Family-based Immigration

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued guidance on requesting deferred action for surviving spouses of U.S. citizens who died before the second anniversary of their marriage. Surviving spouses qualify for this temporary program if they were married to, but not legally separated from, their U.S. citizen spouse at the time of that spouse's death; did not remarry; and are currently residing in the United States.

Surviving spouses qualify for deferred action regardless of whether the U.S. citizen spouse filed a Form I-130 petition for them. Surviving spouses may ask to have their qualifying children included in their deferred action request. To be considered a "qualifying child" of a surviving spouse, the child must be younger than age 21 or otherwise qualify as a child when the deferred action request is submitted; currently reside in the United States; and be unmarried. Contact an immigration lawyer immediately to see if you qualify.

Source: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

On July 24, 2009 Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents arrested immigration lawyer, Lilian Asante, and her associate, Kwadwo Asante, on charges of marriage fraud in Columbus, Ohio. The pair is charged with entering into two separate phony marriages with U.S. citizens in an effort to obtain immigration benefits. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to be aggressive in investigating marriage visa fraud cases and arresting the responsible parties. In 2008, ICE agents arrested 238 individuals involved in various marriage fraud schemes. Of these 238, ICE was successful in handing out 198 criminal convictions and seized up to $430,000 in assets. Marriage visa fraud carries a penalty of up $250,000 and/or five years imprisonment. USCIS scrutinizes every marriage based immigrant visa petition. Therefore, it very important that the marriage visa petitions and applications are prepared by a qualified immigration lawyer.Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

On June 4, 2009, Representative Michael Honda, a California Democrat, introduced H.R. 2709 Reuniting Families Act, into the House of Representatives. The purpose of this Act is to update immigration laws governing family based immigration. The Act proposes to allow committed partners in homosexual relationships to qualify as immediate relative for immigration purposes. The proposition put forth by this Act turns family based immigration on its head. At present, a marriage is defined under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996. In accordance with DOMA, only a marriage between a man and a woman qualifies for immigration benefits. Only three relationships qualify for immediate relative status under the family based immigration laws of the United States; spouse, parent or minor child. Immediate relatives are exempt from waiting for a visa number to become available and move through the consular processing step of the immediate relative petition rather quickly. H.R. 2709 seeks to modify the traditional definition of marriage for immigration purposes and allow homosexual partners to qualify as immediate relatives. Allowing homosexual partners to qualify for immediate relative status will be a giant step towards progressive immigration reform. The Act also allows spouses and children of legal permanent residents to also qualify for immediate relative status. The provisions of the Act aim to reduce immigration backlog and bring the family based immigration laws into the 21st century. Sources: Reuniting Families Act - H.R. 2709 and Defense of Marriage Act