USCIS announced today that it is revising the current naturalization test which, among other things, tests applicant’s knowledge of civics and U.S. history, government, and constitutional values. Earlier this spring, former USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna issued a memorandum instructing USCIS to revise and update the test, and also formalized a decennial (every 10 years) revision[…]
Today, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice published an interim final rule regarding asylum eligibility. The rule, among other things, establishes a mandatory bar for asylum eligibility for individuals who pass through a third country and then enter or attempt to enter the United States via the southern border, without having[…]
The August 2019 Visa Bulletin was just released, and with it came unprecedented retrogression in almost all employment-based categories. EB1 All Countries retrogressed nearly two years, to a final action date of July 1, 2016. In addition, EB2 All Countries and EB3 All Countries, which had remained current for a significant amount of time, also[…]
The Department of State has published the August 2019 Visa Bulletin. Here is a link and our usual commentary to follow shortly. In the meantime, there are two big high lights for this note: EB1 ‘all countries’ has retrogressed two years and EB5 India has retrogressed 5 years with priority date of 15 October 2014.[…]
EB5 regulations are set to be published in their final form soon. While we don’t know what the final rules will say, the minimum investments are likely to increase. In the proposed rules, $500,000 investment in targeted employment areas was set to increase to $1.35 million and $1 million investment was set to increase to[…]
USCIS announced today that it expanding into a fully digital FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) system, becoming the first government agency to do so. As a brief and general overview, FOIA requires, upon request, disclosure of previously unreleased documents and information controlled by the United States Government and its agencies. USCIS’ FIRST system will now[…]
According to the Department of State, the EB-2 and EB-3 Worldwide categories, which have fortunately remained current for quite some time, may experience retrogression in the coming months. The demand in these categories has apparently increased significantly more than anticipated, and may require the imposition of a final action date as early as next month’s[…]
It has always been the policy of USCIS to simultaneously adjudicate H-1Bs and H-4s filed concurrently. However, the new I-539 biometrics requirement promulgated in March of this year has resulted in a change to this practice. We have heard from colleagues that H-4s are no longer necessarily being adjudicated at the same time as[…]
The U.S. is apparently considering imposing a percentage cap on H-1B visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally. It appears that India would be the first victim of such a policy, if it were ever promulgated. The threat comes in the wake of heightened tensions between the two countries, particularly over[…]
Yet another reminder to all of our readers of President Trump’s recent memo making it mandatory for state and local agencies to sue I-864 sponsors for all means-tested benefits that are paid to adjustment of status applicants/beneficiaries. These means-tested benefits programs include Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).[…]