DHS Announces Creation of VOICE Office

On April 26, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security announced the launching of a new office for victims of crimes committed by criminal aliens [link].

The office is called the Victims of Immigration Crime Enforcement Office (VOICE), and the goal of the VOICE office is to “assist victims of crimes committed by criminal aliens.”

The VOICE office was created in response to President Donald Trump's January 25, 2017, Executive Order 13768 titled “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” [see 82 FR 8799]. Please see our full article for a detailed analysis of Executive Order 13768, including a discussion of President Trump's directive to create the VOICE office [see article].

In announcing the creation of the VOICE office, the Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, stated that those who are victims of crimes committed by criminal aliens “are casualties of crimes that should have never taken place-because the people who victimized them often times should not have been in the country in the first place.”

The DHS news release lists the following as the key objectives of the VOICE office:

• Use a victim-centered approach to acknowledge and support victims and their families.
• Promote awareness of available services to crime victims.
• Build collaborative partnerships with community stakeholders assisting victims.

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) created the following toll-free hotline “to ensure victims [of crimes committed by criminal aliens] receive the support they need”: 1-855-48-VOICE.

The DHS explains that victims of crimes committed by criminal aliens can expect to receive the following types of support from the VOICE office:

• Local contacts to help with unique victim requests;
• Access to social service professionals able to refer victims to resources and service providers;
• Assistance signing-up to receive automated inmate custody status information; and
• Additional criminal or immigration history about a criminal alien (may be available on a case-by-case basis).

These various services will be provided by the ICE and the DHS-Victim Information and Notification Exchange (DHS-VINE).

The DHS explained that the ICE “is employing a measured approach to building the VOICE office.” Accordingly, the DHS plans to expand the services VOICE offers as it builds the office. It will use information collected to determine what additional services to provide in the future.

CONCLUSION

The VOICE office is part of the Trump administration's emphasis on not only increasing enforcement against criminal aliens, but also shining a light on crimes committed by aliens, especially those who are present in the United States without legal authorization. It must be noted that, unlike many other provisions of President Trump's Executive Order on interior enforcement, the VOICE office does not actually have an effect on immigration enforcement. None of its provisions deal with enforcement priorities or any other enforcement actions against aliens in the United States. It is unclear what types of services the VOICE office may offer in the future in addition to the available services at launch. Crime victims who are interested in availing themselves to the VOICE office's services may find more information on the DHS website.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

DHS OIG and USCIS Issue Scam Alerts

On April 26, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an important alert titled “Scam Alert: DHS OIG Hotline Telephone Number Used in Scam to Obtain Personal Information” [link]. The USCIS issued the alert to provide additional information concerning a fraud alert that was issued on April 19, 2017, by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) [PDF version]. In this post, I will detail the warnings issued by the DHS OIG and the USCIS.

The DHS OIG fraud alert warned the public about a telephone scam where scammers have altered their caller ID to make it appear that they were calling from the DHS OIG hotline (1-800-323-8603) and identified themselves to unsuspecting individuals as “U.S. Immigration” employees. These scammers then demand that individuals provide or “verify” personally identifiable information. In many cases, the scammers seek this information under the false pretense that the individual was a victim of identity theft.

DHS OIG ALERT

The DHS OIG reminded the public that the DHS OIG never uses its hotline number to make outgoing calls. Accordingly, any call purporting to be from the DHS OIG hotline number, 1-800-323-8603, is a scam. If an individual receives a phone call from this number, it is best to not answer the phone.. If an individual accidentally answers a call from this number, he or she should never provide personal information, and should hang up upon being asked for any such information.

Despite the spoofing scam, the DHS assured the public that “[i]t continues to be perfectly safe to use the DHS OIG hotline to report fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement within DHS components or programs.”

The DHS OIG encourages victims of this telephone spoofing scam to call the DHS OIG hotline or file a complaint at www.oig.dhs.gov. Victims may also contact the Federal Trade Commission to file a complaint and/or to report identify theft.

USCIS ALERT

The USCIS warns individuals to hang up immediately if they receive a call purporting to be from an immigration agency “demanding personal information or payment.” In order to verify whether a call is actually coming from the USCIS, an individual may:

• Call the USCIS's National Customer Service Center at 800-375-5283 in order to ask if any action is needed on a particular case or immigration status;
• Make an InfoPass appointment at http://infopass.uscis.gov; or
• Use myUSCIS to find up-to-date information about a specific case.

The USCIS issued a reminder that USCIS officials will never threaten an individual or ask for payment over the phone or email. The USCIS sends letters on official stationary to request payments. Accordingly, an individual should never provide a payment over the phone to anyone falsely purporting to be a USCIS official. The USCIS further encouraged individuals to never provide details about an immigration case in a public area.

The USCIS encourages individuals who receive a scam email or phone call to report it to the Federal Trade Commission at http://1.usa.gov/1suOHSS. If an individual receives a suspicious email purporting to be from the USCIS, he or she may forward the suspicious email to the USCIS webmaster at the uscis.webmaster@uscis.dhs.gov address. The USCIS will review the suspicious email and share it with law enforcement if appropriate.

The USCIS provides additional resources for avoiding scams at www.uscis.gove/avoid-scams.

CONCLUSION

Scammers often target the most vulnerable, and those who purport to be immigration officials in order to steal personal information are no exception. The scam alerts highlight that individuals should be careful and alert of the ongoing spoofing scam involving the DHS OIG phone number.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

USCIS Assists in Investigation Leading to Conviction in Large Marriage Fraud Scheme

On April 25, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an interesting news post titled “USCIS Assists in Investigation Leading to Conviction of Imposter Attorney in Marriage Fraud Scheme” [link].

The news release explains that the USCIS had assisted in an investigation that led to a jury convicting a man named Jason Shiao for his role in a marriage fraud scheme. Shiao had posed as an attorney when he accepted payments from at least 87 foreign nationals to help them enter into fraudulent marriages with United States citizens for the purpose of circumventing the immigration laws. Shiao was sentenced to two years in federal prison.

The USCIS explains that, in executing the scheme, Shiao falsely claimed to be an attorney. Upon receiving payment, he introduced his clients to U.S. citizens to facilitate the sham marriages. He instructed clients to pose for wedding photographs and lie to USCIS officials when applying for immigration status. For these “services,” the USCIS notes that Chinese nationals paid Shiao up to $50,000.

Shiao and his daughter (a second defendant in the case) prepared falsified documentation to file with the USCIS attesting to the validity of the sham marriages. These documents included, but were not limited to, “bogus tax returns, life insurance policies, joint bank account information[,] and apartment lease applications.”

The scheme did not end with Shiao and his daughter. Another defendant in the case, Shannon Mendoza, recruited U.S. citizens to enter into the sham marriages in exchange for payments of up to $15,000.

In our article on Marriage Fraud [see article], we offer the following advice:

“Do not ever even consider entering into a sham marriage to obtain immigration benefits.”

In addition to being plainly against the law, the USCIS is well equipped to detect marriage fraud. The ramifications for marriage fraud are severe, and waivers are limited [see article].

Regarding nefarious individuals posing as “Attorneys” or “Consultants” and facilitating marriage fraud schemes, we wrote the following in our comprehensive Marriage Fraud article [see section]:

“Many aliens enter into sham marriages knowing full well that doing so is illegal. In these cases, the alien may get “help” from a U.S. citizen friend or even pay money to a U.S. citizen for the marriage. However, many aliens sadly enter into sham marriages without being fully aware of the potential consequences. Aliens should be wary of people seeking to “help” them who are “immigration consultants” or “advisers,” but who are not actual immigration attorneys qualified to practice immigration law. These people, in their many guises, are often responsible for filling out fraudulent applications on behalf of immigrants and encouraging them to enter into fraudulent marriages. It is absolutely crucial for persons who face a bar of inadmissibility or removal to contact a reputable and experienced immigration attorney, rather than working with someone who is neither qualified to give immigration advice nor acting in the immigrant's best interest.”

Those who are seeking status based on a bona fide marriage should consult with an experienced and well-credentialed immigration attorney for guidance. It is important to beware of hucksters and con-artists.

It is good to see authorities crack down on marriage fraud. In addition to circumventing our system of immigration laws, marriage fraud is extremely unfair to those who play by the rules to seek lawful immigration status.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

July 2017 Visa Bulletin

INTRODUCTION: VISA BULLETIN FOR JULY 2017

On June 9, 2017, the United States Department of State (DOS) released the “Visa Bulletin for July 2017” [PDF version]. The July 2017 Visa Bulletin contains dates for filing and application final action dates for the family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant visa preference categories in July of 2017. On June 13, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) determined that both family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant visa beneficiaries must use the final action dates contained in the July 2017 Visa Bulletin [PDF version].

In this article, we will reproduce the relevant charts for family-sponsored and employment-based beneficiaries of approved immigrant visa petitions who are waiting to file for adjustment of status. This post will also include news and notes from the DOS's July 2017 Visa Bulletin. To learn about how to use the immigrant visa bulletin if you are an adjustment of status applicant, please see our full article [see article]. Please see our article on the differences between filing dates and final action dates as well [see article].

Please see our full article for all of our posts on 2017 Visa Bulletins [see article].

FAMILY-SPONSORED CASES

The USCIS determined that beneficiaries of approved family-sponsored immigrant visa petitions must use the final action dates in July 2017 for purpose of filing for adjustment of status. The beneficiary of such an approved petition may file for adjustment of status in July 2017 if his or her priority date is earlier than the applicable final action date for his or her preference category and chargeability area. The following are the final action dates for family-sponsored preference cases in July 2017 [see here].

The USCIS determined that beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions must use the final action dates in July 2017 for purpose of filing for adjustment of status. The beneficiary of such an approved petition may file for adjustment of status in July 2017 if his or her priority date is earlier than the applicable final action date. Please note that a final action date of “C” means that the date will be current in July 2017. This means that any beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition in that preference category and chargeability area will be able to file for adjustment of status in July 2017. The following are the final action dates for employment-based preference cases in July 2017 [see here].

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE JULY 2017 VISA BULLETIN

Each edition of the Visa Bulletin contains trends and forecasts from the DOS. In the subsequent sub-sections, we will review the DOS's notes in the July 2017 Visa Bulletin.

OVERSUBSCRIPTION OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CATEGORIES

In the June 2017 Visa Bulletin [see article], the DOS advised that it would be necessary to impose a final action date no later than August on China-mainland born beneficiaries in the Employment-based third (E3) preference category. Because of the continued high level demand for E3 numbers for USCIS adjustment of status applicants, the DOS established a final action date for the China E3 preference category. The DOS created this final action date in order to hold immigrant visa number use to within the fiscal year 2017 annual limit annual limit.

The DOS also advised in the June 2017 Visa Bulletin that it would be required to establish final action cutoff dates for the India Employment-based fourth (E4) and Certain Religious Workers (SR) preference categories due to high demand in both. The DOS imposed final action dates for E4 and SR India in the July 2017 Visa Bulletin in order to hold worldwide number use in both categories under the fiscal year 2017 annual limit.

The final action dates for China E3 and India E4 and SR will once again be current for the October 2017 Visa Bulletin, which will be the first Visa Bulletin for fiscal year 2018.

CONCLUSION

Petitioners and beneficiaries of preference petitions should stay abreast of month-to-month developments in the DOS Visa Bulletin. Beneficiaries who will file for adjustment of status should consult with an experienced immigration attorney throughout the entire process.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com