Liaison Report : TSC
Posted Aug 02, 2002

The MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom strive to keep our readers up-to-date with the activities and policies of the various regional Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Service Centers. This information, obtained through an American Immigration Lawyers Association liaison meeting with the Texas Service Center (TSC) in February 2002, was distributed only recently, in late July of 2002. It is for that reason that we bring this report to our readers now.

Age-Out Cases for I-485

The TSC indicates that it requires six months advance notification for I-485 age-out cases. Aging out occurs when a child turns 21 years old and, thus, is no longer considered to be a child. The sad consequence is that s/he is no longer going to be eligible for permanent resident status in the category of the filing. The INS will expedite processing of certain cases of this type, in an effort to adjudicate them prior to the 21^st birthday. However, the INS must have adequate advance notification of the age-out situation. The TSC stated that cases should be marked as age-out cases when filed, even if the age-out will occur one year after filing. For more on age outs and a law that should soon be enacted to fix the situation, see our August 2, 2002 article, Age-Out Protection Bill Ready to be Signed into Law.

Adjustment of Status of the Principal Alone

The TSC has, in some instances, been approving I-485 cases for the principal applicant without simultaneously approving the derivative spouse and/or children. Although it is policy to keep family filings together, if the examiner has the principal applicant's case only, s/he will adjudicate it to keep the fingerprints from expiring. The examiner then is supposed to request the files of the remaining family members and adjudicate those cases. TSC recommended continuing to mark such family group filings with numbers (1 of 3, 2 of 3, etc) so that the examiner can clearly see how many people in the family have filings that need to be adjudicated.

AC21 and I-140s

The TSC clarified that it does not require a new Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) for AC21 portability cases. The AC21 law has been discussed extensively in earlier issues of the MurthyBulletin. Those articles are available by searching on MurthyDotCom. In these cases a new job letter in needed, demonstrating that the position is "the same or similar to" the position described on the labor certification.

EADs and Relocation

The TSC was asked about the procedure for people who apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), change their residences while the application is pending, and the INS sends the card to the old address. The TSC advised that when the EAD card is returned by the Post Office as undeliverable, TSC will search their system for updated address information. If there is no updated address information, the card will be stored for 6 to 8 months. If the TSC receives updated address information before the EAD is destroyed, the EAD card will be sent to the new address. The TSC recommended the use of Form G-731 (Inquiry About Status of I-551 Alien Registration Card) to change the address, with an envelope marked "change of address" on the outside. Of course, the use of this local procedure does not eliminate the need to also file an AR-11 (Change of Address Form), in compliance with INS change of address notification requirements discussed in earlier articles of the MurthyBulletin, all available on MurthyDotCom.