The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy manual has been updated with regard to marriage and cohabitation requirements for those applying for citizenship based on marriage to a U.S. citizen (USC). As summarized in the USCIS policy alert, the policy update clarifies how long...
Canada and the United States have reached an agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with a new trade deal, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Mexico had reached an agreement with the U.S. earlier on the matter. Congress must agree to the changes...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released updated instructions for civil surgeons regarding medical screening for tuberculosis (TB) for applicants for permanent residency, otherwise known as green card applicants. The new instructions replace the tuberculin skin test (TST) as the initial tuberculosis...
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which is part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), periodically publishes an updated list of agency rulemaking activity. This list provides some basic information on regulations being worked on by various government agencies. The agency...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a proposed regulation regarding inadmissibility on public charge grounds. A public charge is a person who is deemed likely to become financially dependent on public benefits.Generally speaking, a person applying for lawful permanent residence (commonly referred...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced a new measure to help prevent fraud in the O-1 or O-2 petition process. If a labor union issues a negative O visa consultation (i.e. A consultation that objects to the issuance of an O-1 or...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has recently updated the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) to provide additional guidance to U.S. consular officers on the role they should play in confirming the validity of a petition being used to apply for a visa. The updated guidance...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, effective November 1, 2018, the medical examination and vaccination record (form I-693) required for most I-485 applicants will be valid for two years from the date it is signed by a civil surgeon. In addition,...
The dates for filing (DF) chart is to be used for all family- and employment-based categories in the November 2018 Visa Bulletin, per the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) update to its adjustment-of-status filing charts webpage. This is the second month in a row that...
The November 2018 Visa Bulletin has been released, but the cutoff dates in the final action (FA) chart for the vast majority of employment-based categories remain unchanged from the October 2018 Visa Bulletin. There is absolutely no change in the dates for filing (DF) chart...
