Information of importance
During the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions can change quickly for both lawful permanent residents and others seeking to enter or return to the United States. If at all possible, traveling outside the United States should be avoided except in the most urgent situations. If you are a lawful permanent resident (LPR), you should keep the following concepts in mind when …
US Embassies Prioritize Visa Applications to Remedy Backlog The Covid-19 crisis has affected immigrant and nonimmigrant visas processing at U.S. Embassies and has created a backlog. The State Department is working to reduce this backlog by prioritizing visa categories. The highest priority is given to immigrant visa applications for U.S. immediate relatives, fiancé applicants and other family-sponsored applicants. Priority is …
One of the most common is: Does the asylum office act differently towards me if I have also applied for TPS or Deferred Deportation (DED)? The answer is both “no” and “yes”. “No”, the asylum office does not process an asylum claim differently if the applicant had been granted DED or holds TPS. Eligibility for asylum is not adversely influenced …
Did you apply before January 2021 for an immigrant Visa? Was it rejected because you are a national of one of the group of countries that were banned during Trump’s administration? If so, you can now reapply with a waiver or ask the embassy to reconsider your prior application. On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed a Presidential Proclamation “Ending …
Syria extended till September 2022 Secretary of Homeland Security is designating Burma (Myanmar) for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. This new designation of Burma for TPS enables Burmese nationals (and individuals without nationality who last habitually resided in Burma) currently residing in the United States to file initial applications for TPS, so long as they meet eligibility requirements. …
The Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status allows citizens from Liberia, and soon, Venezuela, to remain in the country for the time established in the Federal Register and with the option to obtain work authorization. The DED is a temporary migratory benefit for individuals from designated countries and regions, facing political or civic conflict or natural disaster to stay in the …
The President has issued an Executive Order which changes the policy direction of the Federal agencies which implement the immigration system. This order, issued February 2, 2021, has already had changed policy in substantial ways, including the recent reversion of the plan to modify the Naturalization Civics test in ways that would have meant substantially more denials, based on a …
Today, January 8, 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction of the Maryland US District Court blocking the President’s Executive Order 13,888 attempting to create an “opt-in” system requiring that both a state and a locality provide their affirmative consent before refugees will be resettled there, thereby substantially burdening and blocking the settlement …
Thanks to recent court action, those who are eligible under the original DACA rules can now file new applications, despite the President’s executive order attempting to terminate the program. To do so, forms I-821, I-765, I-765WS must be filed with a $495 filing fee to the appropriate address. Substantial documentary evidence of eligibility must also be provided or the application …
Every US employer must maintain USCIS Form I-9 for their US based employees, whether US Citizens, legal permanent residents or foreign workers. But for foreign workers, whose work authorization may be term limited, it is necessary to track and update that form when it expires. NEW HIRES: The work authorization document needs to be listed in Section 2 of the …
