California Immigration Lawyer Blog

I am going to be presenting a segment on virtual law - being a lawyer in the virtual world of Second Life.® The presentation will be at a seminar sponsored by the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada. The seminar entitled, "Owning and operating a business called a 'law firm', will take place from July 31 - August 1, 2009 in Monterey, California.

I will be on a panel along with Ida Jones, professor at the Craig School of Business, California State University Fresno, and Lorri Mon, assistant professor, College of Information, Florida State University.

Our presentation will focus on the internet virtual world of Second Life. We will provide an overview of what Second Life is and a discussion of some of the legal issues that arise in Second Life. We will talk about the educational opportunities for lawyers in Second Life and the challenges of practicing law in Second Life. Finally, We will explore some of the other Web 2.0 applications such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. and discuss some of the legal issues that may arise for lawyers who use them.

If you are planning to go to the seminar, I hope you will introduce yourself to me.

It has become quite a hassle to obtain a California state driver's license or state identification card ("ID") when you are a non-immigrant such as in F, M, or J status (students, students in vocational schools, cultural exchange students). Recently Immigration Customs and Enforcement issued a fact sheet on applying for a driver's license or ID card for non immigrants in F, M or J status.. The fact sheet is helpful as it provides basic information on how to apply for a driver's license or ID card. It is not state specific but it does list all of the websites for all of the Department of Motor Vehicle offices in the United States.

The steps in applying for a driver's license or ID card in California are listed on the California Department of Motor Vehicles website. You must do the following in this order:

• Obtain a Social Security number
• Complete a Driver License or Identification Card Application
• Present an acceptable birth date/legal presence document
• Pay the application fee

In order to obtain a Social Security number, you must go to a local Social Security office. You may find out more about the process on the Social Security Administration's website. For those in F, M, and J status, you will find additional guidance by reviewing Social Security's electronic fact sheet, "Social Security numbers for non-citizens."

The fact sheet issued by ICE is useful because it provides an email address to use in case the DMV does not issue the driver's license or identification card. It has been difficult in the past to get the immigration authorities to communicate with the DMV about a person's immigration status. In the fact sheet, ICE promises a one-to-two day turn around once they receive a request for information as to why a student's ID or driver's license was not issued. This is great news as students have suffered a great deal of frustration in the past waiting for the agencies to communicate with one another.

The virtual world of Second Life® is increasingly being used for education purposes. I never thought that I would see an educational use in the field of immigration but recently it was used just for that. In the blog post, "Case Study: Loyalist College Massively Improves Test Scores and Training Outcomes Using Second Life," Second Life employee, Amanda Linden highlights a new study published by a college in Canada that discusses the training of border guards at their school.

The college, Loyalist College, in Ontario, Canada, has a program which students to be customs and immigration agents. Prior to September 11, 2001, students would go into the field at a border office and observe agents working. After September 11, non-bonded personnel were not permitted to observe professional agents. The school tried roll-playing scenarios but the training was not effective. They decided to create a training program in Second Life which creates border crossing simulations.

Photo from Second Life Blog

The training program is comprised of various scenarios that could happen on the border. A Second Life script generates information from the virtual license plate on the cars passing through the border and replicates the information in the guard booth. Statistically relevant issues are programmed to pop up inside the guard station such as problems driving records and stolen car warnings. Students take turns playing the drivers and border agents.

You can see a video of the training here:

Continue reading " Could Second Life® help U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers learn their skills? " »

The employment verification form (Form I-9) is a form used to document the eligibility of a new employee to work in the United States. The current version of the form states on the top that it expires on 06/03/09. You may still continue to use this form despite its expiration date. USCIS recently issued an update on its website which indicates that the current form remains valid. USCIS has filed for permission to extend the validity of this form with the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB"). While that extension is pending, employers may use the current version of Form I-9.

USCIS has recently published a new fact sheet of common questions and answers for members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. The fact sheet contains the most frequently asked questions that USCIS receives.

The fact sheet is worth reading if you are in the Armed Forces because the answers to some of the questions are different (and usually more advantageous) to members and/or dependents of those in the Armed Forces. For instance, if you are a civilian, obtained your green card through a marriage to a U.S. Citizen and you have been married for less than two years, you must file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence to remove the conditional residence and obtain your permanent green card. You must file this form even if you intend on applying for citizenship a year later. (Persons who are married to U.S. citizens may apply for citizenship in three years.)

Members of the armed forces do not have to file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence to remove conditional residence obtained through a marriage to a U.S. Citizen, if the foreign born spouse was inducted or enlisted in the military and is applying for naturalization based on qualifying military service. Thus, military personnel are permitted to "skip a step" and do not need to file form I-751.

Additional questions and answers and helpful email addresses to USCIS liaisons are included on the fact sheet.

I am writing the second of a multi-part series of posts on how to bring family relatives to the United States permanently. The first post I wrote provided general information on bringing family relatives to the United States. (See my post, "Can I petition for my relative to immigrate to the United States?") This post will focus on how to petition for your brother or sister to come to the United States permanently.

In order to petition for your brother or sister you must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative with United States and Citizenship Services ("USCIS") along with proof that you are a United States Citizen and that you are related to your brother or sister. I will discuss the steps you must take in more detail below.

Obtain Form I-130

You may obtain Form I-130, by clicking on the link in this post. At the same time that you obtain the form, you should also print out the instructions to the form. They are more detailed than the instructions I will provide in this post and provide the mailing address to where you will need to send the form.

Proof of U.S. Citizenship

You may prove that you are a U.S. citizen by sending one of the following documents to USCIS with your petition:

• A copy of your birth certificate (if you were born in the United States) issued by a civil registrar, vital statistics office, or other civil authority.
• A copy of your naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship issued by USCIS or the former INS.
• A copy of your Form FS-240, Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States, issued by a U.S. embassy or consulate.
• A copy of your unexpired U.S. passport. OR
• An original letter from a U.S. consular officer verifying that you are a U.S. citizen with a valid passport.

Continue reading " How do I bring my brother or sister permanently to the United States? " »