United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it is implementing the final phase of its expansion of premium processing for Forms I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, in the EB-1 Multinational Executive and Manager and EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) categories. This final phase is set to commence on January 30, 2023.
Read moreDiversity Visa Lottery for Fiscal Year 2024 (DV-2024)
It’s once again time for The Diversity Visa Lottery for fiscal year 2024 (“DV-2024”)! The online registration period for the DV-2024 began Wednesday, October 5, 2022, at 12:00 noon (EDT), and concludes on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, at 12:00 noon (EST). It is recommended that foreign nationals not wait until the end of the period to apply as heavy demand could cause delays on the website. Entries are only accepted electronically , they will not be accepted through the U.S. Postal Service. Keep in mind that submitting multiple applications will result in disqualification, not better chances, and yes, “the Department of State uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries.”
Read moreUSCIS Committed to Using Available Visa Numbers in FY2022
As the government’s Fiscal Year 2022 (“FY 2022) draws to a close this coming September 30th, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has assured the public it is “dedicated to ensuring we use as many available employment-based visas as possible in FY 2022.” This is good news as approximately 66,500 employment-based green cards were not used in FY 2021.
Read moreUSCIS Urges Eligible Adjustment of Status Applicants to Interfile
After the release of the March 2022 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued an alert urging eligible adjustment of status (“AOS”) applicants to consider filing a request to transfer the underlying basis of their adjustment of status application. According to USCIS, eligible applicants should request to transfer to “the first (priority workers) or second (noncitizens in professions with advanced degrees or with exceptional ability) employment-based preference categories, because there is an exceptionally high number of employment-based immigrant visas available in these categories during this fiscal year (October 2021 through September 2022).” USCIS noted that the overall number of visas available for the first and second preference employment-based categories is almost “twice as high as usual, because that limit includes all unused family-sponsored visa numbers from fiscal year 2021, which was approximately 140,000.”
Read moreUSCIS Announces Temporary Waiver of Sixty-Day Rule for Civil Surgeon Signatures
On December 9, 2021, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published a policy alert [https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-temporarily-waiving-60-day-rule-for-civil-surgeon-signatures] temporarily waiving the requirement for civil surgeons to sign Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, no more than sixty days before an applicant files an application for the underlying immigration benefit (including Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status). This rule will remain in effect until September 30, 2022. This measure allows foreign nationals, with otherwise valid I-693s, to complete the application process without having to submit to further immigration medical examinations, even if the civil surgeon signed their I-693 more than sixty days before they file their application with USCIS.
Read moreUSCIS Announces COVID-19 Vaccination Required for Immigration Medical Examinations
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective October 1, 2021, COVID-19 vaccinations are required for immigration medical examinations which are a part of the green card application process. The Service has updated its policy guidelines to require that “applicants subject to the immigration medical examination must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before the civil surgeon can complete an immigration medical examination and sign Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.”
Read moreUSCIS Temporarily Extends Validity Period of Form I-693 Medicals
On August 12, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published an alert that temporarily extends the validity period of a report of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record (“form I-693”) from two years to four years. The decision was made in an effort to expedite the adjudication of employment-based Form I-485, Application to Register to Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, by the last day of the government’s fiscal year which is September 30, 2021. It will not apply to cases adjudicated after September 30, 2021, unless the Service extends the validity of the medicals again.
Read moreThe Washington Post: "US immigration agency to transfer citizenship paperwork from busy offices, hoping to reduce wait times."
Earlier this year in February, eighty-six members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) that demanded accountability for the agency’s increasingly lengthy processing delays. Now, USCIS is looking to transfer cases out of overburdened offices to even out processing times across the country. The strategy, however, will only apply to applications for permanent residency (green cards) and applications for naturalization (citizenship).
Read moreNY Daily News: "Same-sex couples in NYC celebrate green cards after long battle"
After spending two decades as an undocumented immigrant, Venezuelan-born playwright Pablo Garcia (who overstayed his immigration status to be with his US-citizen husband Santiago Ortiz) has received his Green Card. The NY Daily News reports:
For most of their long relationship, Ortiz, 57, a retired school psychologist, was unable to sponsor Garcia — and being unable to leave the U.S. and return meant Garcia missed both of his parents’ funerals.
Their situation changed in June, when the Supreme Court struck down a federal law against gay marriage. Months later, some of the first same-sex New York City couples — including Garcia and Ortiz — have now been granted immigration benefits like permanent residency.
The article includes two other same-sex couples where one of the spouses has received a Green Card as a result of the DOMA repeal.
USCIS has a helpful Q&A regarding how the DOMA repeal applies to immigration cases. While the release states USCIS will work internally to identify and re-open cases (including the I-130 Petitions for Alien Relative, I-485 Adjustment of Status Applicants, and I-765 Employment Authorization Applications) denied solely based on DOMA section 3, it includes instructions for contacting USCIS to "alert" them of such cases. Importantly, the release notes: "For denials of I-130 petitions that occurred prior to February 23, 2011, you must notify USCIS by March 31, 2014, in order for USCIS to act on its own to reopen your I-130 petition."
USCIS also states regarding same-sex married couples who reside in a state where such a marriage is not recognized: "As a general matter, the law of the place where the marriage was celebrated determines whether the marriage is legally valid for immigration purposes...The domicile state’s laws and policies on same-sex marriages will not bear on whether USCIS will recognize a marriage as valid."