United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced on October 27, 2023, they would be reverting back to 180-day automatic extensions of employment authorization and EAD validity for those eligible applicants who timely file a Form I-765 renewal application on or after October 27, 2023. This announcement follows a Temporary Final Rule (“TRF”) adopted by USCIS from May 4, 2022, through October 26, 2023, which increased the automatic extension period for employment authorization and Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) available to certain EAD renewal applicants up to 540-days. Please note that this change to automatic 180-day renewals does not affect beneficiaries who were granted automatic extensions of up to 540-days during the time the TRF was in effect. For beneficiaries of the 540-day extension, the increased automatic extension “will end when they receive a final decision on their renewal application or when the up to 540-day period expires (counted from the expiration date of the employment authorization and/or their EAD), whichever comes earlier.”
Read moreUSCIS Updates EAD Authorization to Five Years for Certain Noncitizens, Including Adjustment of Status Applicants
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced on September 27, 2023, it is increasing the maximum validity for initial and renewal of Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) to 5 years for certain noncitizens. Applicants for initial and renewal EADs, including applicants for adjustment of status, in both employment and family based categories, will receive an EAD with a maximum five-year validity, as opposed to two-years. This change is being implemented by USCIS immediately, “and applies to Applications for Employment Authorization, that are pending or are filed on or after September 27, 2023.”
Read moreUSCIS Expands Child Age-Out Calculation Under the Child Status Protection Act
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) has updated its guidance on how to calculate the age of a child applying for adjustment of status under the Child Status Protection Act (“CSPA”). Under the new policy, USCIS will use the State Department’s monthly Visa Bulletin “Dates for Filing” chart, as opposed to the “Final Action Date” chart in order to protect child adjustment of status applicants who risk aging out of availability to obtain a green card as derivative beneficiaries of their parents’ immigrant petitions, upon reaching age twenty-one.
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 moreTemporary Increase of Automatic Extension Period for Certain Renewal Applicants’ Employment Authorization
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) adopted a Temporary Final Rule (“TFR”) on May 4, 2022, to increase the automatic extension period for employment authorization and Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) available to certain EAD renewal applicants. Previously, work authorization granted to foreign nationals who had filed a timely Form I-765 application to renew certain categories of EADs was automatically extended for 180 days. The new rule will effectively increase this period to up to 540 days from the expiration date stated on the EAD. During the eighteen month period after publication of the TFR, eligible applicants with a timely-filed, pending Form I-765 renewal application will receive up to 360 days of additional automatic extension time (for a total of up to 540 days).
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 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 morePriority Dates Q&A
Once foreign nationals decide they want to stay in the United States permanently and start talking to an immigration attorney or researching the process themselves, there is a pretty good chance the term “priority date” will come up. What this term means and why it is so important to figuring out the timing involved in a Green Card case can be confusing. There are often many questions surrounding how one obtains a priority date and all the timing issues that follow. This post aims to explain how the process works, although many people may prefer not to know how the sausage is made (if you will). Tracking the backlog of cases can be painfully frustrating—especially if a foreign national’s visa category is one that is excessively backlogged. But for those who wish to know the reason behind the delays, here are some of the most frequently asked questions.
Read moreUSCIS to Expand In-Person Interview Requirements for Certain Permanent Residency Applicants
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will soon begin the process of expanding in-person interviews for certain applicants seeking permanent residency. This policy change stems from President Trump’s executive order, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States,” which in addition to banning travel for certain citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries also called for uniform screening standards and procedures for all immigration programs.
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