Applying for Permanent Residency? – Do Not Use Public Funds

Dated: February 24th, 2020

Cuevas, Garcia & Torres, P.A. | Attorneys At Law

Vantage Property Title Company

Andrew Cuevas, Esq. – Presidente
E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: (305) 461-9500
Fax: (786) 362-7127

Mr. Andrew Cuevas, Esq., is the President of Cuevas, Garcia & Torres, P.A., and Vantage Property Title Company. Cuevas, Garcia & Torres, P.A., provides legal services in the areas of Community Association Law, Corporate Law, Real Estate law, and Business Immigration, including title insurance services through Vantage Property Title Company. If you have any questions regarding this article or any other questions, you may contact Mr. Cuevas at (305) 461-9500 or via e-mail at [email protected].

On August 12, 2019, the Trump administration announced a plan to deny permanent legal immigration status for those who use federal, state and local benefits, including food stamps, housing vouchers and Medicaid. The acting director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) stated “[t]hrough the public charge rule, President Trump’s administration is reenforcing the ideal of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, ensuring that immigrants are able to support themselves and become successful in America..

The USCIS will implement the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds final rule (“Final Rule”) on Feb. 24, 2020 nationwide, including in Illinois, following a Department of Justice judicial victory lifting the injunction in that state. In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Feb. 21, 2020 decision to stay the statewide injunction preventing implementation of the Final Rule issued by U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, USCIS will now apply the Final Rule to all applications and petitions postmarked (or submitted electronically) on or after Feb. 24, 2020. For applications and petitions that are sent by commercial courier (e.g., UPS/FedEx/DHL), the postmark date is the date reflected on the courier receipt.

The Final Rule, published on Aug. 14, 2019 and originally scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 15, 2019, prescribes how the Department of Homeland Security will determine whether an alien is inadmissible, and ineligible to adjust status to that of a lawful permanent resident in the United States because the alien is likely at any time in the future to become a public charge pursuant to section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The Final Rule also addresses USCIS’ authority to issue public charge bonds in the context of applications for adjustment of status. Finally, the Final Rule includes a requirement that aliens seeking an extension of nonimmigrant stay or change of nonimmigrant status demonstrate that they have not received public benefits over the designated threshold since obtaining the nonimmigrant status they seek to extend or change.

This article is solely a partial explanation of all the issues related to the topic of this newsletter, and is not to be considered legal advice. Persons interested in obtaining more information on the EB-5 Visa Program should consult with their legal counsel to obtain explanations of all issues addressed herein.