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January 22, 2010

In response to the earthquake that took place in Haiti on January 12, 2010, the United States has made some special provisions for Haitians.

On January 15, 2010 Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Haitians "not legally in the United States" as of Jan. 12 would be granted a form of asylum called Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which would allow them to work in the U.S. for the next 18 months. Earlier in the week, she had declared a suspension of the enforcement of the expulsion orders given to 30,000 Haitians. It was also announced that this protection would only apply to Haitians that were already in the United States on January 12, 2010.

On January 18, 2010, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a humanitarian parole policy allowing orphaned children from Haiti to enter the United States temporarily on an individual basis to ensure that they receive the care they need.
This does not mean that every orphaned child is eligible for parole; the policy only applies to those children who had previously been identified as orphans with potential parents in the United States. Haitian adoptions can take years and the country is not part of the Hague Adoption Convention. Humanitarian parole for Haitian orphans is currently limited to the following two categories:

• Children identified as orphans and eligible for inter-country adoption by the Haiti government prior to the earthquake, and who were in the process of being adopted by U.S. citizens are eligible.
• Children who were identified by an adoption service provider or facilitator as eligible for inter-country adoption prior to the earthquake, and who were already matched to prospective American adoptive parents.

Homeland Security and the Department of State recognize "that there are additional children that have been orphaned and/or separated from relatives and may also be in varying stages of the adoption process. DHS and the U.S. Department of State continue to evaluate additional eligibility criteria and will provide additional information as soon as it is available."

In response to the disaster in Haiti, we are allowing clients from Haiti to pay our legal fee over a period of up to two years after we file papers. The applicant is responsible for paying the filing fees at the time of filing. This offer will expire on June 30, 2010.

June 28, 2007

Congress failed to get enough votes to continue discussing changes to the Immigration Laws.

May 29, 2007

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a final fee structure that includes benefits for some families with children and also expands the availability of fee waivers and exemptions. The new USCIS Fee Schedule is effective as of July 30, 2007.  This fee schedule applies if you file on or after that date. For the most common filing fee increases are as follows:

For a complete list, please visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services