To all of you that are celebrating,

happy holidays!

December 2014 Volume 2 Issue 4

Immigration Insiders Print Edition

Special points of

interest:

To all of you that are

celebrating, happy

holidays!

President’s Executive

Actions on Immigra-

tion

Questions?

Contact Us

5601 Democracy Dr.

Suite 200

Plano, TX 75024

Telephone:

214-431-5237

Email:

info@whittfirm.com

Website:

www.WhittFirm.com

I enjoy this time of year, but it does bring its challenges. On the one hand, holidays lighten the mood and slow down the pace. But parties, planned months in advance, fill all our weekends. Bak-ing, cooking, shopping, wrapping and visiting add to a hectic pace. Your workload stays the same while holiday time off increases. I don’t know about you, but for me, that leaves me with one of two ex-tremes: either piles of work or absolutely nothing in the pipeline.

I will be very busy in the next few months. With Congress at a standstill, the president has taken unilateral action on immi-gration reform. It’s like waiting for the starter pis-tol to go off around here. We’re all holding our breath for further deci-sions and instructions be-fore the programs take effect in January 2015. I’ve included an overview of the President’s execu-tive actions here. I prom-ise to keep you up to speed on the details just as soon as we hear more. And while the government crawls along like a turtle,

To all of you that are celebrating, happy holidays! — Cont.

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Immigration Insiders Print Edition

©2014 Whitt Law Firm, PC - All rights reserved

you can take this time to review your immigration journey. Have you completed all the re-quired paperwork? Have you obtained required signatures? Do you have copies of all docu-ments? Use this time to get a prepared as possible for your next step, whatever it is. I like to use this time of the year to both think about 2015 and reflect on what I accom-plished in 2014. Understanding what I did in 2014 – what I ac-complished and where I fell short – positions me to tackle 2015 successfully. And as im-portant as my career is, I think about and plan my personal life as well. These are some of the questions I ask myself when I’m review-ing 2014: Where was I a year ago and where am I today? What did I accomplish this year to get here? What were my biggest accom-plishments in 2014? What did I plan for but neglect to accomplish in 2014? Why? What one single action got me closer to the person I want to be? Were there any actions that held me back from reaching goals in 2014? What were they? Were they under my con-trol? What happened? Finally, what am I grateful for from 2014?

No matter where I’m ending the year, I give myself a pat on the back for celebrating what I ac-complished and learning from what I didn’t. I don’t wait for New Year’s Eve to make resolutions for 2015. In fact, I don’t make resolutions! Resolutions are something you are pressured to make with a cocktail in your hand just before the stroke of midnight. That is simply not the best time or place to make promises to myself! Instead, I take a quiet December evening, whenever I can squeeze it in, to map out 2015 in much the same way I reviewed 2014. These are some of the things I think about: At this time in 2015, where do I want to be? What do I want my life to look like by the end of next year? What steps do I need to take to get to where I want to be? What single thing can I change or do that will have the most impact on helping me meet my goals? Assuming these changes are within my control, can I start making the changes now? Do I need help in meeting my goals? Who can help me? Do I need an accountability partner to keep me on track? What word or phrase will I live my life by in 2015 – a word or phrase that I can easily recall when I’m hitting a wall or when a serious obstacle threatens to divert me?

And don’t forget to write down your goals for 2015! It doesn’t have to be a fancy document. I tend to forget what I don’t write down. Writing goals down also adds another layer of commitment to achieving what you want to do. I keep this document where it’s easy to review at least monthly. I’m often sur-prised by all the urgent but unimportant tasks that I ac-complish in any given month. They fill my time but take away from the important tasks that I’ve committed to do. Re-viewing goals monthly keeps me true to my plans and com-pleting the important tasks. I hope you enjoy this season and have many opportunities to be with those you love. If you are away from loved ones but hoping for a reunion through the US immigration process, I hope your issues are resolved soon. All the best, until next year!

President’s Executive Actions on Immigration

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Volume 2 Issue 4 December 2014

©2014 Whitt Law Firm, PC - All rights reserved

Important notice: These initiatives have not yet been implemented, and USCIS is not accepting any requests or applications at this time. Beware of anyone who offers to help you sub-mit an application or a request for any of these actions before they are available. You could become a victim of an immigration scam. http://www.uscis.gov/avoid-scams

On November 20, 2014, the Presi-dent announced a series of execu-tive actions to crack down on ille-gal immigration at the border, pri-oritize deporting felons not fami-lies, and require certain undocu-mented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay taxes in order to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.

These initiatives include: Expanding the population eligible for the Deferred Action for Child-hood Arrivals (DACA) program to young people who came to this country before turning 16 years old and have been present since January 1, 2010, and ex-tending the period of DACA and work authorization from two years to three years | http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction#1

Allowing parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been present in the country since January 1, 2010, to request deferred action and em-ployment authorization for three years, in a new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability pro-

gram, provided they pass re-quired background checks | http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction#2

Expanding the use of provision-al waivers of unlawful presence to include the spouses and sons and daughters of lawful perma-nent residents and the sons and daughters of U.S. citizens | http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction#3

Modernizing, improving and clarifying immigrant and nonim-migrant programs to grow our economy and create jobs | http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction#4

Promoting citizenship education and public awareness for lawful permanent residents and provid-ing an option for naturalization applicants to use credit cards to pay the application fee | http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction#5

Next steps

USCIS and other agencies and offices are responsible for im-plementing these initiatives as soon as possible. Some initia-tives will be implemented over the next several months and some will take longer.

Over the coming months, USCIS will produce detailed

explanations, instructions, regula-tions and forms as necessary.

While USCIS is not accepting requests or applications at this time, if you believe you may be eligible for one of the initiatives listed above, you can prepare by gathering documents that estab-lish factors such as your:

Identity;

Relationship to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident; and

Continuous residence in the Unit-ed States over the last five years or more.

Please call our office to schedule a consultation with an attorney if you have any questions about these new policies.

The Whitt Law Firm, P.C.

We ’re on the web! www.whittfirm.com

The Whitt Law Firm, PC

5601 Democracy Drive

Suite 200

Plano, TX 75024