Earlier this week USCIS had announced that applicants filing for lawful permanent resident status (LPR) are also able to apply for a Social Security number (SSN) or replacement card as part of their adjustment of status application process. How the system worked previously, were these individuals had to apply for a Social Security number at […]
On July 20, 2021, USCIS issued a policy alert stating that applicants who are in the process of changing their status to F-1 no longer need to apply to change or extend their nonimmigrant status to “bridge the gap” between the two statuses. Previously, applicants who wanted to change their status to F-1 had to […]
Prosecutorial discretion allows the government to choose whether or not to take enforcement action against a person. In the immigration context, US government attorneys have discretion when to terminate removal proceedings against an immigrant. In May 2021, USCIS issued a memorandum which encouraged US government attorneys to use prosecutorial discretion to expedite cases and move […]
On September 11, 2020 the US District Court for Maryland in Casa de Maryland v. Chad Wolf, issued an injunction against the Trump administration’s limitation on work permits for asylum seekers. Under the court order, members of Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) or Casa de Maryland are given certain benefits. These benefits are: 1) ability […]
Thousands of undocumented immigrants cross the border into the United States and willingly turn themselves into federal Customs and Border Patrol agents so they can apply for asylum. The journey into this country is long and dangerous, especially for children under the age of eighteen who have no parents or guardians to protect them. These […]
USCIS recently released a Draft Guidance Memo regarding the “extreme hardship” threshold that must be established for Inadmissibility Waivers.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 […]
Pope Francis arrived in Washington D.C. last Tuesday September 22 for his first official visit as a pontiff. The Pope gave a speech at the White House welcoming ceremony and he later addressed the US Congress. His speeches were loaded with strong messages on the matter of immigration, in relation to both US immigration issues […]
Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, also known as MAVNI, is a U.S. military recruiting program that permits legal non-citizens with high valued skills to join the U.S. Army in exchange for an expedited path to U.S. citizenship. A non-citizen who joins the U.S. Army through MAVNI is able to move from a non-immigrant […]
