Photo: Molly Adams
On June 5, 2019, the House of Representatives unified to pass H.R. 6 better known as the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, offering Dreamers who meet certain requirements, a path to citizenship.
The bill must still pass through the Senate to become law.
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 by the Department of State. Applicants must now provide information about each social media platform they have used within the last five years, including the name of the platform, and the username or handle used on that platform.
Applicants must also provide their current email and phone number, as well as email addresses and phone numbers they have had during the last five years.
Consular officials can use information found on social media during the visa adjudication process to determine whether the individual is eligible for the visa they are requesting. If officials find any information on social media that would lead them to believe the applicant is misrepresenting their true intentions or attempting to gain entry through means of fraud or deceit, the applicant’s visa application may be denied.
In the past, the Department of State only required social media information of individuals that were flagged for further inspection and individuals posing security risks to the United States. This information was provided in a supplemental questionnaire known as the DS-5535. Now, these questions are asked directly on the DS-160/DS-260 applications.
Photo: CafeCredit
The Trump administration is mobilizing to strictly enforce laws that require the reimbursement of funds from an alien’s financial sponsor, where the alien has requested certain types of public benefits from a government agency.
The White House has issued a memorandum stating that, “Financial sponsors who pledge to financially support a sponsored alien in the event the alien applies for or receives public benefits will be expected to fulfill their commitment under the law.”
Financial sponsors are required to sign Form I-864 Affidavit of Support for most family-based immigrant petitions, as well as some employment-based petitions to show that the intending immigrant has adequate means of financial support and will not become a public charge on the United States government.
The White House has directed various government agencies including the Department of labor, housing, health and human services, etc. to hold sponsors accountable for making a financial commitment to sponsor an alien in the United States, who receives forms of government assistance they are not entitled to receive.
Such benefits that will require reimbursement from a financial sponsor are benefits received from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which provides food stamps, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Ken Cuccinelli Photo by Gage Skidmore
Source: Flickr
New developments in the world of immigration have just emerged. The director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), L. Francis Cissna, has been forced to resign.
Cissna has served under the Trump administration since October 2017. During his tenure, Cissna oversaw major policy changes within the agency, including the President’s travel ban, the court’s rebuke of the travel ban, the termination of the DACA program, and the Trump administration’s efforts to limit asylum processing for Central Americans.
It is that time of the week again! In this post, we bring you the latest immigration news from USCIS.
Texas Service Center Will Begin Processing Certain Cap-Exempt H-1B Petitions
On May 20, 2019, USCIS announced that the Texas Service Center will begin processing certain cap-exempt H-1B petitions filed on Form I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker.
What types of petitions may be processed by the TSC?
Cap-exempt petitions requesting:
Applicants must continue to refer to the direct filing address chart to determine where the I-129 Form should be filed. The workload for cap-exempt petitions will be distributed between the Texas Service Center, California Service Center, Vermont Service Center, and Nebraska Service Center to increase efficiency and prevent processing delays.
If your case is transferred, you will receive a transfer notice in the mail.
Exciting news for Filipino nurses. The EB-3 employment-based category will become current in July 2019 through the summer.
This means that if you have an approved PERM application that was filed by your employer, your employer may file Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker on your behalf. Please note that registered nurses and physical therapists are not required to go through the PERM process and may proceed straight to the I-140.
Since there will be no waiting period in July 2019 through the summer, EB-3 Filipino nurses will be able to apply for the I-140 straight away, and for their adjustment of status. Applicants who are outside of the United States, may apply for their immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate/Embassy in their country of residence.
Important Steps
If your employer has not filed a PERM application for you, they should do so as soon as possible. The PERM requirement does not apply to registered nurses or physical therapists.
After the PERM application is approved, your employer must file Form I-140 Petition for Alien Worker on your behalf. Registered nurses and physical therapists do not need to file a PERM application, and their employers may proceed with the immigrant visa petition (I-140).
USCIS announced today May 17, 2019, that the agency has completed data entry for all H-1B petitions selected for fiscal year 2020, including petitions filed under the U.S. advanced degree exemption.
USCIS will now begin the long process of returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected in the random computer-generated lottery that took place on April 10, 2019. USCIS will provide an announcement once it has completed the return of unselected H-1B petitions.
Petitioners who have not had the H-1B filing fees cashed, can expect to receive the return of their H-1B petition.
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 request was filed with USCIS.
Requests Receiving Priority
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 their TPS status, pending the resolution of the case Ramos v. Nielsen and any appeals that follow.
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 during a single stay, and then departed the United States, would trigger either a 3- or 10-year bar to admission depending on the period of unlawful presence accrued in the United States prior to departure. The new policy would begin counting the days of unlawful presence the day after an F, M, or J status violation, unless an exception applied.
These bars would prevent the foreign national from applying for an immigration benefit in the future, without the approval of a waiver of inadmissibility.
This policy was to become effective on August 9, 2018; however, it quickly grew controversial and inspired a slew of lawsuits. Prior to this attempted policy change, USCIS did not begin counting a period of unlawful presence until a USCIS immigration official or immigration judge made a formal finding of a status violation.
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