Dear Atty. Lou,
My wife has a religious worker petition that was filed in 2007. This petition was approved by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services but we all fell out of status at the time we received the approval.
We received information in the news about a deadline for filing religious worker visa and would like to find out what this new regulation is about. We are also confused on the deadline for filing if it is August 31 or September 9. Please provide us important information about this matter.
Spouse of RW
Dear Spouse of RW,
You are referring to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services implementing guidelines that were released in June 2009 regarding the tolling of unlawful presence for certain religious workers.
A lawsuit was filed against the USCIS in regards to their policy of rejecting the concurrent filing of the I-360 Petition for Religious Workers and the I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status. This is the case of Ruiz-Diaz v. United States, No. CO-71881RSL (W.D. Wash. June 11, 2009) where the USCIS was ordered to change its policy to waive unlawful presence for religious workers and afford them the opportunity to file for adjustment of status based on their approved I-360 or if their I-360 is still pending.
Pursuant to the district court’s order, three categories of individuals will receive protection from the accrual of unlawful presence and from unauthorized work during periods in which an individual was not permitted to concurrently file a religious worker Form I-360-based application for adjustment of status:
(1) any alien who concurrently filed a Form I-360 with a Form I-485 and/or Form I-765
and whose I-360 and I-485 applications were rejected pursuant to 8 C.F.R. §
245.2(a)(2)(i)(B) and who properly re-files5 the I-360 and I-485 applications with
appropriate fees and supporting documentation will have any period of unlawful
presence and unauthorized employment that began accruing after either filing of the
Form I-360 or November, 21, 2007, whichever is earlier, tolled until September 9,
2009, (i.e., 90 days from the date of the district court’s order);
(2) any alien who has a Form I-360 religious worker petition pending with USCIS as of
June 11, 2009, will have any period of unlawful presence and unauthorized
employment that began accruing after properly filing of the Form I-360 with
appropriate fees and supporting documentation, tolled until September 9, 2009;
(3) any alien who files a new Form I-360 religious worker petition with USCIS on or
after June 11, 2009, will have any period of unlawful presence and unauthorized
employment that began accruing after properly filing of the Form I-360 with
appropriate fees and supporting documentation, tolled until September 9, 2009.
Persons falling in categories 1 and 2 are immediately eligible to file a Form I-485, as well as Form I-765 applications. All persons who properly file their I-485 and I-765 on or after June 11, 2009 and have their applications receipted in by USCIS prior to September 9, 2009, also will have any period of unlawful presence or unauthorized employment tolled until USCIS issues a final administrative decision.
Based on the initial USCIS memorandum, affected religious workers beneficiaries were afforded initially until September 9, 2009 to file for their adjustment of status. However, because of the Visa Bulletin for the month September 2009 shows“unavailability” under the religious preference (fourth preference) the deadline was shortened to August 31, 2009. All adjustment of status applications by religious workers filed after August 31, 2009 will be rejected. This is an important reminder that all adjustment applications and employment authorization be filed right in time which is on or before August 31, 2009.
Also, class members in removal proceedings who are affected by this regulation may immediately seek termination of the proceedings so that they can file their adjustment applications with USCIS before the deadline.
Atty. Lou
*(Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq is a partner at the Tancinco Law Offices, a Professional Law Corp. Her office is located at One Hallidie Plaza, Ste 818, San Francisco CA 94102 and may be reached at 415.397.0808; email at law@tancinco.com or check their website at tancinco.weareph.com/old. The content provided in this column is solely for informational purpose only and do not create a lawyer-client relationship. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. This column does not disclose any confidential or classified information acquired in her capacity as legal counsel. Consult with an attorney before deciding on a course of action. You can submit questions to law@tancinco.com
