The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on June 26, 2013. DOMA, which prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, stood in the way of providing marriage-based immigration benefits to legally-married gay and lesbian couples....
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a large volume of notices retracting many previously-issued requests for evidence (RFEs) on pending applications for adjustment of status (I-485) cases. These notices instruct derivative / dependent spouses and children to ignore the RFEs that were...
The USCIS Texas Service Center (TSC) has issued a large volume of Notices of Action, retracting certain erroneous requests for evidence (RFEs) on pending applications for adjustment of status (form I-485). These notices are intended to remedy the USCIS's admitted error in issuance of a...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released information on the expansion of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry Program (GEP). The GEP, which is one of the Trusted Traveler Programs administered by the CBP, allows low-risk individuals to obtain a...
Today, the United States Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) bill that would usher in significant changes to U.S. immigration law. S.744, entitled the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act," was passed by a 68 - 32 vote. All 52 Democrats in...
This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a major provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that, until now, had denied federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. Although the ruling does not specifically address how this change in the law will impact...
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to release its decision on the constitutionality of the federal government's Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This highly anticipated decision may be released on Wednesday, June 26th, based upon the Court's schedule changes and related news reports....
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is working to update and improve the operations of the National Customer Service Center (NCSC). More specifically, the USCIS is taking steps to expand and modernize the existing phone and online USCIS informational systems. Voice Prompts Simplified and Website...
The USCIS has started to issue a high volume of requests for evidence (RFEs) on pending applications to adjust status (form I-485) cases. The RFEs received to date bear a notice date of June 13, 2013 and originate from the Texas Service Center. These RFEs...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) July 2013 Visa Bulletin includes some potentially wonderful news for individuals in the family-based, second preference "A" (FB2A) category. This category is for spouses and children of U.S. permanent residents. The FB2A category is usually quite backlogged, requiring years...
