With the ongoing political deadlock in Washington D.C., Congress has been unable to pass any of the spending bills needed to keep the U.S. Government open beyond September 30, 2023. Unless any of the spending bills are passed and signed into law, funding for government agencies will run out of
The U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) has announced that all receipts for payment of Machine-Readable Visa (“MRV”) fees issued before October 1, 2022 will expire September 30, 2023. There will be no extensions of fee validity. Applicants must schedule an appointment or submit an interview waiver application before September 30,
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) recently launched a new online form allowing individuals, attorneys, and accredited representatives to request an in-person meeting at their local field offices without having to call the USCIS Contact Center. The new online appointment request form enables both individuals and their legal
The family-based third preference immigrant visa category (“F3”) is a type of visa available to U.S. citizens who are looking to bring their married children to the United States. This immigrant visa category is in high demand and there are yearly quotas for visas. As a result, the waiting period
A Lawful Permanent Resident (“LPR”) or “Green Card Holder” can become a U.S. citizen through naturalization if they generally meet certain requirements. LPR Status/ Green Card Holder Status. You must be an LPR/ Green Card Holder at the time of filing for naturalization. You must have also maintained their LPR/
For many people who are immigrating to the United States, the Department of State (“DOS”) Visa Bulletin is the most important document to watch each month. The Visa Bulletin helps immigrant visa applicants understand their place in line for a visa. Although checking the Visa Bulletin is an essential step
Family-based immigration is an important aspect of the United States immigration system, which allows citizens and lawful permanent residents to sponsor their immediate relatives to immigrate to the United States. One of the family-based immigrant visa categories is the Family-Based Second Preference immigrant visa category, commonly abbreviated as F2A and
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has issued policy guidance for rescheduling biometric appointments at Application Support Centers (“ACS”). The new policy highlights include the following: Rescheduling requests must be made online through myUSCIS or by calling the USCIS Contact Center. The USCIS will not accept rescheduling requests
A B-1 visa for domestic employees, also known as a B-1 Domestic Employee Visa, allows foreign nationals who are employed by U.S. citizens or nonimmigrant visa holders living abroad to travel to the United States to provide household services. The primary purpose of this visa is to enable employers to
The United States immigration system is designed to ensure that individuals seeking to enter the country do so lawfully and with genuine intentions. As part of this effort, one factor that U.S. immigration law considers is the concept of “preconceived intent”: the intention of individuals to engage in activities that
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will extend the suspension of in-person services at field offices, asylum offices and application support centers through April 7, 2020. The USCIS had originally cancelled in-person operations on March 18th and was expected to recommence on April 1st in an effort to help contain
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it will accept benefit forms and documents with reproduced original signatures for submissions dated March 21, 2020 and thereafter. The policy change was made in response to the Coronavirus National Emergency declared by President Donald Trump on March 13, 2020. While USCIS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has temporarily suspended its premium processing option for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions until further notice due to the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. Petitions using a Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing accepted prior to March 20, 2020
As of March 18th, all United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) in-person services at all field offices, asylum offices and Application Support Centers (“ASC”) are suspended in an effort to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. In-person services are scheduled to resume on April 1st. USCIS field offices will
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City has announced that all routine visa interviews will be cancelled as of March 19th in an effort to impede the spread of the Coronavirus. Applicants with an urgent travel matter may request an expedited appointment which
In light of the Philippines government decision to impose a city-wide lockdown around Metro Manila to contain the Coronavirus, the U.S. Embassy has announced that all immigrant and non-immigrant visa interviews have been cancelled as of March 16, 2020. Visa interviews will resume as soon as possible. More information can
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
On February 24, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will implement the agency’s new rules for inadmissibility on public charge grounds. The final rule outlines some of the criteria on how the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) will determine whether a foreign national is inadmissible to adjust status from
The U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) which oversees the visa adjudication process at U.S. Embassies and Consulates has not released any formal statement indicating that the 2019 Novel Coronavirus has resulted in the suspension of consular operations. A recent social media posting purported to be an official statement from the
The United States Department of State (“DOS”) is scheduled to release new guidelines giving consular officers further discretion to determine whether women who are applying for a B-1/ B-2 visitor visa primary purpose is to give birth in the United States. It is unclear how consular officers at U.S. Embassies
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