Minister Joan Burton Visits Queens
Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton visited the Emerald Isle in Queens on March 15, meeting Irish community members, the staff of the Center and Executive Board Member Mae O’Driscoll. The visit was an opportunity for the Minister to see the work of the Center and discuss the issues that Irish immigrants face.
Over the course of an hour’s conversation, the Minister answered questions from those in attendance, discussed the pot holes in Cavan’s roads and outlined the challenges facing the Government of Ireland in getting the country back on track.
Social Worker Marguerite Corcoran presented the Minister with a beautiful green, white and orange shawl that was made by the Bronx Knitting Group. Photos are available on the EIIC Facebook page.
As always when Irish politicians are visiting the Emerald Isle, the event proved a great success, in no small part thanks to the work of the Consulate’s staff. Thanks to all those who came to meet the Minister, to the Knitting Group, to Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer and to Minister Burton herself.
Advocacy at City Hall and Albany
EIIC participated in a number of advocacy events in New York City and Albany over the last few weeks, highlighting the difficulties that immigrants face and encouraging legislators to enact solutions.
EIIC was well represented at the NYIC’s Annual Day of Action on April 17 at City Hall. Staff, including Executive Director Siobhan Dennehy and Director of Legal Services John Stahl, Esq., met with city politicians to discuss the issues facing immigrants in New York City. The Center also brought a group of community members who joined over 200 immigrants at the event.
On March 14 EIIC staff and a bus full of community members went upstate to participate in the Immigrants’ Day of Action in Albany. The event was organized by New York Immigration Coalition of which the Center is an active and engaged member. Thanks to all of those who traveled and delivered a message to legislators about the needs of immigrants in New York.
Photos of both advocacy days are available on the EIIC Facebook page.
St. Patrick’s Day Roundup
Comptroller John Liu honors Community Members
Emerald Isle would like to recognize Rosemary Lombard, Peter Quinn and Pádraig Ó Cearúill who were honored by Comptroller John Liu this March. They are great ambassadors for their community and worthy recipients.
City Council Irish Heritage Night
Emerald Isle Staff and Board were present at the City Council’s Irish Heritage Night on March 27th at the New York Historical Society. Congratulations to the honorees Chris Matthews and Sheila Lynott-Houircan, and the Queens Sanitation worker and Irish scholar Ed Shevlin who was presented to the audience. Detective Kevin Brennan and Detective Kevin H. Herlihy were also recognized for their wonderful service to the NYPD.
Woodlawn Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
Congratulations to the organizers of the inaugural St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Woodlawn. The Parade was a great success and will undoubtedly grow even stronger over the coming years. EIIC participated with the Merchants Association who created a banner for the Parade. Thanks to all of those involved.
Saint Patrick’s Parade in Queens
Board Member Peter Quinn had the honor of being the Grand Marshal for this year’s St. Pats for all Queens Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, leading it through Sunnyside and Woodside. The popular event was attended by many of the Center’s staff.
Irish American Legislators Society
Congratulations to Chair Brian O’Dwyer who was honored by the Irish American Legislators Association at Hibernian Hall in Albany on March 12. The event was preceded by a lunch, hosted by Jeff Cleary of the Irish American Heritage Museum, to mark the event.
The White House Reception
Chair Brian O’Dwyer was present for the meeting of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the President Barack Obama, and the customary presentation of a bowl of shamrock to the President.
USCIS Publishes Proposal for Stateside Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver Process
On April 2nd, the USCIS published a proposed regulation to permit certain spouses & children of US citizens subject to the bars for unlawful presence and ineligible to adjust status within the United States to apply for an I-601 Provisional Waiver before traveling abroad for their immigrant visa interview. See below and the following links to the USCIS website for more information. There is a 60 day comment period for the proposed regulation which ends on June 1st.
Proposed Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers
Reminder: This proposed process is not in effect. To learn more, read this alert.
What USCIS Proposes
On March 30, 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register requesting public comment on its plan to create an alternative process for certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to apply for and receive a provisional waiver of the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility while still in the United States, if they can demonstrate that being separated from their U.S. citizen spouse or parent would cause that U.S. citizen relative extreme hardship. The goal of the proposed process change is to reduce the time that U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members go through the consular process overseas to obtain an immigrant visa.
Why We Propose It
Currently, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who have accrued a certain period of unlawful presence in the United States are barred from returning to the United States for as long as 3 or 10 years if they leave the country. Immediate relatives can obtain a waiver of the unlawful presence bar if they show that a U.S. citizen spouse or parent will experience extreme hardship if they are required to remain outside the United States. The immediate relative also would have to show that they warrant a favorable exercise of discretion. But in order to obtain the waiver, these individuals must depart the United States and wait abroad while the waiver is processed.
Under the current process, therefore, U.S. citizens suffer unnecessarily long periods of separation while family members go through consular processing overseas to obtain an immigrant visa. The proposed process change lessens the length of separation by reducing inefficiencies in the current immigrant visa process. USCIS believes that this proposed change will streamline the immigrant visa process for immediate relatives whose only ground of inadmissibility is unlawful presence. USCIS plans to adjudicate the provisional waiver application in the United States before the immediate relative departs for his or her immigrant visa interview, which will reduce the length of time immediate relatives must spend abroad for consular processing.
What the Proposed Process Would Do
Under the proposed process, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who would need a waiver of unlawful presence in order to obtain an immigrant visa could file a new Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, before leaving the United States to obtain an immigrant visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad. All individuals eligible for this streamlined process are still required to depart the United States and must meet all legal requirements for issuance of an immigrant visa and admission to the United States.
An individual may seek a provisional unlawful presence waiver if he or she:
- Is physically present in the United States;
- Is at least 17 years of age;
- Is the beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition (I-130) classifying him or her as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen;
- Is actively pursuing the immigrant visa process and has already paid the Department of State immigrant visa processing fee;
- Is not subject to any other grounds of inadmissibility other than unlawful presence; and
- Can demonstrate that the refusal of admission would result in extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen spouse or parent.
An immediate relative would not be eligible for the proposed process if he or she:
- Has an application already pending with USCIS for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident;
- Is subject to a final order of removal or reinstatement of a prior removal order;
- May be found inadmissible at the time of the consular interview for reasons other than unlawful presence; or
- Has already been scheduled for an immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad.
Allowing immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to receive provisional waivers in the United States before departure for their immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate means that:
- Immigrant visa processing times will improve because of greater capacity in the United States and fewer case transfers between USCIS and the Department of State;
- Immigrant visas will be issued without unnecessary delay (if the individual is otherwise eligible); and
- The period of separation and hardship many U.S. citizens would face due to prolonged separation from their family members will be minimized.
Next Steps
This new process will be implemented only after USCIS publishes a final rule in the Federal Register with an effective date. USCIS will consider all comments received as part of the proposed rulemaking process before publishing the final rule. The current waiver process remains in place and will continue to remain for those who may not be eligible for a provisional waiver.
DO NOT file an application or request a provisional waiver at this time. Any applications filed with USCIS based on this NPRM will be rejected and the application package returned to the applicant, including any fees, until the final rule is issued and the change becomes effective.
For additional information, please see our I-601A Questions and Answers document, linked at the upper-right side of this page.
This page can be found at: http://www.uscis.gov/provisionalwaiver
Last updated: 03/30/2012