The United States Department of State (“DOS”) in coordination with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Department of State Liaison Committee (“AILA DOS Liaison”) recently published an advisory on changing venues for immigrant and K-1 visa processing for LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender) applicants. Since the United States Supreme Court issued
Are you considering filing a petition or application for a U.S. visa or immigration benefit? These tips may help. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) updated its website with Recommendations for Paper Filings to Avoid Scanning Delays. Published on November 16, 2022, these filing tips are very useful
The EB-5 immigrant investor regulations allow an investor to make a partial investment at the time of filing the Form I-526 and Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by an Investor and to make the remaining investment at a later date. This is confirmed by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is extending certain COVID-19-related flexibilities through January 24, 2023. The flexibilities, which have been extended multiple times, the latest in March 2022 and again in October 2022 are to assist applicants, petitioners, and requestors have more time to reply to various USCIS requests.
On October 6th and 7th, 2022, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) approved two more Form I-829, Petitions by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status (“I-829 Petition”) because of filings in Federal Court seeking Writs of Mandamus. The approvals came less than 2 months after filing
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced its final rule for the public charge ground of inadmissibility to go into effect on December 23, 2022. USCIS will begin to apply the new rule to applications postmarked on or after that date. Until then, USCIS will continue to apply
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it will automatically extend Lawful Permanent Resident (“LPR”) Form I-551 “Green Cards” from 12 months to 24 months to an LPR who files a Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (“Form I-90.”). Form I-90 is used for many purposes
The U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) has published the October 2022 Visa Bulletin and the “Final Action Date” Priority Dates for Chinese and Indian EB-5 investors under the “5th Unreserved” visa category has retrogressed (moved backward in time). What is the Priority Date? Following the return of the Regional Center
For most people who are immigrating to the United States there two main categories of immigrant visas: family immigration visas and employment and investment immigration visas. These are the Immediate Relative (“IR”) category, the Family-Based Preference (“FB”) category and Employment-Based Preference (“EB”) category. For the FB and EB categories, there
Beginning October 3, 2022, all Vietnamese immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants whose passports were issued starting July 1, 2022 must include a Vietnam government endorsement page that states the place of birth. Visa applicants who do not have an endorsement page will not be permitted to attend their visa interviews
We have previously written about what lawful permanent residents can do if their Form I-551 “Green Card” has been lost, stolen, or destroyed and they are outside of the United States. In these articles, we have mentioned obtaining a travel letter or ‘Boarding Foil,” so they may return to the
United States President Donald Trump has extended an earlier Presidential Proclamation restricting certain immigrant and nonimmigrant visa categories from consular processing in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. The Executive Order (“EO”), which was first issued in April 2020, restricted certain immigrant visa applicants from receiving their visas for at
We have covered several issues in our series on how to protect your lawful permanent resident status and green card if you have been outside the United States and have been unable to return because of COVID-19. COVID-19 Reference Guide If you are able to reenter within 1 year of
An I-131A visa is for lawful permanent residents (“LPR”) whose Form I-551 “green card” was lost, stolen or destroyed while traveling outside the United States, or whose green card has expired, and who have been outside the U.S. for less than one year. Such LPRs can apply at a U.S.
The “Final Action Date” priority date for Vietnamese EB-5 investors moved forward slightly in the Department of State November 2020 visa bulletin from August 15, 2017 to September 1, 2017. The priority date indicates that any investors who filed their I-526 Petitions on or before September 1, 2017 now have
At a recent IIUSA EB-5 Forum, Charles Oppenheim, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) – the man who decides the DOS Visa Bulletin every month – responded to a question regarding visa allocation for persons from Hong Kong. The question
The United States Department of State (“DOS”) has announced that routine visa processing at Embassies and Consulates will resume on a post-by-post basis consistent with DOS’s guidance for safely returning to the full services. As on the ground conditions improve, DOS will begin providing services leading to the eventual full
Are you a conditional permanent resident waiting for the approval of a Form I-829 Petition (for EB-5 immigrant investors) or a Form I-751 Petition (for spouses of U.S. citizens) to remove the condition from your permanent resident status but have not been able to return to the U.S. because of
Update: Between the writing and publication of this article, a federal judge granted a motion for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee rule discussed herein. As long as this preliminary injunction is in place, the existing fees remain as before. Effective October 2, 2020,
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (“CBP”) has not announced any special relief to a lawful permanent resident (“LPR’) who has remained outside the United States for more than one year because of COVID-19 travel and movement restrictions. Currently, a LPR who was remained outside the United States irrespective
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