New Public Charge Rule now in Effect

 

 

Published on February 28, 2020

Orlando immigration attorney Nayef Mubarak from Mubarak Law talks about recent changes in US immigration law regarding public charge and how it affects previous and future applications, and the possible negative factors when filing immigration applications.

 

New Public Charge Rule Now In Effect

N. Mubarak: Happy Friday everybody, this is Nayef Mubarak. I just wanted to give you guys the latest update on immigration law. We just completed a seminar on the public charge rule, which went into effect on February 24th. Before we get started I would like to introduce attorney Joel Caminero. He joined our firm a month ago and he's from DC. I'll let him briefly introduce himself.

J. Caminero: I just moved here recently from the DC area. I have lived and spend most my life In Orlando, Florida so I am familiar with the area. I mainly practice removal defense, post-conviction relief and appellate level matters.

N. Mubarak: Joel served in the Navy and I found out after he joined our firm that he went to the same high school as me. It's a small world and we are happy to work with our Orlando brother and move forward. What we're talking about today is this new form. This is a 944 form, it is now required for marriage cases or immigrant based adjustment of status applications. A similar form is also required for immigrant visas that are coming from abroad through the US embassies or consular process. This form is basically looking into what are the chances that immigrants or foreign nationals are going to rely on public benefits in the future. They're going to look at age, education, job offers, financial ability, health insurance and if you've received any public benefits from the government in the past. For example, having private health insurance is a positive factor, while being over 61 is a negative factor. For immigration practitioners like us this is very worrisome for people who are applying for their parents, since just because they're elderly immigration can view this as a negative factor. If you're under 18 this can also be viewed as a negative factor. This is not affecting any application sent previously. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is obtaining a public benefit that you're not entitled for since that can be a negative factor in your future green card application. Joel is there anything else you think that's important with the public benefits?

J. Caminero: There is a little bit of a misconception. If you already have your green card, if you are already a lawful permanent residents then this does not apply to you. So don't run out and try to relinquish all benefits out of fear. Be careful with that.

N. Mubarak: I you have an application that's pending already and you're a client of ours please don't freak out. If you've already filed your okay. This is going to be a new form for the future. And if you are going to be a future client it will be ok. We just need to be prepared for it. The most important thing we need to do is stay up-to-date on the laws and changes, which seems to be happening every week or day. There was even an update yesterday on citizenship applications. We'll make a video on that very soon. So if you have any questions please feel free to contact us! Message us and share this information with your friends and family. So future applications from immigrants even non-immigrants abroad there's going to be a great scrutiny on to whether or not this person is going to be a liability of the US government. Besides that educate yourself have a great weekend and we hope to see you around ever speak to you soon. Thank you!