​Immigration courts in Sacramento and San Francisco reopening on Monday, September 28, 2020. With the reopening of the courts it is up to those who have court to present themselves for the hearings. The court holds you accountable for showing up to your scheduled appearance.
 
Hearing Notice
The hearing notice lets you know when you are supposed to show up to court. With the courts being closed for six months, it is important to watch for an updated hearing notice. If you have not received an updated hearing notice you may call the court hotline with you’re a number found on your Notice to Appear. The court phone number is 1-(800) 898-7180.
 
If you miss your hearing you will automatically lose your case. This is called being removed in absentia. This means you missed your court date and were ruled to be removed by default. This is why it is so important to keep your address current with the court so that you do not miss your hearing notice.
 
Current Address
The court requires that you keep your address current. This is your responsibility! If you have moved since you received your Notice to Appear you will need to update this new address with the courts.
 
You will want to keep this address up to day so that you do not miss out on receiving the hearing notice discussed above.
 
Proposed Rule Changes
There are multiple proposed rule changes to the immigration court working their way through the review process. One of these proposed rules will make it required to file for asylum within 15 days of your first court hearing. Even if you present at the court and the judge allows time for you to find an attorney, that will not extend the amount of time for your filing to take place.  This was under proposal you will need to follow up and ask the court, or your attorney, what steps you need to take. Do not lose out on your rights! Follow up, ask questions and do not delay!
 
If you need assistance with your case, we offer free consultations to discuss your options. Call our office at (916) 917-5217 to set up a free phone consultation. 

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted an update that fee changes are coming. Those fee changes will have a significant impact on some application fees, and a minor change to other fees. If you have an immigration case that you are interested in filing, you may make an appointment with us for a free consultation to discuss your options before the fees increase.
 
USCIS must make these changes through a rule update. These changes are announced through the Federal Register. Once these rule changes are announced there is a period before the rules go into effect. The rule to change the fees was posted in the Federal Register on August 3, 2020 with an intent to make the rule effective on October 2, 2020. The intent is to start on that date, but there is litigation underway to block these changes as they are such a large change that they will block some individual from receiving the benefit.
 
One significant change is the change in price between filing a paper fee and filing online. It is without question that more issues have arisen for applications that file online because without the paper trail the applications can disappear. The applications also quit in the middle, the application is lost and you must start over. Due to this, all examples provided in the article will be for paper submissions to prove what was submitted and when.
 
Some examples of the more common applications and the changes to those fees include:
 
- Application for Asylum, from $0 to $50.
- Petition for Alien Relative increasing from $535 to $560, a 5% increase.
- Application to Register as a Permanent Resident from $1,140 to $1,130, a 1% decrease.
- Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence from $595 to $760, a 28% increase.
- Application for Employment Authorization (not DACA) from $410 to $550, a 34% increase.
- Application for Employment Authorization (DACA) is $410, unchanged.
- Application for Naturalization from $640 to $1,170, a 226% increase.
- Biometric Services (not DACA) from $85 to $30, a 65% decrease.
- Biometric Services (DACA) is $85, unchanged.
 
The clear items to call out on these changes include that USCIS anticipates DACA going away. Making no DACA changes gives less room for a legal appeal when the program is again terminated. Second, USCIS is making it more expensive to work. If it is more expensive to get a work permit then permit is less achievable. Third, removing conditions on a green card and gaining citizenship (naturalization) costs are increasing greatly.  This approach to limiting the ability for individuals to join the United States as citizens is one of the reasons there is litigation taking place to block these changes.
 
If you have questions about your situation, or you are interested in getting a green card or citizenship for your family member, we offer a free consultation to review those options.  We also offer payment plans so that you can get your process started without making a full payment up front. Contact us before the fees increase at (916) 917-5217! We look forward to speaking with you.