Updates – Page 4 – Sound Immigration

CLE materials – Tools for Streamlining and Automating Your Law Practice

Thanks to the Washington State Bar Association's Solo & Small Practice Section - I appreciate having the opportunity to speak today at the annual CLE with legal-tech futurist, and workers comp attorney Jordan Couch. This post houses materials for today's…

Travel Ban 2.0 – new Executive Order by Trump Administration

On March 6, 2017 the Trump Administration issued a new Travel Ban Executive order, entitled "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States." This Executive Order is an attempt to pass travel restrictions that will not be…

Understanding the Feb. 17 enforcement memos

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released draft guidance on how it plans to implement the Trump administration policies on immigration enforcement at the borders and within the United States. Our video below summarizes some of the major elements…

Federal Court halts Immigration Ban Executive Order

This afternoon a Federal District Court in Washington State entered a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), enjoining aspects of the Immigration Ban. A copy of the order is available here: WA AG TRO (1). Last Friday's hearing before Judge Robart may be…

Breaking news: USCIS to continue processing applications from banned countries

We have just reviewed a leaked an undated USCIS memorandum. It appears to be authentic, and indicates that USCIS will continue processing adjustment of status (I-485) and other applications for citizens of the 7 countries subject to the Immigration Ban…

Trump Executive Orders – “I’m a lawyer, what can I do?”

February 2, 2017
Sound Immigration
For lawyers, Immigration scholarship, Legal ethics, Trump, Updates
3 Comments

Last Friday, January 27, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order that has come to be known alternately as the Immigration Ban or Muslim Ban. Goodhearted citizens across the nation have been outraged by the policy, as a profound strike…

Make your practice more client friendly with design thinking

The law is notoriously verbocentric and dense. And from the client’s perspective, legal services are rarely delivered in a user-friendly way. Although design-driven businesses have been shown to outperform their competitors, the legal profession has been slow to adopt good…

State Department revokes all valid visas for citizens of banned countries

In an official cable, the Department of State has announced that it will revoke all valid visas for citizens of the seven countries subject to the Immigration Ban Executive Order. The cable states: Upon request of the U.S. Department of…

NVC stops processing cases for citizens of banned countries

The National Visa Center (NVC) has announced that it will suspend all processing of cases for citizens of the 7 countries listed in the Immigration Ban. Here is the text of the announcement: Pursuant to the Executive Order on Protecting…

Immigration Ban Executive Order Update – Feb. 1, 2017

Here are the latest updates on the Trump Administration's Executive Order, often referred to as the Immigration Ban. Further confirmation: all USCIS applications on hold for affected countries. It now appears clear that USCIS will halt processing of all application…

What goes into an I-864 Affidavit of Support lawsuit complaint?
I’ve been representing clients in lawsuits to enforce the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support for about a decade at this point. Over that time, I’ve made a lot of changes to the template that we use for federal lawsuit complaints. (A complaint is the initial case document that sets forth the plaintiff’s legal claim…
What is a joint sponsor’s liability under the Form I-864, Affidavit of Support?
A joint sponsor (also called co-sponsor) has the same liability under an Affidavit of Support as the primary sponsor. By signing the USCIS Form I-864, the joint sponsor agrees to “joint and several” liability on the contract. The sponsored immigrant can sue the joint sponsor for financial support in state or federal court. A joint…
Can you enforce the Form I-864 Affidavit of Support in a divorce case?
Yes – in most states the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support can be enforced in a divorce case. A family law court has the authority to enforce the I-864 either (1) as a breach of contract claim or (2) through spousal maintenance (also called alimony). But as discussed below, divorce court is not necessarily…
USCIS Form I-864 enforcement in divorce court – another cautionary tale (Marriage of Bychina)
It is a theme that I have written about many times on this blog and elsewhere. Yes, the Affidavit of Support can theoretically be enforced in family law proceedings. But in practice, beneficiaries frequently encounter problems in that forum. Here is another example. Marriage of Bychina was a family law case in Illinois. See No.…
How do you calculate damages under the I-864, Affidavit of Support
In an important ruling for one of our I-864 enforcement clients, a Court ruled today that damages under the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support are determined based on taxable income. In Flores v. Flores, the Western District of Washington ruled that the term “income” is governed by the definition contained at 8 C.F.R. §…
How do you settle a claim under the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support?
As I explain elsewhere on this blog, almost all claims under the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support result in settlement. To get an idea of how long that process takes, read this post. Having settled many of these claims, here is an overview of how we generally approach settlement. What goes into an Affidavit…
Can you enforce the Form I-864 Affidavit of Support with a preliminary injunction?
Non-citizens needing to enforce the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support are usually in serious need of help. To have a claim under the Affidavit, their income needs to be below 125 percent of the poverty line. That’s about $1,400 per month for a household of one. But a lawsuit can take months or even…
What affirmative defenses are available to Form I-864 sponsors? None.
The Eleventh Circuit has held that the common law defenses of unclean hands, anticipatory breach, and equitable estoppel are unavailable to a sponsor who has signed a USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support. Blevich v. Thomas, 17 F.4th 1048 (11th Cir. 2021). Belevich joins a growing line of cases that stand for the proposition that…
The federal right to immigration “alimony” under the Form I-864, Affidavit of Support
A version of this article first appeared in the Side Bar journal for the Litigation Section of the Federal Bar Association (Spring 2021). If you are like most federal litigators – this author included – you would never enter divorce court unless your name was on the case caption. The vitriol, the sabotage, the meanness.…
How long does the I-864 support last?
A sponsor's obligation under the Form I-864 lasts indefinitely. It terminates only upon one of five Terminating Events, including when the green card holder has 40 quarters of work or becomes a U.S. citizen. It *does not* terminate automatically after ten years, even though lawyers mistakenly