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John Stahl

USCIS Queens Office Appointments Rescheduled

 

The USCIS Queens office at 27-35 Jackson Avenue is closed until further notice due to flooding.  All Queens Office operations will be transferred to the USCIS office at 26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY 10278.

Instructions for Applicants with Appointments Scheduled for the Queens Office:

If your appointment was scheduled for  January 8, 9, or 12, please report to Room 8-100, 26 Federal Plaza on January 22. Your appointment will be at the same time as originally indicated on your appointment notice.  (Date and location have changed)

If your appointment was scheduled for  January 13, please report to Room 8-100, 26 Federal Plaza on January 15.  Your appointment will be at the same time as originally indicated on your appointment notice.  (Date and location have changed)

If your appointment was scheduled for  January 14, please report to Room 8-100, 26 Federal Plaza on January 16.  Your appointment will be at the same time as originally indicated on your appointment notice.  (Date and location have changed)

If your appointment was scheduled for  January 16, please report to Room 8-100, 26 Federal Plaza on January 16.  (Location has changed, date and time remain the same)

 

From Friday January 16th until further notice, all appointments will occur at the originally scheduled date and time, but will be relocated to 26 Federal Plaza,  Room 8-100

*If you are unable to attend your new appointment, your interview will be automatically rescheduled for a future date and you will receive a new appointment notice in the mail

More information and updates at http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings

 

 

USCIS office in Queens closed until January 20th

If the office where you have an appointment is closed, then read about rescheduling.

The Queens Field Office and Application Support Center will remain closed until Jan. 20 due to a facility issue.

USCIS will reschedule all appointments.

The following chart provides guidance on rescheduling your office or applicant support center (ASC) is closed. You should also check for more specific information about an office’s rescheduling policy. Please use the Field Offices area of the website to find an individual office.

Customers are reminded that if inclement weather hinders their ability to appear at a USCIS office for an interview or appointment when that office is open, USCIS may exercise discretion to reschedule the appearance if the customers can show that their failure to appear was weather-related.

For more information or assistance, please contact your local office or call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.

Field Office and International Office Closures
If You Then
Have an appointment for an interview or biometrics and the USCIS office you have been scheduled for is closed, USCIS will automatically reschedule as soon as possible.
Scheduled an InfoPass or other appointment and the USCIS office you have been scheduled for is closed We recommend you reschedule a new appointment on your own as soon as possible.

 

ASC Closures
If an ASC Then  We Note
Is closed temporarily on the day of your biometrics appointment for an unforeseen circumstance such as inclement weather or a power outage; Will automatically reschedule all applicants to the next available appointment date If you would prefer to come in once the office reopens we will process walk-ins on a case-by-case basis; however, the ASC may experience multiple walk-ins on the days following a closure and you may experience longer wait times.
Has closed until further notice and the reopen date is not known Will automatically reschedule your appointment to the nearest ASC for processing based on your ZIP code This will continue until the ASC has confirmed a reopening date.

 

Register to Attend Public Information Meetings on the President’s Executive Action on Immigration

 

The President announced his plan for executive action to provide administrative relief to certain individuals without immigration status currently in the United States on November 20, 2014. Initial details indicate that his plan will help long term undocumented parents of children who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents by giving them authorization to work legally and protecting them from deportation.

Our immigration staff will be providing all of the currently available details about the program at the following public information meetings next week as follows:

Monday, December 1st at 6:00pm at St. Barnabas High School Auditorium (H.S. Chapel), Entrance is located on corner of E. 241st Street and McLean Avenue, Woodlawn

Tuesday, December 2nd at 6:00pm at the Sunnyside Community Center, 4331 39th St, Sunnyside, NY, 11104

Wednesday, December 3rd at 6:00pm at the St Sebastian’s Parish Center, 39-60 57th St, Woodside, NY, 11377 (hosted by our Spanish bilingual attorney Kelly Becker-Smith)

To register to attend a meeting or to indicate a preference for future meetings access the following link. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/immigrationaction

Continue to check our website at www.eiic.org, Facebook page or Twitter stream for more updates and additional meeting dates based on demand.

Please be advised that no one is eligible at this time and the applications process will not start before May 2015 and beware of any scams to apply for benefits immediately under this new program

Public Meetings Flyer on Presidents Executive Action on Immigration

President’s Executive Action on Immigration

 

The President announced his plan for executive action to provide administrative relief to certain individuals without immigration status currently in the United States on November 20, 2014. Early details indicate that his plan will help long term undocumented parents of children who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents by giving them authorization to work legally and protecting them from deportation.

We will have more official details about the program in the days and weeks ahead and in conjunction with community partners at Aisling and New York Irish Center we will be scheduling public meetings the first week of December to provide further information about who will qualify, when to apply and the application requirements. Please call back or access our website www.eiic.org, sign up for EIIC newsletter updates, follow our Facebook page or Twitter stream for further updates and the dates and times of our upcoming informational meetings.

Importantly be advised that no one is eligible at this time and the applications process will not start before May 2015 and beware of any scams offering the ability to apply for benefits immediately under this new program

 

 

New York City Passes Groundbreaking Detainer Reform Laws

 

On Oct. 22, 2014, the New York City Council passed groundbreaking legislation dramatically expanding existing city laws that limit the circumstances under which the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) (Int 0487-2014) and Department of Correction (“DOC”) (Int 0486-2014) will honor an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) detainer. The bills were signed into law on Friday, November 14th and will take effect thirty (30) days later, on or about Dec. 14, 2014. These new laws will greatly benefit future noncitizen criminal defendants and could also potentially prevent noncitizens currently detained in DOC custody from being transferred to immigration detention. Once in force, the new laws will mean that very few, if any, individuals will be transferred from NYPD and DOC to immigration detention. Thousands of New Yorkers each year will be spared from deportation.

Under the new detainer discretion laws, the NYPD and DOC may no longer honor detainer requests issued by ICE unless two criteria are satisfied. ICE must present the City with a warrant from an Article III federal judge (or a federal magistrate judge) that establishes that there is probable cause that the individual sought is subject to arrest by ICE. Additionally, even if ICE possesses a judicial warrant, the NYPD and DOC will only honor a detainer if the person has been convicted within the last five years of a violent or serious crime or is found to be a possible match on the terrorist watch list.

The laws include several additional measures to protect immigrant New Yorkers. ICE is no longer allowed to keep an office on Rikers Island. Additionally, DOC cannot expend resources assisting in civil immigration enforcement, including sharing information about clients with ICE, except as required by federal law or under other limited circumstances. NYPD has no limits on information sharing; therefore there is still a risk that ICE will appear at the court or at people’s homes. Lastly, the NYC Department of Probation announced that it will issue a policy consistent with this legislation in the near future.

For more information, the Immigrant Defense Project and Cardozo School of Law have created a detailed chart and practice advisory here.

Courtesy of the New York State Defenders Association.