On May 10, 2019, USCIS made important updates to its policy manual regarding public services which appear in PA-2019-03. USCIS has clarified its policy regarding responses to service requests. It is the goal of USCIS to respond to a service request within 15 calendar days from the date the service…
TPS Designations for Nepal and Honduras Will Continue Today, May 10, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security provided a notice in the Federal Register about their decision not to terminate the Temporary Protected Status designation of Honduras and Nepal. Beneficiaries under the TPS designations for Nepal and Honduras will retain…
On August 8, 2018, DHS issued a policy memorandum directing USCIS to change the way in which the agency counted the days of unlawful presence for F, M, and J status violators. Under that policy memorandum, F, M, and J nonimmigrants who accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence…
The White House recently issued a Presidential Memorandum to strengthen asylum procedures and safeguard the asylum system against fraud. The Presidential Proclamation specifically orders the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to take several measures to enhance the security of the asylum system by July 28, 2019. These measures…
USCIS has issued new policy guidance clarifying good moral character requirements for naturalization. Naturalization applicants should be aware that a violation of a federal controlled substance law, including for marijuana, remains a conditional bar to establishing good moral character for naturalization purposes, even where that conduct would not be found…
On April 22, 2019, the White House issued a memorandum seeking to curb the high rates of nonimmigrant overstays for nationals from certain countries. Specifically, the memorandum identifies aliens who overstay their period of lawful admission under the terms of their visa or Visa Waiver Program. The memorandum instructs the…
Great news! Our office has begun to receive our first I-797 receipt notices in the mail for petitions that were filed with premium processing in the lottery. So far, our office has received four such receipt notices for individuals who filed under the advanced degree exemption. All four of these…
We are pleased to announce very exciting news for our Israeli clients. The U.S. Embassy in Israel has announced the implementation of the U.S. E-2 Investor Visa Program for Israeli nationals, beginning May 1st. Our Israeli clients have been waiting for this opportunity for years and we are very happy…
Exciting news H-1B FY 2020 Filers! Yesterday USCIS announced that on April 10, 2019, the computer-generated lottery was conducted to select enough petitions to meet the H-1B regular cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption for fiscal year 2020. In accordance with the new H-1B regulation, USCIS first conducted the selection…
On April 5, 2019, USCIS announced that it received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap for fiscal year 2020. As expected, the Regular cap (Bachelor’s cap) was reached within the first five business days of the FY 2020 application cycle.…