U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is resuming operations under the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) program beginning with pending CFRP program applications. In September, USCIS will begin mailing program information notices to petitioners with pending CFRP program applications. Petitioners should review the information carefully for updates and other information about next steps.    USCIS also has begun mailing interview notices to CFRP program petitioners with instructions for the beneficiary interview. On Aug. 18, …

Continue reading USCIS Resumes Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program Operations

On Sept. 2, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security posted for public inspection a Federal Register notice extending and expanding eligibility for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Liberians for 24 months. On June 27, 2022, President Biden issued a Memorandum on Extending and Expanding Eligibility for Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians to the secretaries of state and homeland security …

Continue reading Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today published a Federal Register notice for the extension and expansion of eligibility for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Liberians and explaining how eligible Liberians may apply for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). On June 27, President Biden issued a memorandum extending and expanding DED for Liberians for 24 months. Eligible Liberian nationals covered …

Continue reading Eligible Liberians may apply for EADs through June 30, 2024

The Department of Justice today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with A. Olivarez Harvesting LLC (Olivarez). The settlement resolves a claim that Olivarez discriminated against two U.S. citizens based on their citizenship status when it denied them crop harvesting positions it had promised them and instead filled the jobs with temporary visa …

Continue reading Justice Department Secures Settlement With Texas Harvesting Company to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) final rule, which has been posted for public inspection on the Federal Register’s website. The final rule generally codifies existing policies with limited amendments to preserve and fortify DACA.   BackgroundOn Sept. 28, 2021, DHS published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for DACA. …

Continue reading Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Final Rule 

USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2023.We have completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts. The status for registrations properly submitted for the …

Continue reading USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2023 H-1B Cap

Beginning Thursday, September 1, 2022 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will no longer accept a single, combined fee payment when an applicant or petitioner files Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor, or Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor, together with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Form 131, Application for Travel Document, or Form …

Continue reading USCIS Will No Longer Accept Combined Fee Payments For EB-5, Immigrant Investor Program Applications or Petitions

The Department of Homeland Security announced the extension and redesignation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, from Oct. 1, 2022, through March 31, 2024. The extension of TPS for Syria allows approximately 6,448 current beneficiaries to re-register to retain TPS if they continue to meet TPS eligibility requirements. It is estimated …

Continue reading Extension and Redesignation of Syria for TPS

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that certain parolees can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online. Most individuals paroled into the United States for urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit purposes under INA 212(d)(5) are eligible to seek employment authorization under category (c)(11). Please see the Form I-765 instructions for more information. Effective immediately, applicants …

Continue reading Parolees Can Now File Form I-765 Online

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is implementing the second phase of the premium processing expansion for certain petitioners who have a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications. Similar to the first phase of the expansion, this phase only applies to certain previously filed Form I-140 petitions under an E13 …

Continue reading USCIS to Implement Second Phase of Premium Processing for Certain Previously Filed EB-1 and EB-2 Form I-140 Petitions