H1B Visa Lawyer Blog

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds customers affected by Hurricane Sandy of certain U.S. immigration benefits or relief that may be available to them.

USCIS understands that a natural disaster can affect an individual’s ability to maintain lawful immigration status or obtain certain other immigration benefits. Eligible individuals may request or apply for temporary relief measures, including:

– A change or extension of nonimmigrant status for an individual currently in the United States, even when the request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired;

The registered voters of the state of Maryland will have the opportunity to vote on seven statewide ballot measures in the General Elections, November 6, 2012. Only one relates directly to Immigration and that is Question 4. Question 4, which is often called Maryland’s Dream Act. The ballot question language as it will appear on the Maryland Official Ballot has been included below for your information.

Question 4

Referendum Petition (Ch. 191 of the 2011 Legislative Session)

USCIS notice of multiple east coast field office closings on Tuesday, October 30, 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy.

All applicant appointments will be rescheduled to the next available appointment date. If applicants plan to visit a USCIS office in an area that is or may be affected by the severe weather, please call the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) 1-800-375-5283 to ensure the office is open for business and for further instructions on rescheduling appointments.

Source: “AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 11082361 (posted Oct. 29, 2012)”

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) announced on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 that it has registered more than 4,000 naturalized citizens for voting in the next election. This is the largest number of immigrants it has registered to vote in the organization’s history.

Representatives of MIRA attended naturalization ceremonies in different parts of Massachusetts to find and register these new citizens to vote. Naturalized Americans represent 12 percent of voters in Massachusetts.

MIRA‘s Organizing Director Marcony Almeida said, ”Candidates have too often taken their immigrant constituents for granted, or worse, used them as scapegoats,”. He also stated, ”we wanted to empower new Americans to fight back by representing their own interests and those of their fellow immigrants at the ballot box.”