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Articles Posted in Consulates

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Immigrant Visa Applicants Must Show Evidence of Adequate Health Care Coverage or Financial Resources Beginning November 3rd

The President has once again targeted the immigrant population by signing a Presidential Proclamation suspending the entry of any immigrant who will “financially burden the United States healthcare system.” While the Presidential Proclamation is likely to encounter resistance in court, as it stands the Proclamation is slated to become effective…

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DOS Publishes 60-Day Notice of Public Charge Questionnaire for Immigrant Visa Applicants

As previously reported, the government has issued a new final rule in the Federal Register entitled “Visas: Ineligibility Based on Public Charge Grounds,” giving consular officials wide discretion to deny immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications on public charge grounds. In line with this new rule, today October 24, 2019, the…

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Consular Officers Given Wide Discretionary Power to Deny Visas on Public Charge Grounds

In its latest act of defiance against the judicial branch, the Trump administration has published an Interim Final Rule entitled “Visas: Ineligibility Based on Public Charge Grounds,” designed to give Consular officers wider discretion to deny immigrant and nonimmigrant visas to applicants on public charge grounds based on a variety…

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DHS Publishes Proposed Rule to Collect Social Media Handles from Immigrant and Non-immigrant Visa Applicants

The Trump administration has published a proposed rule in the Federal Register expanding the social media information that can be collected as part of the non-immigrant and immigrant visa process. This new proposed rule is part of the President’s plan to “Protect the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the…

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DHS Proposes New Rule Requiring Registration Fee for H-1B Cap Petitioners

Fresh off the press! In this blog post we will discuss a new proposed rule that is set to be published in the Federal Register on September 4, 2019. We have reviewed an advance copy of this proposed rule and will tell you everything you need to know about the…

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USCIS Issues New Policy Changing Citizenship Procedure for Certain Children of U.S. Service Members

On August 28, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued new policy guidance defining “residence” as it relates to U.S. Citizenship. The new policy guidance clarifies what it means to “reside in the United States” for the purpose of acquiring citizenship and sets out new policy guidelines…

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Final Rule Makes it Possible to Deny Permanent Residence Based on Receipt of Certain Public Benefits

USCIS will be publishing a final rule on August 14, 2019, in the Federal Register, that expands the list of public benefits that make a foreign national ineligible to obtain permanent residence and/or an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa. The Immigration and Nationality Act makes inadmissible and therefore (1) ineligible for…

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USCIS Closing International Immigration Offices by March 10, 2020

USCIS has announced that it will be closing all of its International Immigration Offices by March 10, 2020. As of June 30, 2019, USCIS has already permanently closed its field office in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and on July 5th, the office in Manila, Philippines permanently closed. By the end of…

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Visa Applicants Now Required to Disclose Social Media Presence on DS-160/260 Applications

Foreign nationals applying for a non-immigrant or immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy abroad are now required to disclose information relating to their social media presence on their online nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applications known as the DS-160 and DS-260 respectively. These changes were introduced early last week…

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How Will the Government Shutdown Impact Immigration?

Photo credit: Scott Kirkwood/NPCA Today marks the fifth day of a partial government shutdown that began on Saturday. The government was forced into a shutdown after Democrats refused to concede $5 billion dollars to fund the President’s wall along the southwest border. Since then, Democratic leaders in the House and…