Bar higher under new rule
QMy husband is waiting for his green card interview. Due to my disability, I am receiving Supplemental Security Income. Will this affect his chances under the new public charge rule? I am a U.S. citizen and under the adjustment of status process, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will interview my husband here.
Name withheld, Chicago
AThe law does not apply to your husband. The new public charge rule — which makes it more difficult for foreigners to get green cards — applies only to adjustment of status applications filed on or after Feb. 24. Further, the main thrust of the new rule is to evaluate the financial future of the applicant, not the petitioning relative. Your receiving benefits will not be a negative factor when USCIS evaluates your husband’s application.
However, since you are receiving a means-based public benefit, you will need a friend or relative to submit an affidavit of support for your husband. That is in addition to the affidavit you must provide.
QOn Jan. 30, the U.S. consul in the Dominican Republic denied my mother an immigrant visa claiming she would become a public charge. That is, that she would need public assistance once she immigrated to the United States. You had said the public charge law takes effect Feb. 24. Did the consul violate her rights?
Maria Roa, New York
AThe “public charge” bar to immigration — that our country should not admit individuals who will be a burden to residents already here — has been around in some form for over a century. The rules that take effect Febr. 24 do not create a new bar to getting a green card, but make overcoming the existing bar harder to do.
Speak to an immigration law expert about your mother’s case. You may be able to provide affidavits or other information that will overcome the claim that your mother is likely to become a public charge. You’ll want to submit that information as soon as possible.
Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, New York Daily News, 7th Fl., 4 New York Plaza, New York, N.Y., 10004 or email to questions@allanwernick.com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick.