newacct

Communist party membership within the last 10 years causes denial of naturalization. (See USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 12, Part D, Chapter 7, section D-1.) Given that her membership was 9+ years ago, it might be easier to just wait until 10 years and reapply.

How old is she? What's her income? If she's not a tax dependent of her parents, and her income is low enough, she can get Medi-Cal (California's Medicaid) any time in the year.

USCIS says that applications filed after 7/29/2020 don't have to include the public charge information (I-485 doesn't have to include I-944, and I-539/I-129 don't have to fill out the public benefits section), and they will not apply the new public charge rule to applications "adjudicated" after 7/29/2020 while the injunction is in effect.

What the heck is a "spousal support visa"? Never heard of that before. Maybe they mean like if your spouse has some kind of independent nonimmigrant status, you can change to a derivative status of that. For example, H4 if your spouse is on H1b, F2 if your spouse is on F1, etc.

She may be referring to the fact that the green card is no longer sufficient to re-enter the US after an absence of more than 1 year continuously, and so, if a green card holder stayed outside the US for 1 year continuously, and doesn't have a Re-entry Permit (which had to have been applied before leaving the US), then, officially, they would have to apply for an SB-1 returning resident visa at a US consulate (not USCIS). This isn't absolute, as the immigration officer at entry has the discretion to waive the requirement and let a green card holder in even after an absence of more than 1 year with no Re-entry Permit or SB-1 visa. None of this is new; it has always been this way; it's just more likely to come up now due to people not wanting to travel due to the COVID-19 outbreak. There is often some misconception that green card holders cannot stay outside the US for more than 6 months, but there is no such rule.

Well it doesn't affect getting green cards from within the US through Adjustment of Status (though those are effectively delayed due to USCIS offices not offering in-person services), nor does it affect people who applied from outside the US who have already been issued immigrant visas. It basically just stops issuance of new immigrant visas for 60 days (other than to spouses and children of citizens).

Yes. The proclamation does not apply to lawful permanent residents.

The proclamation doesn't apply to your wife because she is the spouse of a US citizen or permanent resident.

The proclamation regarding health insurance is currently blocked by a nationwide injunction. The separate but related public charge rule is in effect, but it doesn't require that you have insurance.

Since she has not been physically present in Mainland China in the last 14 days, there is no problem for her to come to the US.

Have you read the announcement and the new section in the policy manual about the exceptional circumstances DOS can accept I-130? It seems to be a new policy that took effect February 1 and is different from the office closings. A regular petitioner living in the country filing DCF doesn't seem to fall into any of the exceptional circumstances that DOS can accept I-130 now.

Read the USCIS Policy Manual section on continuous residence. An absence of between 6 months and 1 year is presumed to break continuous residence, but it can be overcome with strong evidence. An absence of more than 1 year definitely breaks continuous residence .

Starting 5pm EST on February 2, US citizens who have been to Hubei within 14 days will be subject to 14-day mandatory quarantine. US citizens who have been to the rest of China within 14 days will be subject to proactive screening and 14-day self-quarantine. Foreign nationals who have been to China within 14 days will be banned from entering the US, except immediate relatives of US citizens and permanent residents. https://www.pscp.tv/w/1ZkKzLDQPmLJv 7:27-9:38

The new rule takes effect February 24, 2020, except in Illinois. https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-announces-public-charge-rule-implementation-following-supreme-court-stay-nationwide-injunctions

Buy a plan from your state's health insurance exchange (Obamacare marketplace) from healthcare.gov. Although open enrollment is over for most states, she should qualify for a special enrollment period since she just moved to the US.

As far as the US CBP is concerned, someone with a valid green card does not even need a passport to re-enter the US. See this answer from CBP: "United States (U.S.) LPRs do not need a passport to enter the U.S.". And from the CBP carrier information guide (page 28): "A Lawful Permanent Resident may travel to the United States without a passport with a Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551)." But airline staff and Chinese exit control might still give you trouble for having a passport that is almost expired.

Each month USCIS chooses one of the two charts as the chart to use for determining which cases can file Adjustment of Status (I-485) in the US during that month, and posts it here. Sometimes they choose the Final Action Date chart, and sometimes they choose the Date for Filing chart. That's what the thing you quoted is talking about. Since your stepson is not in the US, he will be doing Consular Processing abroad, not Adjustment of Status. So the discussion above does not concern his case. For Consular Processing, NVC and the consulate should start processing the case around when the Date for Filing chart passes his priority date, but the process is not initiated by you and you have no control over it. For both Adjustment of Status and Consular Processing, the final approval cannot occur before a month when the FInal Action Date passes his priority date.

People getting ACA marketplace plans with incomes between 100% and 400% of the poverty level can get subsidies (premium tax credits). People getting ACA marketplace plans with incomes below 100% or above 400% of poverty level do not get subsidies, so it is not necessarily "a subsidized plan".

I don't see how this excludes all Obamacare plans. Anybody who is legally present in the US, regardless of income, who does not qualify for premium-free Medicare, is allowed to get an Obamacare (marketplace) plan, although some will qualify for subsidies (premium tax credits) and some will not. Those who get Obamacare plans who do not qualify for subsidies are clearly getting an "unsubsidized health plan". Those who get Obamacare plans who do qualify for subsidies can, I believe, decline to claim the subsidy, so it would be "unsubsidized".

That's correct.

Your use of the word "inadmissability" here is inappropriate. She has already been admitted as a legal permanent resident - this determination is NOT made at the POE. A returning permanent resident is usually not considered an applicant for admission. However, under certain circumstances listed in INA 101(a)(13)©, a returning permanent resident is considered an applicant for admission, and thus can be put into removal for inadmissibility. These circumstances include being outside the US for 180 days continuously, having engaged in illegal activity abroad, and a few other cases. The new rule mentions this fact:

It's good that she's coming back before October 15. Green card holders who return after being outside the US for 180 days are subject to grounds of inadmissibility, including public charge grounds of inadmissibility under the new public charge rule after October 15, 2019.

but yes it can affect those who have discrepancies discovered in the awarding of the green card. That is, the green card can be denied RETROACTIVELY, thus rendering them ineligible for citizenship. But whether they were eligible at the time they got their green card would be judged based on the old rules at the time they got their green card, so the new rule would not affect it.

The rule on inadmissibility mostly does not affect people who already have green cards, as permanent residents are not considered to be applying for admission, unless they leave the country for more than 180 days or engage in illegal activity abroad.

They can file I-130 and I-485 at the same time for Adjustment of Status in the US. But they would have to abandon the plan to leave the US and plan on staying in the US for months, as leaving while I-485 is pending automatically abandons their I-485 unless they've been granted Advance Parole before leaving. They can file I-765 for EAD and I-131 for Advance Parole, both for free, together with their I-485, but these days it can take up to half a year to get the EAD/AP. Each for has many required supporting forms and documents; make sure to read each form's instructions. If they don't want to do Adjustment of Status in the US, they would do Consular Processing abroad, in which case you would just file I-130 initially. Not true. They can adjust from B1 or B2 status. RJW - I-485 is based on the I-130