Five years ago, USCIS routinely took three months to issue employment authorization documents (EADs) and advance parole (AP) travel documents. Prior to the pandemic, USCIS was taking approximately six months to issue them. Now, USCIS can take nine months or longer to issue these documents. These delays create huge hardships to organizations
Pursuant to a Biden Administration initiative, on January 21, 2022, the Departments of State (“DOS”) and Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced new actions related to STEM work authorization, J-1 Researchers, National Interest Waivers, and O-1 Extraordinary Ability Workers. You can read the White House Fact Sheet here. “The Biden-Harris Administration believes
On January 5, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), on behalf of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), filed a motion to dismiss its appeal of a U.S. District Court’s ruling in the case Behring Regional Center LLC v. Alejandro N. Mayorkas, et al. (“Behring v. Alejandro”).
Six months have passed since the EB-5 Regional Center Program (“Program”) expired and Congress has still not taken any steps towards its renewal. Originally enacted in 1993, the Program was a pilot, or test, program and was never made permanent. The Program had been extended on a regular basis for
The United States Department of State (“DOS”) has extended the authority of consular officers to waive certain in-person non-immigrant visa interviews through the end of 2022. Along with B-1/ B-2 interview waivers, F, M, and J Academic visa applicant waivers have been extended to the end of 2022 under the
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has removed the biometrics $85 biometrics fee requirement for petitioners filing Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor. Petitioners no longer need to submit the fee for biometrics services with their Form I-526E. The USCIS has determined that universal biometrics collection
The U.S. Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) has rescinded a policy that air passengers boarding flights to the United States originating from the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau have a negative COVID-19 test or documentation of recovery. The policy, which
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) COVID-19 related flexibilities will expire on March 23, 2023. The USCIS, which has extended COVID-19 related flexibilities multiple times including March 2022, October 2022 and January 2023 are not expected to be further extended. The extensions have been in place to assist
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that lawful permanent residents may receive temporary evidence of their lawful permanent resident status by mail rather than having to physically visit a field office to receive an Alien Documentation, Identification and Telecommunication (“ADIT”) stamp (also known as an I-551
Family-based immigration is an important aspect of the United States immigration system, which allows citizens and lawful permanent residents to sponsor their close relatives. One of the family-based immigrant visa categories is the first preference category, which is for unmarried adult children (21 years or older) of U.S. citizens; often
Enterline and Partners recently obtained an approval for a Philippine client based on his investment of US$70,000 into a new business in the United States. This is a relatively small investment for an E-2 Treaty Investor visa and demonstrates that a “totality of the evidence and the business” is very
Copyright 2012 – 2024 Enterline and Partners Consulting | All Rights Reserved
