USCIS Updates Policy Manual on Family-Based Immigrant Visa Approvals
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has issued an updated policy guidance on Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative (“Petition”) explaining how the agency handles family-based immigrant visa petition approvals regarding correcting approval notice errors, requests for consular processing or adjustment of status, and routing procedures for approved petitions. Specifically, the policy highlights, […]
USCIS Updates Policy Manual on Untimely Filed Extensions and Change of Status Requests
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 Extend/ Change Nonimmigrant Status in […]
USCIS Extends Certain EAD Validity to Five Years
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is updating its Policy Manual regarding maximum validity for Employment Authorization Documents (“EAD”) issued to certain non-U.S. citizens. Non-U.S. citizens (i.e. those in the United States without Green Cards) must have employment authorization in order to work legally inside the United States. While certain categories of non-U.S. […]
USCIS Issues Policy Guidance on Rescheduling Biometrics Appointments
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 by mail or in-person at […]
USCIS Issues New Policy Guidelines In Calculating a Child’s Age under the Child Status Protection Act
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has issued new guidelines in the agency’s policy manual in determining when an immigrant visa number “becomes available” for purposes of calculating an immigrant visa applicant’s age under the Child Status Protection Act (“CSPA”). In order for a child to be issued an immigrant visa or be […]
USCIS Updates its Policy to Automatically Extend Green Cards for Naturalization Applicants
Effective December 12, 2022, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) updated the USCIS Policy Manual to allow it to automatically extend the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (commonly called “Green Cards”) for lawful permanent residents who have applied for naturalization to become U.S. citizens. This update is expected to help naturalization applicants who experience […]
Partial Investments in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
The EB-5 immigrant investor regulations allow an investor to make a partial investment at the time of filing the Form I-526 and Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by an Investor and to make the remaining investment at a later date. This is confirmed by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) Policy Manual guidance at […]
Why is Your Case Taking So Long? USCIS Processing Delays Remain at Crisis Levels
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 case took about five months […]
USCIS Policy Update to “Requests for Evidence” and “Notices of Intent to Deny”
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has issued new policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to address the circumstances in which officers should issue Requests for Evidence (“RFEs”) and Notices of Intent to Deny (“NOIDs”). In 2013, USCIS published guidance instructing officers to issue RFEs in cases involving insufficient evidence before denying such […]
USCIS Announces New Policy Highlights for Expedited Processing
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has released a new policy update pertaining to expedited processing. Under the updated criteria, USCIS provides further guidance as to whether expedited processing may be warranted. The new policy highlights include the following: Clarifies criteria and circumstances under which USCIS will generally consider expedited requests. Restores the […]