Lawyer Liudmila A. Marcelo has detailed in her weekly program on CiberCuba, which airs on Wednesdays at 11:00 AM (Miami time), how to make the $100 payments for initial asylum cases in court, which are the only payments that can currently be processed, as there is still no provision for submitting the maintenance fees ($100 for each year of waiting) for pending cases in court from 2020, 2021, and 2023.
The immigration expert, who has her own office in Florida, believes that the process for making the payment is quite straightforward and that it is not necessary to hire someone to handle this procedure for you. Firstly, because she is aware that there are those who are charging certain amounts of money when it does not involve making a motion or anything of that sort. Secondly, because there is no deadline for making the payment (it can be done at this link), although she recommends doing it as soon as possible.
This means that, on one hand, Liudmila Marcelo denies that September 30 was the deadline to pay the asylum fee. In fact, she doesn't know where this rumor originated. On the other hand, she appeals for common sense: in the face of uncertainty about whether or not to pay the initial asylum fee, "make the payment," because, in her opinion, it is better to lose 100 dollars than to lose the chance for asylum.
In summary, Liudmila Marcelo explains that there are two types of payments to be made for asylum cases in court: the initial asylum payment (which is now enabled) and the asylum maintenance payment (it is unclear how it will be collected). Then there are the asylum cases in USCIS. She recommends staying alert for updates, so it is vital to have your address updated. Lastly, there are cases under appeal, for which it is still unknown how the payments will be processed.
Regarding the payment of 'fees' in cases handled by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), Liudmila Marcelo clarifies that this week the link is available on the USCIS page, but it is not yet active. "So far, the guidance is to wait to receive the notification and to have an updated address with USCIS to avoid missing that communication."
Finally, the lawyer reminded that starting from October 28th of this month, payments by money orders or checks will no longer be accepted.
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