As part of its campaign to expand premium processing service, United Sates Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it will begin to offer premium processing for certain applicants filing Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, to change into F, M, or J Nonimmigrant Status. USCIS will offer premium processing to those seeking to change their status to F, M, or J in phases according to the following schedule:
As of June 13, 2023, USCIS is accepting premium processing requests for currently pending I-539 applications for those seeking to change status to F-1, F-2, M-1, J-1, or J-2 status.
Beginning June 26, 2023, the agency will accept I-907 requests for premium processing requests from applicants filing new I-539 applications to change status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status.
Read moreOn May 10, 2018, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum for public comment that changes how the agency will calculate unlawful presence for students and exchange visitors in F, J, and M nonimmigrant status (including F-2, J-2, or M-2 dependents) who fail to maintain their status in the US. This updated policy, which will be effective August 9, 2018, is meant to align with President Trump’s “Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.” Since USCIS’s announcement of the proposed policy change, many have expressed concern, calling it restrictive and unfair since it may result in international students who unknowingly violate their immigration status being barred from the US up to ten years. Importantly, respected demographer Robert Warren has disputed a key Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report, Fiscal Year 2016 Entry/Exit Overstay Report (released on May 22, 2017), that USCIS relies on to justify its proposed change of policy for students.
Read moreUS Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted a policy memorandum for public comment that changes how the agency will calculate unlawful presence for students and exchange visitors in F, J, and M nonimmigrant status (including F-2, J-2, or M-2 dependents) who fail to maintain their status in the US. This updated policy, which will be effective August 9, 2018, aligns with President Trump’s “Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States,” USCIS says. L. Francis Cissna, director of USCIS, says the policy sends a message that nonimmigrants in these statuses cannot overstay their periods of admission or violate the terms of admission. “USCIS is dedicated to our mission of ensuring the integrity of the immigration system,” he says. “F, J, and M nonimmigrants are admitted to the United States for a specific purpose, and when that purpose has ended, we expect them to depart, or to obtain another, lawful immigration status.”
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