a “household member” for purposes of the Affidavit of Support, and exemptions to the Affidavit of Support.

This practice advisory discusses how the Child Status Protection Act protects children of asylees and refugees through the immigration process, including the asylum application, the Form I-730, and adjustment.

Cancellation of removal for Non–Permanent Residents under INA § 240A(b)(1) is a critical defense to deportation available to certain non-citizens with family in the United States. A person who is granted non-LPR cancellation of removal receives a green card, but the eligibility requirements for non-LPR cancellation are distinct from other means of applying for a green card, and also from other types of cancellation of removal. It is important for immigration practitioners to be familiar with non-LPR cancellation, as it may be the only form of immigration relief available for many people in removal proceedings who entered the United States without inspection. This practice advisory will walk through the basic requirements to help practitioners screen for cancellation eligibility.

Over 300,000 people currently benefit from Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and many have been protected by it for nearly 20 years. However, the current administration is terminating the program for certain countries and is reviewing the designation of several others. This practice advisory describes what TPS recipients and their advocates can do now to understand their legal options. It will review the most common forms of relief, with a particular focus on family-based immigration and how recent federal court cases allow some TPS recipients in the 6th (Flores) and 9th (Ramirez) circuits to adjust status in the United States.

Every family should have a Family Preparedness Plan. While it is our hope that you never have to use your plan, it is a good practice to have one in place to help reduce the stress of the unexpected. This step-by-step guide will help you create a plan for your children in the event you are not available to care for them.

This introductory practice advisory explains 245(i), including “grandfathering” and “after acquired,” and includes screening questions to assist in identifying and evaluating possible 245(i) options for your clients. 

This advisory discusses how the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) protect children of permanent residents in their applications for permanent residency. We discuss how a child’s age is calculated and how they might move through different preference categories through their process to become residents.

Every year, millions of people wait for Congress to advance a solution that would provide stability for undocumented persons and their families. The numbers left waiting and worrying without a pathway to citizenship, protection from deportation, or the ability to work under the Trump Administration has only increased with the limitations on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for certain countries.

This resource is a collection of one-page fact sheets on various forms of immigration relief meant to provide a brief overview of options that may exist for undocumented immigrant children. While geared towards children and youth, it may also be helpful as an introduction to some of the immigration options available to adults as well. This is not meant to be an exhaustive resource. We recommend consulting with an immigration expert before filing any applications for immigration relief.

This practice advisory covers how to prepare consular processing clients for questions at the immigrant visa interview about alien smuggling, receipt of public benefits, drug use, tattoos, and other issues.

In December 2017, the Department of Homeland Security announced its intent to revoke Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) for H-4 visa holders. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is expected to be published in the coming months. We encourage people to oppose this senseless, cruel, and unnecessary rule. This rule will strip work authorization from over 100,000 women, forcing many to choose between work, family, and their home. This resource provides a description of the rule and its disproportionate effect on AAPI women, why you should oppose the rescission, and what you can do to stop this harmful proposal.

This comment period has closed. Click here respond to the latest notice of proposed fee waiver rule change.

On June 28, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a memorandum stating the expanded circumstances in which the agency will begin issuing a Notice to Appear (NTA), including upon denying most affirmative applications. This practice advisory provides an overview of the new USCIS NTA Memo and gives tools for identifying possible red flags that could trigger enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It also identifies some precautions that advocates should take when preparing affirmative applications in light of this new policy.

A prospective client’s complete entry and exit history to the United States is one of the most important pieces of information to gather so that you can properly evaluate their immigration case. However, sometimes it can be challenging to figure out what questions to ask to elicit the information you need, or what the answers mean. This practice advisory describes different types of entries to the United States—entries without inspection, entries with valid documents, entries with fraudulent documents, “wave throughs”—as well as different outcomes of unsuccessful attempted entries—voluntary returns or expedited removals—and the legal significance of these different entries and attempted entries. We also provide suggestions for questions to ask clients to identify what happened at each entry or attempted entry. This discussion applies to entries and attempted entries made by people who are not lawful permanent residents; it is primarily meant to help you assess a client’s options for obtaining legal status, by understanding their entry and exit history to the United States.

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) was devised to protect intending immigrant children from “aging-out” while undergoing the lengthy process to status. This advisory discusses how CSPA protects children of U.S. citizens in their applications for permanent residency. This is one of three advisories in a series detailing the benefits and limitations of the CSPA in the immigration process. For more information on the CSPA, see our advisories, “The CSPA and Children of Permanent Residents” and “The CSPA and Asylees.”

Noncitizens who are seeking to obtain Lawful Permanent Residence via family members can do so using two processes—consular processing at a United States consulate or embassy in the person’s home country, or through adjustment of status at a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) office in the United States. For those already in the United States, adjustment of status is preferable because they do not have to worry about traveling abroad, triggering the unlawful presence inadmissibility grounds that are triggered by a departure, separating from their family, and are able to benefit from an appeal or review process not available to consular processing cases. Often individuals present in the United States who have a family member who can submit a family-based petition for them, are prevented from adjusting status because of the manner they entered.

In the past, denaturalization proceedings were rare and usually brought only against alleged war criminals and in other extreme cases. However, continuing their assault on immigrants, families, and communities of color, the Trump administration has increased resources dedicated to pursuing denaturalization in an effort to strip citizenship from naturalized citizens and there are concerns this number will continue to grow. This practice advisory will briefly describe these recent efforts to increase denaturalizations, the legal grounds and process for denaturalizing a citizen, and the consequences of denaturalization. 

It has always been important to screen naturalization applicants thoroughly to ensure that they are, in fact, eligible for naturalization, and to assess any potential issues that could cause them to denied or deported. While the laws governing how and when someone is eligible to naturalize and how and when someone is deportable have not changed, the importance of screening applicants has increased in light of the new NTA Memo. This packet is meant to assist practitioners in screening naturalization applicants for any issues that may cause them to be denied and deported. It includes a Red Flag Checklist, an Annotated Red Flag Checklist, a Guide for Legal Reviewers, and a Review Cheat Sheet for Workshops. 

This advisory explains unlawful presence under INA § 212(a)(9)(B) and the differences between the I-601 and I-601A waivers of unlawful presence. It covers who needs a waiver of unlawful presence, what are the requirements for a waiver of unlawful presence, and which waiver process to use depending on the applicant’s circumstances.

This comment period has closed. Click here respond to the latest notice of proposed fee waiver rule change.

This practice alert provides a brief overview of some of the main changes practitioners can expect with the proposed change to fee waiver eligibility and process, most significantly by eliminating receipt of means-tested benefits as a basis for requesting a fee waiver. Given that these significant changes to the fee waiver process will make it more difficult and time-intensive to establish inability to pay an immigration filing fee, we urge practitioners to advise clients who are eligible for a fee waiver based on receipt of means-tested benefits to apply as soon as possible, before this option is eliminated.