A requirement has changed for the USCIS form known as the Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record (Form I-693). This form is commonly required for noncitizens to prove they have no health-related issues before accessing certain benefits. Previously, the I-693 required applicants to secure the signature of a civil surgeon no more than […]
On Dec. 12, 2022, USCIS updated their Policy Manual to automatically extend the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (commonly called Green Cards) for lawful permanent residents who have applied for naturalization. This update is expected to help naturalization applicants who are experiencing longer processing times, because their green card will automatically be valid past the […]
On Halloween this year, the Biden administration’s final regulation on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) went into effect. The final version of this rule closely reflects the original executive order enacted in 2012 during the Obama Administration. So, what is deferred action? Deferred action is a longstanding immigration practice that is granted by the […]
USCIS recently released a Draft Guidance Memo regarding the “extreme hardship” threshold that must be established for Inadmissibility Waivers. The guidance is now in its comments period which ends on November 23, 2015. At that time USCIS will review the public comments and formally finalize the policy memo. The finalized policy memo will be released […]
USCIS recently announced that it will be re-balancing the workload distribution of certain Form I-140 petitions and employment based Form I-485 applications. The workload will be distributed between the Texas Service Center and the Nebraska Service Center. Starting October 19, 2015, if you are submitting a Form I-907 together with a Form I-140 petition for […]
The Visa Bulletin indicates when statutorily limited visas are available to prospective immigrants based on their individual priority date, which is generally the date when the applicant’s relative or employer properly filed the immigrant visa petition on the applicant’s behalf with USCIS. Availability of an immigrant visa means eligible applicants are able to take one […]
Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) has been extended for Haiti for an additional 18 months. The extension is effective January 23, 2016 through July 22, 2017. Haiti was initially designated for TPS after a major earthquake that occurred on January 21, 2010. The Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies have determined that the current […]
The Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently established a new program to provide a safe and legal route for children living in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to travel to the United States. Through the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee/Parole Program, qualifying parents who are lawfully present in the United […]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has already approved the statutory maximum of 10,000 petitions for U-1 Nonimmigrant Status (U-Visas) for the 2015 fiscal year that began on October 1, 2014. The cap was reached almost immediately due to the applicants who were on the wait list from the 2014 fiscal year. Unfortunately, this means […]
The 2014 Ombudsman Annual Report, released by USCIS, indicated that the Request for Evidence rates for the L-1 intracompany transferee visa category is nearly 50 percent for the first half of the 2014 Fiscal Year. This indicates a significant rise in the Request for Evidence rates for L-1 visas in recent years. Despite this increase […]
