Family Based Immigration

November 21, 2014

The President’s Immigration Accountability Executive Actions

On Thursday, November 20, 2014, President Barack Obama announced his Temporary Plans to fix our broken immigration system.

The President’s Immigration Accountability Executive Actions will help secure the border, hold nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants accountable and ensure that everyone plays by the same rules.

As an Immigration Attorney, I see the results of our broken system every day and in the absence of Congressional action, the President had to act. While a lot of the details are still waiting to be filled in, we know that many of these changes will make a real impact. We are aware that these initiatives are not going to help everyone, as not everyone will be eligible. Therefore, we need to continue to pressure Congress into finishing the job by passing a bipartisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill.

November 27, 2013

Update on the Processing Times for Form I-130

by Kellie N. Lego

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have sent out an email notice to USCIS Stakeholders that they are working to reduce the extended processing times for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. This form is filed by U.S. citizens for their eligible immediate relatives and is the first step in helping the relative to immigrate to the United States.

The USCIS has been receiving feedback from the public expressing concerns regarding extended processing times for Form I-130. USCIS is working on the delays as part of their goal of preserving family unity. In the last few months the processing time has went from October 2012 to February 2013; that puts the processing time to around 9 months. We have found in practice that current I-130 processing is taking between 6 months to 11 months. USCIS’s goal is to return to an average processing time of five months by May 2014.

Last month, in an effort to expedite the adjudication of these cases, USCIS began transferring stand-alone Forms I-130 filed by U.S. citizens for their immediate relatives from USCIS’s National Benefits Center to its Nebraska, Texas, and California Service Centers. This shift improves USCIS’s ability to adjudicate the cases in a timely manner.”

November 20, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 11/18/13 with processing dates as of 9/30/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

October 22, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 10/16/13 with processing dates as of 8/31/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

September 30, 2013

What Happens If the Government Shuts Down? – Updated 9/30/13

by Kellie N. Lego

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has requested information from the federal government agencies involved in the immigration system for updates on their contingency plans in case of a government shutdown. A possible government shutdown could happen as early as October 1, 2013, the beginning of the new fiscal year 2014 (FY2014). AILA has reported that they have not received any updated information at this time. They suggested reviewing the shutdown plans for the last threatened federal government shutdown, which was in 2011.

Below is an excerpt from MVP Law Group’s original blog post on the subject dated (4/8/11).

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September 19, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 9/17/13 with processing dates as of 7/31/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

August 27, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 8/20/13 with processing dates as of 6/30/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

August 15, 2013

Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times – 8/12/13

by Kellie N. Lego

Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of August 12, 2013.

If you filed an appeal, please review the link below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

Administrative Appeals Office

August 9, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 8/2/13 with processing dates as of 5/31/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

July 24, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 7/19/13 with processing dates as of 5/31/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center