Immigration INFO: Immigration News For Our Community

Sep 07, 2014 Features / Columnists, News

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By Attorney Gail S. Seeram,

[email protected]

 

Through this “Question & Answer” column, our goal is to answer your immigration questions. We appreciate your comments and questions. If you have a question that you would like answered in this column, please email: [email protected].

 

Question #1:  I have a grave concern with my son. I have been scheduled for a visa appointment but to my understanding all paperwork and payments were done for my son who they now claimed has aged-out. Can you please explain to me how this works or if there are any alternatives?

 

Answer #1:   I recommend seeking legal advice to determine if the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) applies in your son’s case. The Embassy will not make this determination. It is the beneficiary (your son) who has to claim eligibility for CSPA and present the calculation and proof that he did not age-out. The CSPA looks at how long the petition has been pending and re-computes your son’s age so he may be eligible even if he is age 21 or older.

 

Question #2: Next month (October) my sister will be in her fourth year as a permanent resident and a green card holder. Can she sponsor my two younger sisters before the end of the year?

 

Answer #2:   Unfortunately, in order to sponsor a sibling (brother or sister) you must be a U.S. citizen. So, your sister has to become a U.S. citizen before she can submit a petition for her sisters.

 

Question #3:  I tried to enter the United States with a fake US passport 23 years ago. I was caught and was sent back to Guyana. Soon after I decided to go to the U.K. I am a law-abiding U.K. citizen with a British passport. I applied to visit my parents who are US citizens and was denied a visitor visa due to my violation. How can you help?

 

Answer #3:   When applying for visitor visa or visa waiver as a U.K. citizen, ask the consular officer at the Embassy if you qualify for a INA 212(d)(3) waiver. Certain grounds of inadmissibility (or certain acts) will make you ineligible for this waiver.

 

Question #4:  I tried to enter the United States illegally six years ago. I was caught up in Aruba. I was using a US citizen’s passport, which was reported as stolen. They took my photos and my biographic data and I was sent back to Guyana. I was not formally charged with anything by the US government. Recently I tried to obtain a visa legally and was denied. My question is if I will ever be allowed to enter the US?

 

Answer #4:   See Answer #3 above.

 

 

 

 

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Inspection upon arrival in the United States

 

United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The agency is responsibility for keeping America’s borders safe and secure while encouraging legitimate travel and trade. To accomplish this, CBP officers must screen all arriving people, goods and vehicles to make sure they meet all requirements for entry into the United States.

 

The Congress of the United States has authorized CBP to enforce all homeland security-related laws and laws of other federal agencies at the border and to conduct searches and examinations necessary to assure compliance with those laws. CBP’s broad authority therefore allows them to conduct searches of people and their baggage, cargo, and means of transportation entering the United States.

 

If you are subject to inspection, you should be treated in a courteous, dignified, and professional manner. The CBP officer may request specific, detailed information about your travel, may inspect your baggage (including electronic devices), or may conduct a personal search. A search may not be made on any discriminatory basis (e.g., solely based on race, gender, religion, ethnic background). You may always ask to speak with a CBP supervisor if you feel you are being treated improperly.

 

CBP collects information about people travelling into and out of the United States. This includes basic biographic data, travel documents and their unique identifiers, where the traveller is staying in the U.S. and the planned purpose for the traveller’s visit. This information may be collected from a traveller at a port of entry, or, in the case of international air and sea travel, it may be collected before a traveller’s arrival in or departure from the U.S. This information is used to determine the admissibility of aliens and to effectively and efficiently enforce U.S. laws at the border.

 

Why you may be chosen for secondary inspection (questioned separately in an office)?

• Your travel documents are incomplete, or you do not have the proper documents or visa;
• You have previously violated one of the laws that CBP enforces;
• Your name matches a person of interest in one of the government’s enforcement databases; or
• You have been selected for a random search.

 

It is at this point of entry into the United States that non-immigrant visas (such as a B-1/B-2 tourist visa) and lawful permanent residents are inspected to determine whether they will be admitted to the United States. There are various reasons and laws that may be applied to find such a person inadmissible into the United States. The holder of a visa or permanent resident card (green card) is not automatically allowed to enter the U.S. – he or she must be inspected and found to be admissible into the U.S. by CBP officers. If a non-immigrant visa holder is found inadmissible and not allowed in the U.S. then they will be turned away at the port of entry. If a permanent resident is found inadmissible (due to length of stay outside the U.S. or criminal grounds) then they will be paroled into the U.S. pending removal proceedings at the Immigration Court.

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