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 Originally enacted in 1993, the Program was a pilot, or test, program and was never made permanent.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
Beginning November 8, 2021, nonimmigrants arriving in the United States by air will be required to present proof that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Presidential Proclamation 10294 (“Proclamation”), which was reported by media outlets to be a work in progress as early as August 2021 will remain in effect
On Saturday, October 30, 2021, David Enterline of Enterline and Partners Consulting discussed recent changes to the EB-5 immigrant investor visa category (“EB-5”) during an EB-5 webinar organized by Internegra Immigration and Pearl Bay Consulting for Indonesian and Vietnamese investors. Mr. Enterline explained that in June 2021, in the case
All immigrants to the U.S. must pass a medical examination prior to their visa interview. One of the criteria determined at the medical examination is whether the intending immigrant has received vaccinations required to be eligible to immigrate. Beginning October 1, 2021, most immigrants will be required to receive a
Why Hasn’t Your Case Been Decided Yet? Nationwide, you and millions of families, businesses, and individuals applying for immigration benefits are waiting longer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to process and approve applications and petitions. Based on previously available USCIS data, in Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2014, an average
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that in response to the ongoing COVID pandemic, it is once again extending flexibility that it announced on March 30, 2020 in responding to agency requests. The USCIS is granting an additional 60 calendar days to respond to following requests: Requests
As an additional measure aimed at reducing visa application backlogs and freeing up available resources at U.S. Embassies and Consulates, the United States Department of State (“DOS”) will allow consular officers to waive in-person interviews for F, M, and J academic visas. The new DOS policy, which will run until
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