Law School Graduate Who Posed As Licensed Attorney Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft

TAMPA, Fla. — Roberta A. Guedes has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a fraudulent scheme wherein she posed and practiced law as a licensed attorney. Guedes faces a maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, in 2014, Guedes graduated from Stetson University College of Law, but twice failed the Florida Bar exam. Guedes has never been licensed to practice law in Florida nor in any other state. Despite this, in the fall of 2014, Guedes incorporated two fake law firms—Ferguson and McKenzie LLC and Immigration and Litigation Law Office, Inc. Guedes marketed her legal services and rented office space at the Rivergate Tower in downtown Tampa. She took on multiple client-victims, misrepresenting herself as an attorney. Guedes charged her client-victims fees for her services, which ranged from representation in immigration proceedings to family law matters. At times, Guedes impersonated a law school classmate and licensed attorney who had no involvement in Guedes’s sham law firms. As part of her fraudulent scheme, Guedes filed court pleadings and immigration petitions using her former classmate’s name and Florida Bar number, and also made several personal appearances in federal immigration court in Orlando and Hillsborough County court posing as a licensed attorney.  Read more at: https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/law-school-graduate-who-posed-licensed-attorney-pleads-guilty-mail-fraud-and-aggravated-identity-theft

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information www.greencardadvice.com.

USCIS Expands Guidance Related to Naturalization Requirement of Good Moral Character

WASHINGTON— Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services expanded its policy guidance (PDF, 290 KB) regarding unlawful acts that may prevent an applicant from meeting the good moral character (GMC) requirement for naturalization. The commission of, or conviction or imprisonment for, an unlawful act, during the statutory period for naturalization, may render an applicant ineligible for naturalization should the act be found to adversely reflect on moral character.  

Previously, the USCIS Policy Manual did not include extensive information on unlawful acts. This update to the Policy Manual provides additional examples of unlawful acts and instructions to ensure USCIS adjudicators make uniform and fair determinations, and further identifies unlawful acts that may affect GMC based on judicial precedent. This update does not change the impact of an unlawful act on USCIS’ analysis of whether an applicant can demonstrate GMC. Adjudicators in the field receive extensive training to apply the law on GMC and unlawful acts regulation. They are aware of which unlawful acts could bar an applicant from naturalization and are not limited by the examples listed in the Policy Manual.

On Dec. 10, USCIS issued separate policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual about how two or more convictions for driving under the influence or post-sentencing changes to criminal sentencing might affect GMC determinations. Read more at: https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-expands-guidance-related-naturalization-requirement-good-moral-character

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information www.greencardadvice.com.

First Poles travel visa-free to US

This week saw the first Poles travel visa-free to the United States, following the country’s admission to the US Visa Waiver Programme.

Poland was granted accession to the US visa-free travel scheme after its visa refusal rate to the US dropped below three per cent (to 2.8 per cent) in September. Poles have been allowed to travel to the US visa-free since November 11.

“Poland’s long-awaited entry into the US Waiver Programme club makes it the 39th country to join the US government’s rigorous programme,” said Jayne Forrester, director of international development at Offical ESTA, a world leader in ESTA Visa Waiver processing.

“The US Waiver club is renowned for being difficult to join, with tight requirements and strict vetting rules under the programme’s robust security protocols. In over five years we’ve seen no changes to the countries allowed within the programme, which highlights its stringent guidelines,” she continued. Read more at: https://emerging-europe.com/news/first-poles-travel-visa-free-to-us/

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information www.greencardadvice.com.

Croatian citizens closer to visa-free travel to US

ZAGREB, 4 December 2019 – After 28 years since obtaining independence, visa restrictions for Croatian citizens traveling to the United States of America are on the verge of being lifted, daily Vecernji list reported on Tuesday.  

Intensive cooperation between the Croatian and US governments in this segment, especially since the visit of Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic to the US at the beginning of last year, has yielded results. 

In addition to the necessary bilateral security agreements, the visa refusal rate is the main obstacle and the number of denied visas needs to be at 3% or below to guarantee entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. According to recent data, the visa refusal rate for Croatian citizens has been reduced from 5.96% to a record 4.02%, Vecernji list writes. Read more at: https://www.croatiaweek.com/croatian-citizens-closer-to-visa-free-travel-to-us/

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information www.greencardadvice.com.

ICE details how border crisis impacted immigration enforcement in FY 2019

DALLAS — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Matthew T. Albence explained how the unprecedented crisis at the border during this fiscal year impacted nearly every area of the agency’s operations, including interior enforcement, detention capacity, transportation, removals, personnel, and overall expenditures. In FY 2019, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers arrested approximately 143,000 aliens and removed more than 267,000 – which is an increase in removals from the prior year.
While the numbers of individuals apprehended or found inadmissible at the border nationwide increased 68% over the previous fiscal year, the total number of aliens arrested by ICE dropped by nearly 10% compared to FY 2018. More than 86% of those arrested by ICE had criminal convictions or pending charges. Albence said ICE expected the lower numbers due to the crisis at the border because ICE needed to redirect resources to combat this unprecedented surge of illegal activity, and clearly demonstrated the detrimental effect the border crisis had on public safety. Read more at: https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-details-how-border-crisis-impacted-immigration-enforcement-fy-2019

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information www.greencardadvice.com.

USCIS Implements Two Decisions from the Attorney General on Good Moral Character Determinations

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced new policy guidance (PDF, 404 KB) implementing two decisions from the attorney general regarding how two or more DUI convictions affect good moral character (GMC) requirements and how post-sentencing changes to criminal sentences affect convictions and sentences for immigration purposes.

On Oct. 25, the attorney general decided in Matter of Castillo-Perez  that two or more DUI convictions during the statutory period could affect an applicant’s good moral character determination. When applying for an immigration benefit for which GMC is required, applicants with two or more DUI convictions may be able to overcome this presumption by presenting evidence that they had good moral character even during the period within which they committed the DUI offenses. The term DUI includes all state and federal impaired-driving offenses, including driving while intoxicated, operating under the influence, and other offenses that make it unlawful for an individual to operate a motor vehicle while impaired. Read more at: https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-implements-two-decisions-attorney-general-good-moral-character-determinations

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information www.greencardadvice.com.