Earlier this year, USCIS announced Form I-693, properly completed and signed by a civil surgeon or military physician on or after November 1, 2023, does not expire and can be used “indefinitely” as evidence proving the applicant is not inadmissible to the United States on the basis of health status.

Effective March 5, 2024, Veterans in three recently-created cohorts are eligible to enroll in VA health care on an expedited basis.  Section 103(a) amends the PACT Act established three “Cohort” categories of eligibility for Veterans to receive care:

(1) Veterans participating in toxic exposure risk activities (“TERA”) while on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training;

(2) Veterans who performed active military, naval, air, or space service on or after 08/02/1990 while assigned to a duty station in in certain Middle East locations (including airspace above): Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, or the United Arab Emirates; and Veterans who performed active military, naval, air, or space service on or after 09/11/2001, while assigned to a duty station (including airspace above) in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan, or any other country determined relevant by VA; and

(3) Veterans deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation New Dawn (OND), Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), and Resolute Support Mission (RSM). Veterans in the three cohorts are eligible to enroll in VA health care. The VA plans to screen records of certain priority group enrollees to determine eligibility and will contact eligible Veterans.  If you are in a lower Priority Group, you may be able to enroll in a higher priority group if you fall within one of the cohorts.

Exposure to TERA includes, but is not limited to, air pollutants (burn pits, sand, dust, particulates, oil well fires, sulfur fires), chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, depleted uranium with embedded shrapnel, contaminated water), occupational hazards (asbestos, industrial solvents, lead, paints including chemical agent resistant coating, firefighting foams), radiation (nuclear weapons handling, maintenance and detonation, radioactive material, calibration and measurement sources, X-rays, radiation from military occupational exposure), and warfare agents (nerve agents, chemical and biological weapons). This is not an exclusive list, and more exposure categories are available at the VA’s Public Health website.

Veterans must apply (either as a new enrollee on VA Form 10–10EZ, Application for Health Benefits, or as an existing enrollee on VA Form 10– 10EZR, Health Benefits Update Form) for the VA to determine whether they participated in a TERA and are eligible for enrollment in Priority Group 6 on that basis. If the VA has already determined that a Veteran participated in a TERA in the context of a disability claim, that decision will be binding for health care enrollment purposes. Veterans in Cohorts 2 and 3, are those who served in certain locations during certain time periods (generally, during or after the Persian Gulf War) or in support of certain contingency operations (generally after September 11, 2001).  

For current enrollees, the VA will review its existing records to determine if the enrollee is a covered Veteran or deployed in support of an identified contingency operation. If the Veteran’s service qualifies, VA will place the Veteran in Priority Group 6 unless the Veteran qualifies for a higher Priority Group. VA will review new applications for enrollment to determine whether the Veteran is eligible for enrollment in Priority Group 6 as a Cohort 2 or Cohort 3 Veteran based on qualifying service.

How to Apply: Any Veteran who wants to apply for new VA health care enrollment can do so by submitting a VA Form 10–10EZ: (1) in-person or by mail to a VA medical facility; (2) by mail to the Health Eligibility Center, 2957 Clairmont Rd., Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30329; (3) online; or (4) by calling 1–877–222–VETS (8387). Veterans enrolled in VA health care who want to apply for an upgrade to their current Priority Group can do so by submitting a VA Form 10–10EZR using any of the four methods described above. Should a Veteran receive an enrollment decision with which they disagree, they can appeal the decision with the VA.

For more information about the PACT Act and your benefits, access https:// www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-andyour-va-benefits/ or contact 1–877–222– VETS (8387).  Call PLGPC today for more information or to appeal an adverse eligibility decision.

Two days ago, on January 30th, USCIS announced an increase of up to 26% for certain filing fees, especially those associated with family-based immigration benefit applications (e.g., I-130, I-485, I-751, etc.).  The fees will be applied to certain forms that are postmarked on or after April 1, 2024. For instance, the filing fee for a K-1 Fiancé(e) visa will increase by $140 from $535 to $720.  The filing fee for the I-130 to petition for an alien relative will increase from $535 to $625 (17% increase), if filing online, and to $675 (26% increase), if filing by paper.  More importantly, filing to adjust status in the US via the I-485 will increase from the current $1,225 (includes $85 biometrics fee) to $1,440 (18% increase).  Also, now when adjusting status in the US and applying for employment authorization and advance parole, you’ll pay an additional fee of $260 for the I-765 (employment authorization) and a new fee of $630 for the I-131 to get advance parole to travel pending receipt of your green card.  All told, to adjust status will be $2,955 (from the current $1,760) for the agency filing fees, alone. If you’re planning to file for an immigration benefit, and the filing fees for your forms will increase April 1^st, PLGPC recommends you get your documents filed as soon as possible.  Contact our office to discuss our expedited services to beat the April 1^st fee increase deadline.

PLGPC is the only CAA located in Alaska’s Interior providing this service to foreign persons. Because a completed federal income tax return must accompany the W-7, please visit your tax preparer before seeking ITIN CAA services from us. PLGPC does not provide income tax return preparation services.

Obtaining an ITIN or EIN does not confer an immigration status on a foreign national applicant.  But, having an ITIN can facilitate the process of applying for an immigration benefit by providing much needed evidence of marriage bona fides, for instance. Talk to one of our immigration attorneys about the benefits of an ITIN in your family-based immigration case.

Bankruptcy is federal law, and section 1408 of title 28, United States Code (“U.S.C.”), sets forth the “Venue for cases under title 11,” which is where Bankruptcy Law is codified in the U.S.C.  Section 1408 requires a debtor file the bankruptcy petition in the bankruptcy court located in the “district” where the person’s domicile, residence, principal place of business or principal assets have been located 180 days or “for a longer portion of such [180 days]” (basically, 91 days) immediately before filing the bankruptcy case. It’s easy to find the right Bankruptcy Court in Alaska because there is only one, and it’s located in Anchorage.  So, the only calculation necessary is to find out “when” you can file for bankruptcy in Alaska.  Simply count 91 days from the date you arrived in Alaska to establish your domicile or residency, and you’ve met the venue requirement for filing here.

The next part is a bit tricky.  Now, you’ll want to know if you can use Alaska’s exemptions to protect your property (see Alaska Statute 09.38.010 – .510) or if you’ll have to look to the exemptions of your prior state.  Here, filers must look back two years or 730 days from the date of filing their bankruptcy petition to where they were domiciled in order to figure out if the exemptions under Alaska’s law are available or if the prior state’s laws apply. So, if you’ve lived in Alaska for 730 days (2 years), you can choose to use the Alaska or the federal exemptions for your bankruptcy case because Alaska lets you choose between the two.   If not, you’ll have to use the exemptions in your prior state or see if your prior state allows you to choose the federal exemptions.  If the prior state has “opted out” of the federal exemption scheme (see 11 U.S.C. § 552(b)(2)); however, you’re stuck using the prior state’s exemptions.

If you didn’t live in the prior state the entire 730 days, you’ll need to look back a total of 910 days or another 180 days (or the majority of 180 days, i.e., 91 days again) before the 2 years to find the state exemptions that must be used.  In other words, if you did not live 730 days in the state you left before coming to Alaska, you’ll need to count back another 180 days from two years (between 730 to 910 days before filing your bankruptcy case) and use the exemption laws (or federal exemptions if permitted under this state’s laws) where you lived during this period.  It gets even more complicated if that state “opted out” of allowing a debtor to use the federal exemptions in lieu of the state exemptions and also imposes a residency requirement to use its state exemptions in the first place.  In that case, the Bankruptcy Code will allow the debtor to use the federal exemptions.

Why all the math?  Congress enacted 11 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3) in 2005 to prevent bankruptcy exemption “forum shopping” or the practice of moving to a new state to protect more property from liquidation by a trustee to repay creditors in a bankruptcy case.  Bankruptcy rules are complicated, which makes it important to seek advice from an Alaska bankruptcy attorney before taking any actions related to a bankruptcy filing.  But, by applying the 180, 730, and 910 rules, you can at least determine whether you can file in Alaska and what exemptions you may be able to use to protect your property in a bankruptcy action.

Over half of the states allow individuals to leave property to designated recipients by way of a handwritten LW&T.  Alaska is one of those states recognizing as valid a “holographic” LW&T: one handwritten and signed without witnesses or attestation.  But, unlike states that require the LW&T be “entirely” handwritten by the testator (male decedent) or testatrix (female decedent) and signed at the end, Alaska’s holographic law offers Alaskans more flexibility.

Alaska Statute 13.12.502(b) states a LW&T is valid, “whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator’s handwriting.”  That means unlike other states that require the LW&T be drafted entirely in the testator’s own handwriting, a LW&T in Alaska is valid with only the “material portions” handwritten by the testator / testatrix. 

Printed, typed, or stamped non-material portions of text typically found in commercially available LW&T templates will not render a LW&T invalid as long as the testator / testatrix fills in the blanks with the material information in his or her own handwriting.  “Material portions” of text in a LW&T are those “words identifying the property and the devisee,” or recipient of the deceased’s estate.  See Restatement of the Law (Third) of Property (Wills and other Donative Transfers) § 3.2 (describing Alaska’s statute as a “[t]hird-generation holographic-will statute-Original Uniform Probate Code).”

Also, an Alaska testator / testatrix can sign the holographic LW&T, anywhere on the document and without the need for two witnesses.  In other words, the signature of a testator or testatrix need not be a “terminal signature” that is, one placed at the end of the instrument.  Rather, Alaska courts accept as valid a signature anywhere on the holographic LW&T and recognize even the handwritten name of the decedent embedded in the text of the LW&T as the signature of the testator / testatrix, provided the judge determines there was intent by the decedent to create and execute the complete instrument.  See In re Estate of Baker, 386 P.3d 1228, 1233-37 (Alaska 2016) (finding the handwritten name of testatrix in the exordium clause at the will’s beginning sufficed as a signature).

If you decide to write your own will by hand or write the material portions of a LW&T in the blanks of a template, be sure to include these basic terms in your signed, handwritten LW&T: (1) the month, day, and year of the writing; (2) text stating the instrument is your “last will and testament” revoking all prior wills and codicils; (3) provisions appointing a named personal representative (“PR”) and, preferably, listing an alternate; (4) waiver or nonwaiver of the PR bond; (5) clear and sufficient descriptions of property and identities of recipients and any alternate recipients; and (6) distribution directions if any named recipient dies before you (e.g., the share goes to the deceased recipient’s descendants or the surviving co-recipient(s) named in the LW&T).  For a complimentary, initial estate planning consultation, contact Polaris Law Group, P.C., at https://polarislawgroupak.com/contact/ or 907.885.6619.