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 …
EMPLOYERS: How to Fill out or Update your Foreign Worker I-9s
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 …
Extension of TPS Until October 4, 2021!
The Department of Homeland Security is finally acting (on December 9, 2020) to comply with a court injunction affecting TPS holders for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras and Nepal, automatically extending their TPS status and work authorizations through October 4, 2021. Those people with expiring driver’s licenses should be able to obtain a necessary extension of their licenses until …
Donald Trump’s final blows to immigration
After 4 years of a government focused on diminishing immigration to the United States, the final days of Donald Trump have been dedicated to modifying the immigration processes for foreign travelers and workers as well as U.S. businesses. Restriction on access to H1B Visas for foreign workers, elimination of work authorization for people with suspended deportation, restrictions on travel, delayed …
4th Circuit Further Defines Family Asylum Group
A comprehensive decision, Sandra Hernandez-Cartagena v. William Barr (https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/191823.P.pdf) by the 4th Circuit overturning and remanding a denial of asylum by an immigration judge, affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), affirms the legitimacy of a family unit as an appropriate social group for asylum protection. The Fourth Circuit found that the BIA’s decision denying the asylum claim was …
CHANGE OF ADDRESS!!!
IBLF has now changed its physical address from 1915 Eye Street NW – Fifth floor to a location just down the street on Farragut Square, same zip code (20006) on the 4th floor of the legendary Barr Building — 910 17th Street, Suite 408. Please note that this building has nothing to do with the current attorney general (William Barr) …
PROPOSED New USCIS Fees (Oct 2, 2020) – NOT IN EFFECT DUE TO COURT INJUNCTION
Immigration benefit request Current fee $ Final fee $ Change ($) Percentage change I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (online filing) 455 405 −50 −11 I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (paper filing) 455 415 −40 −9 I-102 Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document 445 485 40 9 I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant worker 460 N/A N/A N/A …
4th Circuit Upholds Block of Anti-Abortion Rule
In a 9 to 6 en banc published ruling on September 3, 2020, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court injunction preventing implementation of a agency rule designed to prevent abortion counseling or referral by medical personnel on the grounds that it improperly violated medical ethics, interfering with the physician patient relationship, and improperly imposed costs on …
USCIS cancels planned massive furloughs
U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND Immigration Services said Tuesday that it has halted plans to furlough 70% of its workforce on Sunday, saving some 13,400 employees from temporary layoff and averting a near-total shut down of the legal immigration system. The agency warned, however, that furloughs could still take place in the future unless Congress acts to stabilize USCIS’s finances. USCIS is the …
Restrictions to Work Authorization for Asylum Applicants to Begin on August 25,2020
USCIS announced a final rule modifying DHS’s regulations governing asylum applications, interviews and eligibility for employment authorization based on a pending asylum application. Applicants for an initial or renewal employment authorization document under the (c)(8) eligibility category must submit biometrics and pay the biometric services fee. There are also new questions applicants must complete based on a pending asylum application. USCIS will not …