The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has updated its Policy Manual concerning untimely filed extensions of stay and change of status requests. Generally, certain foreign nationals who are admitted to the United States as nonimmigrants for a specific period of time may file a Form I-539, Application to
In late 2021, our client (Joe), a U.S. citizen married his Philippines citizen wife (Jane) through an online marriage under the laws of the State of Utah. Following the marriage, Joe filed a Form I-130 Petition for Jane. After completing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) adjudication process
The L-1A visa is a non-immigrant visa category for multinational companies to transfer qualified employees from a foreign company to a U.S.-based office in an executive or managerial capacity. There are two key relationships that can exist between the foreign company and the U.S. company to qualify for an the
In the United States, maintaining accurate and up-to-date records is crucial for individuals holding Lawful Permanent Resident status and those on nonimmigrant visas or in other status. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) requires that foreign nationals promptly update their address whenever they move. Importance of Address Updates: The
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will increase Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing filing fees. After leaving these fees unchanged for three (3) years, the charges for certain premium processing cases will increase from $1500 to $1685, $1750 to $1965, and $2500 to $2805, depending on the
The United States Department of State (“DOS”) has consular officers’ authority to waive in-person interviews for certain nonimmigrant visas from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. The announcement, which was made on December 21, 2023 replaces the previous policy extending nonimmigrant visa waivers through December 31, 2023 and allows
The White House has given the approval for a pilot program allowing a limited number of foreign nationals who are in the United States on H-1B nonimmigrant visas to renew their visas without having to leave the country. The United States Department of State indicated that the pilot program, RIN
On December 11, 2023, U.S. President Joseph Biden issued Proclamation 10685, Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Enabling Corruption (“Proclamation”). The Proclamation, which also includes immediate family members is intended to prevent individuals who engage in significant corruption from accessing the United States. The Proclamation, which is
On October 12, 2023, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) posted Questions and Answers to announce new policy following the passing of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”) on March 15, 2022. With the Q&A, USCIS announces its interpretation of the sustainment period following the
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (“AWA”) is a U.S. federal statute that aims to protect children from sexual exploitation and violent crimes. The AWA was named after Adam Walsh, a child who was abducted and murdered in the State of Florida in 1981. Following young
The new public charge rule requires immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants to provide a detailed DS-5540 public charge questionnaire in order to determine whether they are likely to become a public charge at any time in the future. While a K-1 visa is officially a non-immigrant visa allowing for single
Why did the EB 5 China final action date jump forward in the March 2020 visa bulletin? There have been a number of questions as to why the final action date for EB-5 investors from China leaped forward 4.5 months in the March visa bulletin. United States Department of State’s
Following the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) lead, the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”), which oversees consular processing for immigrant and non-immigrant visas at U.S. Embassies and Consulates, has implemented its new public charge rule as of February 24, 2020. Immigrant visa applicants will be required to complete a Form
The U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) March visa bulletin is out and in a big surprise, the Final Action Date priority date [link to article] for Chinese EB-5 investors leaped forward by 5 months, from December 1, 2014 in February to May 15, 2015. We are looking forward to reading
Ryan Barshop and David Enterline of Enterline and Partners will speak at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”), Bangkok District Chapter (“BDC”), “8th Annual Consular Processing Conference” in Taipei, Taiwan. AILA is an international organization of more than 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. Ryan
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) released an updated policy memorandum advising the Department of States (“DOS”) on adjudicating Form I-130 Petitions for Alien Relatives at U.S. Embassies and Consulates through Direct Consular Filing (“DCF.”) The policy memorandum clarifies that USCIS will no longer accept and adjudicate routine I-130 Petitions
The investment capital that an EB-5 Investor may use for his or her investment, called the “lawful source of funds” (“SOF”), can come from any source as long as the investor can prove that the capital or funds were obtained lawfully. Some common SOF are salary and bonus income, dividends
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it is changing the way it will process Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor, moving from a first-in, first-out basis to a visa availability approach. The Form I-526 Petition is filed by someone wanting to immigrate to the U.S. via the EB-5
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Trump Administration policy expanding the government’s ability to refuse immigrant visas and issue green cards to immigrants who are likely to become a Public Charge. The 5-4 ruling, which was divided on ideologically lines, will allow the new rule to
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has proposed to increase its filing fees for family-based immigrant visas and naturalization applications in 2020. Below are examples of the proposed fee increases. Spouse and Family-Based Immigrant Visas: Filing fees are scheduled to increase a nominal 3.74 percent from US$535 to US$550.
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