Aust Schmiechen, P.A.

We are thrilled that Minnesota Governor Walz just signed into law the “at risk juvenile guardianship,” which will give certain immigrant youth in MN between the ages of 18 and 21 the ability to seek guardianship as a protection from abuse, abandonment and neglect and will open a pathway to legal status that federal law already permitted, but a gap in the MN law made impossible for these kids.
We are proud that our Associate Attorney, Alison Griffith, helped draft the bill language for this legislation. We will take at-risk juvenile guardianship cases at Aust Schmiechen, so please DM us or give our office a call at 612.724.4860 if you think you, or someone you know, could be eligible! If you are a lawyer wanting training on these cases, please feel free to get in touch.
A big shout out to our many immigration lawyers and nonprofit colleagues who made this a reality!
You can view the new law on the Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes website at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=Senate&f=SF2736&ssn=0&y=2021

Aust Schmiechen, P.A. updated their info in the about section.

Aust Schmiechen, P.A. updated their address.

Today, USCIS announced that it will continue to maintain as closed all of its offices where customer contact is required due to COVID-19/coronavirus. Please see the USCIS pages relating to USCIS office closures due to COVID-19/coronavirus.

USCIS Response to COVID-19 ALERT: As of March 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has temporarily suspended routine in-person services through at least June 4 to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID

Even though most of Minnesota continues to , the legal services provided by Aust Schmiechen have been deemed essential pursuant to the Governor's Shelter In Place order; we are maintaining an office presence Monday-Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. If you would like to set up a consultation with one of our attorneys, please feel free to call us at 612.724.4860.

USCIS has extended closure of their offices due to the current COVID-19 epidemic through May 3, 2020. You can keep up to date on USCIS closures by going to their page on the subject.

USCIS Response to Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) ALERT: As of March 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services temporarily suspended in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and Application Support Centers (ASCs) to help s

In lght of the current COVID-19 pandemic, USCIS is offering flexibility if you have not yet responded to a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).

USCIS Announces Flexibility for Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Deny In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is adopting a measure to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding

Aust Schmiechen will be reducing office presence at its suite on Nicollet Mall in light of current precautions and recommendations relating to the COVID-19/Coronavrus epidemic. Someone should be present most days, but the easiest way to get a hold of us may be to send an email. We will try to continue to provide service to you, our beloved clients, but it may take us a little more time. Thank you in advance for your patience. In addition, to the extent possible, meetings will be done remotely, by phone or through other means of communication.

The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that the proposed changes in determining who is eligible for certain immigration benefits based on an assessment of their becoming a Public Charge Rule will go into effect at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 15, 2019. DHS has widened the scope of public benefits people receive and additional factors to be considered in determining inadmissibility under the public charge rules. If you are presently eligible to file an application to become a Lawful Permanent Resident, (also known as applying for a Green Card), we encourage you to file by October 14, 2019 so that the new rules will not apply to you. If you send in an application for Permanent Resident status after October 14, 2019, please consult with a lawyer to further understand the complexity of this rule change and how it may impact your immigration status. For more information on the new rule, USCIS has set up an information page available here: https://www.uscis.gov/legal-resources/final-rule-public-charge-ground-inadmissibility.

Final Rule on Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility Self-sufficiency has long been a basic principle of U.S. immigration law. Since the 1800s, Congress has put into statute that individuals are inadmissible to the United States if they are un

Are you a Lawful Permanent Resident that is presently eligible to apply for US Citizenship? Are you interested in participating in the 2020 election and voting for the first time? The window for filing and being sworn in before November 2020 is closing. Presently cases in Minnesota can take 12-15 months from the filing date until an applicant is sworn in as a US Citizen. If you have been a Permanent Resident for 4 years and 9 months (or 2 years, 9 months if you are married to and living with a US Citizen), you can apply now. If interested, please consider a consultation with Aust Schmiechen to assess your eligibility to apply for US Citizenship. We can be reached Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.

Yesterday, the State Department added a question on the DS-160 and DS-160 asking that applicants provide their social media credentials/usernames. It cannot be stated more clearly, if you have not already done so and have in the past, are in the process of doing so now or are likely to in the future, seek immigration benefits to the United States, set your accounts to "PRIVATE."

While there is much to be frustrated with when it comes to processing times in immigration, good news is always fun to receive. A client, the spouse of a US Citizen, will have their immigrant visa interview at the US Consulate just 9.5 months after we filed the I-130.

Brian Aust appears on the most recent episode of the Podcast Immigration Nation, hosted by local attorney, Kara Lynum to discuss the removal (aka deportation) process. Listen to it now! https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/studio-americana-2/immigration-nation?refid=stpr

www.stitcher.com

Email is back up and running. You can resume emails to Aust Schmiechen.

All email to the employees of Aust Schmiechen is presently not being delivered. We are working to resolve the issue and will update when it is up an running again.

If you are looking for services to renew DACA, please see the attached sheet for services in Minnesota.

Today is moving day for Aust Schmiechen. We will be ready to resume our normal operations on Monday, January 29. Hope you come see us at our new location at 825 Nicollet Mall, Suite 623 in downtown Minneapolis!

If you are in a faith community and looking for a way to live your faith out in relation to immigration, visiting immigrant detainees through the Conversations with Friends programs is a great way to do so.

(no title) Ending isolation by visiting and supporting immigrants in detention

This was just posted on the USCIS website that they are once again accepting DACA applications.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: Response to January 2018 Preliminary Injunction Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: Response to January 2018 Preliminary Injunction Versión en español Jan. 13, 2018, Update: Due to a federal court order, USCIS has resumed accepting requests to renew a grant of deferred action under DACA. Until further notice, and unless otherwise provid.....

There is exciting news for Aust Schmiechen. On January 29, 2018, we will move into the Medical Arts Building on Nicollet Mall. The new address will be:
825 Nicollet Mall
Suite 623
Minneapolis, MN 55402-2612

You have rights when ICE shows up at your door. Be respectful, but don't offer information.

Here is a link to the text of the State Department cable defining which relationships are close enough to not be subject to the travel ban if the individual is from one of the 6 named countries in the travel ban executive order.

Live: U.S. Politics U.S. lays out criteria for visa applicants from six Muslim nationsVisa applicants from six Muslim-majority countries must have a close U.S. family relationship or formal ties to a U.S. entity to be admitted to the United States under guidance distributed by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday. He...

USCIS recently released a new edition of form I-485. The form contains 18 pages and 42 pages of instructions. This new form contains many new questions not previously asked on it and is highly complex. Thankfully, use of this form is not required until August 25, 2017. If you are eligible to adjust status (apply for a green card), we highly recommend filing with the current version of the form.

Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status Are you ready to apply to adjust your status to lawful permanent resident? Learn about Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.

This is a link to the Secretary of Homeland Security's Memorandum issued last Friday in which he laid out the goals and policies in implementing the President's Executive Order with regard to Border Security. Some of the specific policy points are the hiring of 5,000 CBP officers, expansion of 235 expedited removal authority, detention of undocumented immigrants whenever possible, holding of persons pending removal proceedings in "contiguous countries" and holding such hearing via video conferencing, the wall, and criminal prosecution of parents who are alleged to have smuggled their children to the United States.

www.mcclatchydc.com

This is a link to the Secretary of Homeland Security's Memorandum issued last Friday explaining the agency's priorities and goals in implementing the President's Executive Order regarding immigration enforcement. It seeks to expand cooperation between local law enforcement agencies and ICE, orders the hiring of an additional 10,000 ICE officers, ends prosecutorial discretion and a number of other things.

www.mcclatchydc.com

This evening The Honorable Judge James Robart of the Federal District Court of Washington issued a restraining order preventing President Trump and the various agencies charged with enforcing the Executive Order of last weeks relating to multiple sections of what is commonly referred as the travel ban. You can review the order here:https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3446145/WA-Order.pdf

assets.documentcloud.org

If you want to understand more about the President's Executive Order regarding entry to the United States of persons from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, this is a link to informational flyers in various languages.

L4GG - Google Drive

On December 22, 2016, USCIS announced the release of updated versions of many forms that customers use in applying for immigration benefits and announced that only the newest version would be accepted. After receiving many complaints from the public and stakeholders, USCIS announced today that with the exception of the N-400 Application for Naturalization, it will accept previous versions of the forms through February 21, 2017. However, the new fee schedule still applies to any forms/petitions that a person submits.

Previous Editions of Forms Accepted Until Feb. 21, 2017, but Must Include New Fees When new fees for most USCIS forms went into effect on December 23, 2016, we published updated versions of the forms at uscis.gov/forms. We strongly encourage customers to submit these new versions, w

In light of the election outcome, DACA eligible persons should read this.

5 Important Things You Need To Know About DACA During a Trump Presidency There is no doubt that we’re in a difficult moment. Below is our best thinking on how to move forward if you have DACA.

USCIS announced today that Temporary Protected Status was renewed and extended for nationals of Nepal. The window for applying to extend TPS starts today and runs through December 27, 2016. Keep in mind, however, that the fee for the form I-765 will increase on December 23 from $380 to $410.

Temporary Protected Status Extended for Nepal Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Nepal (and those without nationality who last habitually resided in Nepal) for an add

The final rule for how USCIS will evaluate claims for extreme hardship as it relates to certain types of waivers will go into effect on December 5, 2016.

Extreme Hardship - Part B, Volume 9 | Policy Manual | USCIS This ​p​art offers guidance concerning the adjudication of applications​ ​for those discretionary waivers of inadmissibility that ​require applicants to establish that refusal of their admission would result in​ “extreme hardship” to certain U.S. citizen or ​lawful permanent resident (​LPR​)​ family...

JUST ANNOUNCED - Many filing fees for USCIS benefits will increase on December 23, 2016. The new fees are viewable here:

USCIS Announces Final Rule Adjusting Immigration Benefit Application and Petition Fees First fee increase in six years to take effect Dec. 23

USCIS has announced that an individual with a pending I-589 Application for Asylum will now receive a work authorization for two years

USCIS Increases Validity of Work Permits to Two Years for Asylum Applicants Effective October 5, 2016, USCIS has increased the validity period for initial or renewal Employment Authorization Documents for asylum applicants from one year to two years.