Immigration & US Citizenship Notes

By Kieran C. O’Sullivan

Immigration Counselor

Hundreds of Irish attend IPC events

November has been a very busy month for our programs at the IPC. Over seventy people attended an informational meeting at Bad Abbots on Nov. 18^th, with close to 140 people attending our Mass and Monthly Senior Social at the Irish Cultural Centre, Canton. We had a very busy legal clinic in Quincy and several hundred older adults continue to attend our Monday and Wednesday programs in Quincy and Brighton.

Following inquiries from younger Irish living in the Allston/Brighton area, we decided to schedule an additional Informational Meeting to meet the needs of the Irish in that area.

IPC Town Hall Meeting

A meeting on immigration matters will take place at the Green Briar on December 11^th at 7 PM. Among those present will be Vice Consul Deirdre Ni Fhalluin, Irish Consulate Boston, Chris Lavery, Immigration Attorney and Member of IPC Board, Sheila Gleeson, Director Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers USA and Fr. John McCarthy of the IPC. After a presentation on topics including immigration reform, the detention of Irish immigrants, the new J visas for Irish natives and travel regulations as we approach the holidays. A question and answer format will follow the presentation and people can put questions to the panel or seek one to one advice after the meeting concludes.

Prisoner issues-Transfers

The IPC has a busy prisoner visitation program. Sometimes Irish prisoners in the US express a wish to be transferred to serve their sentence out in Ireland. A key element of such a transfer is that there be a similar crime/sentence in the country to which the person is being transferred to.

The Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act of 1995 provides a procedure under which prisoners serving a sentence in a foreign country may be transferred to serve the rest of their sentence in their home country, if that is their preference. To be considered eligible for transfer to your home country you must satisfy the following conditions:

You must be a national of the country to which you want to be transferred

However, even if you are not strictly speaking a national, but you have close ties with the country- for example through a period of permanent residence there- this may sometimes be sufficient.

· The sentence imposed on you is final

This means that transfer is not available for prisoners on remand, or where an appeal against conviction or sentence is still outstanding.

· There is normally at least 6 months of your sentence left to serve

· The offense you have been convicted of is a crime in your home country also

For a transfer to take place there must be three-way consent involving the prisoner and the country where he/she is serving the sentence and the country to which the prisoner is seeking to transfer. The prisoner’s consent must be given in advance. It must be freely given, definite and in writing. A prisoner’s legal representative may give consent on his/her behalf.

Assistance

If you or someone you know would like assistance for an Irish prisoner, feel free to give us a call. We can also put you in touch with officials at Irish Consulates who provide great support and assistance to Irish prisoners in the US.