Law Offices of Anila Momin 2025-07-08T06:23:49Z https://www.theamlawfirm.com/feed/atom/ WordPress /wp-content/uploads/sites/1503714/2022/06/cropped-SiteGraphic-New-1-32x32.jpg On Behalf of Law Offices of Anila Momin https://www.theamlawfirm.com/?p=47003 2024-10-04T04:21:57Z 2024-10-04T04:18:02Z

What is Aging Out? The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines a child as a person who is both unmarried and under 21 years. If someone applies for lawful permanent resident status as a child but turns 21 before being approved, that person can no longer be considered a child for immigration purposes. This situation is referred to as “aging out” and often means that these applicants would have to file a new petition or application, wait even longer to get green card, or may no longer be eligible for a green card. CSPA does not change the definition of a child. Instead, CSPA provides a method for calculating a person’s age to see if they meet the definition of a child for immigration purposes. What is the CSPA Age? According to the Child Protection Act, there is a formula USCIS uses to protect aging-out children. CSPA age is the number that USCIS will use instead of the child’s real age. CSPA age is useful if your child has grown older than 21 years and his green card application is still pending. CSPA age protection is available for family, employment, asylum, refugee, and diversity-based green cards. How is the CSPA age useful? CSPA age is useful only if it is less than 21. It protects kids from aging out if their US green card application is pending when they turn 21. If the CSPA age is greater than 21, your child cannot be treated as your dependent and hence is not eligible for a green card. How to Calculate the CSPA Age? The formula is the age of child at the time of visa availability minus the pending time of the petition equals the CSPA age. Thereby, essentially freezing the age of applicant without penalizing him or her for the backlog that occurred. If only it was that easy to freeze our actual age. To apply this formula, one must determine the date on which a visa number “becomes available” to the child and subtract out the number of days the underlying petition was pending. Although your definition of a “child” determines that your child’s stay is long over, CSPA guides parents to be more sympathetic and to allow for the overgrown child to obtain his or her green card first before showing him the door. 21 and out? Not so fast!]]> by Anila Momin https://www.theamlawfirm.com/?p=46980 2023-02-28T16:41:02Z 2022-12-21T07:13:37Z

Key Qualifications The keys qualifications are: 1) You have a qualifying relationship as the: a) Spouse, intended spouse, or former spouse of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident if: You are married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident abuser (including your marriage to the abuser was legally terminated by death (U.S. citizen spouses only) or a divorce (for reasons related to the abuse) within the 2 years prior to filing your petition; your spouse lost or renounced citizenship or permanent resident status within the 2 years prior to filing your petition due to an incident of domestic violence; or you believed that you were legally married to your abusive U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse but the marriage was not legitimate solely because of the bigamy of your abusive spouse, b) Child of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident parent; or c) Parent of an abusive U.S. citizen son or daughter who is 21 years old or older. 2) You were subjected to battery or extreme cruelty by your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident relative during the qualifying relationship. (If you are applying as a spouse, you may also be eligible if your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse subjected your child to battery or extreme cruelty); 3) You are residing or have resided with your abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident relative; and 4) You are a person of good moral character. If you are self-petitioning as the spouse of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, then you must also demonstrate that you entered into the marriage in good faith and not for the purpose of evading immigration laws. In certain circumstances you may remain eligible for the VAWA self-petition if your abusive relative lost or renounced their U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent resident status or if your abusive relative died. So there it is. Sensitivity for the feminine—whose energy makes the planet go around, whose womb has birth the entire humanity—shall be protected eternally. Here is to the Violence Against Women Act. VAWA. Wow!]]> On Behalf of Law Offices of Anila Momin https://www.theamlawfirm.com/?p=46158 2022-07-20T08:41:15Z 2021-12-10T07:51:30Z

Which Route is Best for You: Spousal Visa or Fiancé Visa? Decisions, decisions, decisions! Aside from choosing which cake to have at the reception, taking the right immigration steps to embark on a new journey as a couple may be confusing. Whether to get married overseas and then start the immigration process or to call your fiancé to the US and then get married in the States, is a heavy decision to make.  My blog is here to alleviate your heartache to make the best decision for your situation. First of all, it is important to understand the differences of these visas and to know which pipeline to send off your immigration case. For those who are already married for over two years, your overseas spouse has to follow the immigrant visa route (unless, of course, there are other non-family immigration scenarios, but we’ll just focus on family immigration for this blog).  For those who are married for less than two years, your overseas spouse has to apply for a spousal visa, starting with submitting a relative petition here in the States. For those of you who have proposed to marry but not married yet, your overseas fiancé has to apply for a fiancé visa or K-1 visa. The dilemma is: which is the best route for you and your partner? Advantages and Disadvantages of Spousal Visa One benefit of a spousal visa is that it is available for both categories: spouse of US citizens and spouse of legal permanent resident (LPR), but the processing times are different for both. The time it takes to process a spousal visa is approximately 12–18 months, which is slightly longer than a fiancé visa. Another advantage of a spousal visa is your spouse is allowed to work immediately upon entering the States (unlike the fiancé visa). An additional advantage of a spousal visa is your spouse will be able to immediately travel overseas, unlike the fiancé visa which requires your partner to apply for permanent resident status to obtain advance parole to leave the US (especially important for those overseas honeymooners). Advantages and Disadvantages of Fiancé Visa One disadvantage of a fiancé visa is that it is only available for US citizen fiancés, so if you’re a green card holder, then you either wait to get your citizenship to apply for fiancé visa or apply for a spousal visa. After getting a fiancé visa, you need to get legally married within 90 days of entry, and then your partner can adjust status to a permanent immigrant. Not sure if this is beneficial for those planning a lavish wedding, but for all others, it is doable. Another criterion of a fiancé visa is you must have met in person in the last 2 years. If your case or the relationship is questionable, the window to prove bona fide marriage is approximately 4 months. One advantage of a fiancé visa is you can most likely have your partner here in the States faster. Processing time for this is roughly 11-17 months, but this can change yearly. This does not include the time to adjust status to permanent resident. So from fiancé visa to permanent resident status, it takes approximately 2-3 years (includes approximately 11-17 months for visa plus roughly 10-13 months for permanent resident status). The reason the spousal visas take longer is because it has more initial steps than a fiancé visa to get to the States, which includes first submitting the relative petition to get spousal visa started. Whereas for the fiancé visa, you will move faster without first having to submit the relative petition and have your fiancé in the States with you while waiting for the permanent resident process. Another disadvantage of a fiancé visa is that it is more expensive than spousal visa. Fiancé visa costs approximately $2,025 in filing fees plus an additional cost of getting a permanent resident status of approximately $1,300 and spousal visa costs approximately $1,200 plus after two years, you have to remove conditions costing an additional amount of roughly $680. It is important to note that these are only filing fees and professional fees are separately charged and vary. An additional disadvantage to keep in mind is that if you go the fiancé visa route, the sponsored partners will not be able to travel outside the US or work in the US for roughly 3-6 months after coming to the US since filing for permanent resident status will happen after getting married within the 90-day period. When filing for permanent resident status, sponsored partners can also apply for work authorization and advance parole to travel outside the US. If you are willing to wait to see your spouse and are wanting to save costs, spousal visa may be the better option. Though the fiancé visa will get your partner here faster in the States, this route will not allow the sponsored partner to work immediately - unlike the spousal visa. In conclusion, it’s best to sit with your partner and weigh out everything to plan your life together. Of course, having professional help during this process will alleviate the stress that comes with it and ensures all goes as planned since any errors can cause delays in an already tedious process.  It is definitely an investment worth making. I’m starting to hear the ‘immigration’ bells ring!]]> On Behalf of Law Offices of Anila Momin https://www.theamlawfirm.com/?p=46159 2022-07-20T08:42:22Z 2020-11-24T07:58:54Z

July 2019. USCIS revised the civics test as part of a decennial update to ensure that it remains an instrument that comprehensively assesses applicants’ knowledge of American history, government and civic values. The civics test is administered to applicants who apply for U.S. citizenship and is one of the statutory requirements for naturalizing. Applicants who apply for naturalization on or after Dec. 1, 2020, will take the updated version of the test. Those who apply before Dec. 1, 2020, will take the current version of the test.” It further stated, “USCIS has diligently worked on revising the naturalization test since 2018, relying on input from experts in the field of adult education to ensure that this process is fair and transparent,” said USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow. “Naturalization allows immigrants to become fully vested members of American society, with the same rights and responsibilities as citizens by birth, and offering a fair test, which prepares naturalization applicants for these responsibilities, is of upmost importance to our agency.”” Now that makes sense if the American society wants new citizens to have a solid knowledge of the American history. But will this new test be more difficult to pass? I do not think so. The reason I believe this change is fair is because the passing score percentage is the same as the previous test. USCIS further stated, “The revised test includes more questions that test the applicant’s understanding of U.S. history and civics, in line with the statutory requirements, and covers a variety of topics that provide the applicant with more opportunities to learn about the United States as part of the test preparation process. The revised test will not change the passing score, which will remain at 60%. Candidates must answer 12 questions correctly, out of 20 in order to pass.” So this should be a relief to the upcoming test takers of the Naturalization Test. Hope our fellow future citizens pass with flying colors!]]>