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
Starting Sept. 4, 2021, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is extending the time that receipt notices can be used to show evidence of status from 18 months to 24 months for petitioners who properly filed Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence and Form I-829, Petition
To protect the health of U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and other people in the United States from communicable diseases, intending immigrants to the United States are required to be vaccinated against certain diseases to receive an immigrant visa. The diseases currently required to be vaccinated against are: Diphtheria Tetanus Pertussis
The United States Department of State (“DOS”) has announced updates to the tiered approach to remove backlogs and resume normal consular operations at embassies and consulates that have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to DOS, Tier 1, which includes immediate relative intercountry adoption visas and age-out cases
The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has announced a full lockdown of the city until at least September 15th. As a result, the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City is unable to process routine visa appointments and can only grant visa appointment requests in extraordinary circumstances such
A federal judge has stopped the United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) public charge rule which was recently allowed to proceed after an injunction was lifted by the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit. Judge Gary Feinerman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
On October 19, 2020, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) premium processing fees will increase in accordance with the Continuing Appropriations Act signed into law on October 1, 2020.. USCIS premium processing allows a petitioner to receive a decision within 15 business days by submitting a Form I-907, Request
Following the United States Federal District Court for the Northern District of California issuing a narrow injunction against the United States Department of State, certain nonimmigrant visa applicants that were previously subjected to U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration ban executive order will no longer be subjected to the executive order.
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
The United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has introduced a rule that would hold immigrant sponsors accountable for failing to meet contractual obligations that they enter when sponsoring a foreign national for an immigrant visa. The new rule comes after the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
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,
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