In a conference call to Spanish-speaking reporters, Leon Rodriguez, Citizenship and Immigration Services director, indicated that immigrants should be able to start applying for deportation relief and work permits beginning February of 2015. Those applying for expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA) should be also to do so in February of 20145. Thereafter, parents of U.S. citizens and legal resident children should be able to begin applying in May of 2015.
During the conference-call, White House officials also stressed the following points about President Obama’s recent executive action:
- To avoid being swindled, potential applicants should be wary of anyone offering to help them apply. Applicants should avoid “notarios” at all costs, as they are not attorneys who are licensed to practice law in the United States. If you and/or a loved is considering hiring a Miami immigration attorney, be sure to visit the Florida Bar website at www.flabar.org to view the attorney’s credentials.
- People outside the country do not qualify and all immigrants who recently arrived illegally will be considered priorities for deportation. Those eligible must have lived in the country continuously since Jan. 1, 2010 and meet other criteria.
- A provision in immigration law that allows spouses, parents and minor children of U.S. citizen residents to apply for legal residency without leaving the country for long periods will be expanded to include adult children of U.S. citizens and legal residents and spouses and minor children of legal residents as part of the executive order. New guidelines will be issued expanding the definition of “extreme hardship” that has to be shown to qualify for this provision.
- People who receive deportation relief will be allowed to travel in certain circumstances but will have to apply for that opportunity.
- Many of the people eligible for the deportation relief are not people who would normally be considered priorities for removal from the country since they generally would not have criminal records.
- People who apply by 2015 should get their three-year deportation deferrals by 2016.
- The administration is assembling a list of acceptable and required documentation to prove eligibility.
If you think would like more information on President Obama’s executive action of November 20th, 2014, please contact Miami immigration attorney Michael G. Murray, Esq. at (305)895-2500 or visit our website at www. mmurraylaw.com