Special Program For Families of Filipino WWII Veterans – Immigration Executive Actions

USCIS announced the creation of a new program today that will assist the families of Filipino-American WWII veterans to enter the United States.  First proposed in July, 2015, the program will allow U.S. entry of some family members so they may and support the U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident WW2-veteran relative.

There are an estimated 6,000 U.S. Citizens or Permanent Resident Filipino American World War II veterans in the United States.

Details of the program have yet to be formally announced, but it is very likely to closely resemble the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program (HFRP).

Under the Haitian program, overseas relatives who are the beneficiaries of approved relative petitions will be “paroled” into the United States, allowing them to wait in the United States until it is time for them to apply for permanent residence.  The “paroled” relative will be eligible to request employment authorization.

Under the HFRP model, immediate relatives (spouse, parents or children) of U.S. Citizens are not eligible for this parole program since they already have immigrant visas immediately available.  The program only covers relatives with approved petitions in the following categories, and will allow in some relatives as much as two years prior to when it is believed their priority dates become current.

            FB-1:         Unmarried sons and daughters (over 20 years-old)
                                    of U.S. Citizens
            FB-2A:      Spoused and children of Permanent Residents
            FB-2B:      Unmarried sons and daughters of Permanent
                                   Residents
            FB-3          Married sons and daughters of U.S. Citizens
            FB-4:        Brothers and sisters of U.S. Citizens

More information will be posted once the program details are announced.



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U.S. Embassy Visit – Manila, Philippines

On March 13, I had the privilege of touring portions of the U.S. Embassy in Manila.  It is unfortunate that the embassy grounds are not normally open for tours.  The property, built on land reclaimed from Manila Bay in the 1930s, is the site of many historical events.

In addition to the grounds and chancery building, an hour was spent in the new Annex building which houses a variety of consular services, including visa issuance.  Opened in 2011, the Annex has over 99 service windows and provides a clean and comfortable waiting area capable of seating over 500 applicants.  There is even a children’s play area (designed and supported by embassy staff).  Obviously, a great improvement over the old visa complex.

Part of the tour included a simulated walkthrough of the entire visa issuance process, starting with entry into the compound and finishing at the last window where a decision is made.  Whenever I have the opportunity to visit an embassy, alone or with a client, I come away with a better understanding of the visa applicant experience.

And on this trip, I also came away with a colorful hat!

 

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NVC Changes Document Handling

On November 12, 2014, the Department of State made a significant change to the way original documents are handled for Immigration Visa Applications.

The National Visa Center (NVC) will no longer require you to mail them the original civil documents, such as police, birth and marriage certificates.  Instead, you will send NVC photocopies of the documents and take the originals to your consular interview.  You will still need to send NVC the affidavit of support containing an original signature.

This action was taken to help reduce the workload of the NVC.  In recent months, the rapid advancing of some cutoff dates resulted in the contractors for NVC being unable to keep up with the increased immigrant visa demand.

This change is really just a step back in time.  It was not that many years ago that we never sent originals to the National Visa Center (or its predecessor TIVPC).  However, now it will be the U.S. Petitioner’s responsibility to be sure the visa Applicant will have ALL of the necessary originals before their consular interview.

The advantages of this new (old) system is that it eliminates the need for original documents to be mailed to the United States, and also reduces the hassle of ensuring that the embassy returns your originals.  Now, at the interview, the consular officer will already have copies of your documents and in most cases will just compare and return your original.

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