As an immigration attorney, I often receive questions from members of the community about the 10 Year Law or the 10-Year Visa.
There exists a lot of confusion about this issue due to the complicated nature of immigration law as well as inaccuracies spread by non-immigration attorneys, including notarios.
So, here is the answer to the question, “does the 10-Year Law even exist?”.
Many immigrants have United States Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident family members who have petitioned for them, but they have entered the United States without a visa. This often means they have to leave the United States and go to an interview at the Consulate in their home country before returning as a Legal Permanent Resident.
I know many Lawful Permanent Residents who have worked a long time to obtain their LPR status. Therefore, it is important that they do whatever they can to avoid losing it.
Certain crimes can make a person deportable from the United States. Some Legal Permanent Residents are surprised to learn that time spent outside the United States may lead to a finding that they have abandoned their Legal Permanent Resident status.
As we recently posted, the National Visa Center is expanding its use of monitoring visa applicants’ social media. Previously, pilot programs existed for monitoring the social media of applicants for asylum and refugee status.
Under the Trump administration’s “extreme vetting” policy, visa applicants are also now required to list their social media handles. The policy is likely to be expanded going forward. Despite the Department of Homeland Security’s own admission that monitoring social media is not particularly helpful, it is important to know how this policy could affect your immigration case.
With the ever important presidential elections looming in November, permanent residents need to begin the naturalization process now if they want to have a say in who our next president will be.
The future of issues such as Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the use of immigration raids rests in the hands of the president elected this November. Only US citizens can vote for president and the naturalization process can take several months, so I recommend beginning the process by the end of February.
In an effort to keep everyone updated on our constantly-changing immigration policy, check out this status update. And while accustomed to immigration policy changing like the political winds, this situation is unprecedented and like everything else, we’re all working to keep up with the situation.
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