By Atty. Emmanuel Samonte Tipon

These are the 10 Commandments to successfully bringing your alien fiancé/fiancée to America from a Hawaii Immigration Attorney.

1. Petition for Alien Fiancé/Fiancée, USCIS Form I-129F (Revised Edition 05/21/10 or later) must be read, filled up, and signed by U.S. citizen petitioner, and submitted.
2. Biographic Information, USCIS Form G325A, must be filled up and signed by U.S. citizen petitioner, and another Form G 325A must be filled up and signed by the alien fiancé/fiancée.  Petitioner and alien fiancé/fiancée must attach to their Form G-325A their respective 2 passport style color photographs in accordance with the specifications in USCIS Form M-378. These must be submitted.
3. Petitioner’s proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a photocopy of Certificate of Live Birth in the U.S., Naturalization Certificate, or Certificate of Citizenship, of petitioner must be submitted.
4. Photocopy of U.S. Passport of U.S. citizen petitioner (All pages containing data, including visa stamp showing trip abroad to meet fiancé/fiancée) must be submitted.
5. Photocopy of Certificate of Live Birth issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) or similar office of the country of the alien fiancé/fiancée and children (if any) must be submitted. If not available, see Instructions to Form I-129F for alternative documents.
6. Proof of both parties’ legal capacity to marry, including photocopy of documents showing termination of all prior marriages of both parties (if applicable), such as divorce decree or annulment decree of marriage with, or death certificate of, prior spouse, or if alien has never been married, certificate of No Marriage Record (CENOMAR) issued by NSO or similar office.
7. Written statement of U.S. citizen petitioner must be submitted. It must state that both petitioner and alien fiancé/fiancée have met in person within two years before the filing of the petition; the date, place, and circumstances of the meeting; that both are free to marry and that they mutually intend to marry within 90 days of the entry to the U.S. of the alien fiancé/fiancée. It must describe their courtship, communications, wedding plans; explain why the wedding will be in the U.S. rather than where the alien resides; and provide other details showing a bona fide fiancé-fiancée relationship. Affidavits of other persons such as the parents, friends, and neighbors of the parties who know these details may be submitted.
8. Documents supporting the matters discussed in Item 7 must be submitted. These may include pictures preferably in a romantic pose of both parties, with a caption showing the date when and place where taken and names of persons in the pictures; arrangements with the person who will solemnize the marriage; contract with a hotel for wedding reception; airline tickets of U.S. citizen to visit alien; telephone bills; letters; print out of e-mail communications; greeting cards; tickets to public functions both attended; receipts for  mutual expenses; joint bank accounts; picture of engagement ring with receipt for its purchase; and other evidence showing courtship and mutual intent to get married.
9. Petitioner must comply with the IMBRA requirements relating to whether petitioner used an International Marriage Broker and if so, must provide the name and location of the broker; and if petitioner has ever been convicted of crimes specified in IMBRA, petitioner must submit certified copies of all court and police records showing the charges and dispositions for every such conviction, or if not so convicted, petitioner must submit a police or court clearance.
10. File the complete package containing Items 1-9, together with the filing fee of $340.00 (always check with USCIS for current fee), with the proper USCIS Service Center, accompanied with a cover letter listing the forms and documents submitted.

 11^th Commandment: GET THE BEST LAWYER AND PAY HIM HANDSOMELY.

 *TIP:

When it comes to immigration, winning is not everything; winning is the only thing. The consequences of failure are deportation or denial of a visa for yourself, your relative, or your loved one.

Therefore, in immigration cases, it is not sufficient to have a good lawyer; you must have the best lawyer.

By Atty. Emmanuel Samonte Tipon

Obama is enjoying Hawaii’s sunny weather playing golf with his Filipino buddy and eating shaved ice. On the other hand his ICE men are busy arresting Filipinos – not for aggravated felonies but simple immigration violations.

Take the case of a do-it-yourself Filipino whose adjustment of status application was rejected by USCIS. Reason? He did not fill in the blank for Alien Number. Instead of hiring a lawyer, his brother brought him to USCIS in Hawaii for advice. “Aha,” the officer must have exclaimed, looking at his I-94, “you should have gone home yesterday.” ICE agents handcuffed him and brought him to the Federal Detention Center, charging him with overstaying. It was only 12 hours. After three weeks in detention, his bond hearing was held. His brother represented him. He was required to put up $1,500. If the family had paid this amount to a competent lawyer in the first place to prepare the adjustment package, he would have avoided all this trouble. His brother was telling others “We do not have a problem with money. We have 8 houses.”

Another ICE victim was an overstaying Filipino student who was jailed for a week and placed in removal proceedings. He had celebrated Halloween with his girl friend and encountered a police roadblock checking for drunken drivers. He was charged with DUI. Since he was foreign born, the police forwarded his rap sheet to ICE, who checked his record and found out that his school adviser had reported him to USCIS for not carrying a full load of subjects. Hawaiian police do not need an Arizona-type law for them to inquire into the immigration status of people arrested. It appears that whenever an arrestee says he/she was born abroad, the police send their rap sheet to ICE. Let ICE do the checking.

Twenty Filipino family members, including wives and young children, were charged with fraud – claiming that their father who petitioned for them was alive although he was dead. Most were caught in a blitzkrieg-like raid. ICE agents simultaneously trooped to their homes, their places of work, and the airport where one was leaving to be with his dying wife and another was arriving after visiting relatives in the Philippines. A Filipino reported them according to ICE.

Another victim was a man undergoing divorce and defending himself from a temporary restraining order sought by his wife. While in court ICE men arrested him and brought him to FDC, charging him with fraud. The Immigration Judge asked if wanted to seek relief. He replied that he would just like to go home. To him, going home to the Philippines would be his relief. The Philippines would be heaven compared to the hell he had been experiencing from his wife who discovered that the reason he frequently went to the Philippines was to see his first wife whom he never divorced. Therefore, his marriage to the second wife who petitioned him was void. As the saying goes: “Hell hath known no fury like the fury of a woman scorned.”

Hawaii’s ICE chief, glancing in my direction during a conference of immigration lawyers, made an unsolicited remark “We are not targeting Filipinos.” I could have shot back: “You got to be kidding”.

“Happy New Year” to all our readers. I’m not kidding.