Achives from Author

USCIS and the State Department have sharply expanded background checks and social media review for green cards, work permits, and citizenship. If you have an immigration case — a visa, a green card, a work permit, or citizenship — assume the government is reviewing your public online presence. In 2026, both USCIS and the State […]

From July through December 2026, some visitor visa applicants can pay extra for a faster interview. Here is how it works — and what it will not do. Waiting months — sometimes more than a year — for a visitor visa interview is a real problem for families trying to bring relatives to visit. The […]

If you have Temporary Protected Status from one of seven countries, your work permit may expire on July 10, 2026. Here is what is happening. If you or a family member holds Temporary Protected Status (TPS), there is an urgent deadline to know about. Work permits tied to TPS for seven countries are currently set […]

In Blanche v. Lau (June 2026), the Supreme Court made it easier for border officers to treat returning green card holders as if they were seeking entry for the first time. If you have a green card and travel outside the United States, a recent Supreme Court decision changes what can happen when you come […]

If your green card, work permit, citizenship, or asylum case stalled for no clear reason, a June 2026 court ruling may help. If your case seemed to stop moving out of nowhere in late 2025 or early 2026, you were not imagining it. USCIS had quietly put many cases on hold based on the applicant’s […]

If you are applying for a green card from inside the United States, a recent policy change makes the strength of your application more important than ever. On May 21, 2026, USCIS issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199, reminding its officers and the public that adjustment of status under INA § 245 is an act of “administrative […]

For Afghan allies and their families, the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) picture has two parts that are easy to confuse — and the difference between them can affect critical decisions about your case.  First, the program is now closed to new applicants. The deadline to file an application for Chief of Mission (COM) approval — […]

If you have an asylum application pending with USCIS, there is an important deadline you cannot afford to miss. As of May 29, 2026, USCIS will reject a pending Form I-589 if the applicant fails to pay the Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) on time. This change comes from an interim final rule published on April […]

In one of the most significant immigration developments in months, a federal court has ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to restart the adjudication of applications it had frozen for nationals of 39 “travel-ban” countries, a list that includes Afghanistan.  On June 5, 2026, Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of the U.S. District […]

On June 8, 2026, a federal judge in Massachusetts vacated, nationwide, the September 2025 presidential proclamation that had imposed a $100,000 fee on most new H-1B petitions. Ruling in State of California v. Noem, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin sided with a coalition of twenty states that had challenged the policy.  The court concluded that […]