posted on: March 23, 2022
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is preparing some offices to reopen and resume non-emergency public services on or after June 4. Due to the spread of the coronavirus in 2020, USCIS temporarily suspended routine in-person services at its field offices and application support centers. While certain offices are temporarily closed, USCIS continues to provide limited emergency […]
posted on: March 21, 2022
Posted by Raul Pinto | Mar 17, 2022 | Humanitarian Protection, Refugee Status The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021—as the country’s government was overtaken by the Taliban—led to the chaotic evacuation of thousands of Afghan nationals. The tragic images from Kabul airport last summer of desperate Afghans trying to escape their embattled nation evidenced the dire need […]
posted on: March 16, 2022
To continue to keep our workforce and applicants safe during the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining efficiency and providing access to the asylum process, USCIS is again extending the temporary final rule requiring use of a USCIS interpreter at affirmative asylum interviews, to March 16, 2023. On March 15, 2022, USCIS published another extension to the temporary final rule (TFR) […]
posted on: March 9, 2022
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine and advanced toward the capital of Kyiv. The invasion has led for calls for humanitarian protections for Ukrainians—both in the United States and abroad—including a new Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation. TPS is a temporary immigration status provided to nationals of a country that […]
posted on: March 4, 2022
A group of investor immigrants filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration claiming it is unlawfully refusing to process their valid visa application and green cards after Congress allowed a major visa program they participated in to lapse. There are more than a dozen plaintiffs in the complaint which was filed in Seattle federal court on […]
posted on: March 1, 2022
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to clarify the meaning of the “public charge ground of inadmissibility” on February 24. The new guidance will be welcome news for immigrants as well as state governments and immigrant-serving organizations across the country that have worked to combat fear and misinformation around […]
posted on: February 28, 2022
The Biden administration is considering granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Afghans currently living in the United States. Advocates have been pushing the administration to provide more protection and a pathway to citizenship for Afghan evacuees. Over 70,000 Afghans have arrived in the U.S. since the evacuation, many remain in a legal limbo, with some given […]
posted on: February 25, 2022
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services encourages eligible applicants to consider requesting to transfer the underlying basis of their adjustment of status application to the first or second employment-based preference categories. There is an exceptionally high number of employment-based immigrant visas available in these categories during this fiscal year. For this fiscal year, the overall employment-based annual limit […]
posted on: February 15, 2022
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Refugee, Asylum and International Operations Directorate (RAIO) announced guidance recognizing that a spousal relationship may exist for the purpose of obtaining derivative refugee or asylee status, in certain circumstances, if there is evidence of an informal marriage. This guidance applies to the adjudication of a pending or newly filed Form I-589, Application […]
posted on: February 14, 2022
USCIS has announced that refugees and those granted asylum may now renew their work permits in two-year increments rather than having to renew annually. This update will affect foreign citizens who have been admitted as refugees or granted asylum. It will also affect those who have self-petitioned for green cards under a program for domestic abuse survivors, […]
