A draft version of a revised form I-765, application for employment authorization has been released, and the corresponding instructions appear to reveal the eligibility criteria for the proposed I-140 employment document authorization (EAD) rule. Unfortunately, it appears that the proposed rule will be more restrictive than hoped....
On December 22, 2015, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concluded its review of a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would "allow certain approved immigrant petition for alien worker (form I-140) beneficiaries to obtain work authorization…" The rule...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a policy memorandum updating guidance on the approval of immediate relative spousal petitions after the death of the U.S. citizen spouse in cases where the widow/er has remarried. The memo, and the related revisions to the USCIS Adjudicator's...
The USCIS has improved their website with the addition of a virtual assistant named Emma. This is an effort to facilitate the public's ability to navigate the USCIS WebSite and gain access to general immigration information. Named after Emma Lazarus, author of the poem at...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a draft policy memorandum on November 20, 2015, addressing the same-or-similar occupational classification requirement for job portability under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21). AC21 allows an individual who has an employment-based (EB) application for adjustment...
Newcomers to the United States face many practical challenges adapting to a new country. In an effort to ease this transition, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released updated online resources, intended to "help you settle into everyday life in the U.S." The guide,...
Earlier today, the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), León Rodríguez, made a presentation during the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Fifth Annual Conference. During his speech, Mr. Rodríguez only spent a few minutes discussing issues related to the...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released guidance on how to pay the application for naturalization (N-400) filing fees by credit card. The N-400 is the only form that allows for fee payment by credit card. This change is part of President Obama's efforts...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, effective October 19, 2015, there will be a change in the filing location for a limited group of form I-140 employer petitions. This change is simply an effort to balance workloads between the Texas Service Center...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that "… petitions filed on or after October 1, 2015, should not include the additional fee that was previously required by … Public Law 111-230 … for certain H1B and L-1 petitions." This filing fee, which only...
