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The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has launched a search tool for most non-precedent decisions since 2005.

Non-precedent decisions apply existing law and policy to the facts of an individual case. The decisions are binding on the parties to the case, but do not apply new or alternative interpretations of law or policy.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advanced degree exemption.

USCIS will use a computer-generated process, also known as the lottery, to randomly select the petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 visas for the general category and 20,000 for the advanced degree exemption.

• For Immediate Release
  DHS Press Office
  Contact: 202-282-8010

  WASHINGTON—Effective today DHS  will begin to require the use of more electronic passports, or e-Passports, by all travelers coming to the United States from the 38 countries that participate in our Visa Waiver Program.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7, 2016, that it has received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap.

On April 13, 2016, USCIS revised Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. The revised version is available at uscis.gov/n-400. You may continue to use the 9/13/13 edition of the form until August 9, 2016. USCIS will reject and return previous versions of Form N-400 submitted on or after August 10, 2016.

Applications for USCIS’ Citizenship and Integration Grant Program for fiscal year 2016 are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on April 22, 2016.

On March 2, USCIS began accepting applications for two competitive grant opportunities for organizations that prepare permanent residents for naturalization and promote civic integration through increased knowledge of English, U.S. history and civics.

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for May 2016 reflects a final action date  of January 1, 2010, for EB-4 visas for special immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

For two weeks after premium processing resumes for H-1B cap-subject petitions, USCIS will not use pre-paid mailers to send out final notices for premium processing H-1B cap-subject petitions. Instead, USCIS will use regular mail. USCIS will be doing this due to resource limitations as work to process all premium processing petitions in a timely manner. After the two week period, USCIS will resume sending out final notices in the pre-paid mailers provided by petitioners.

USCIS has created a new Workload Transfer Updates page  on their website where customers can keep track of workload transfers between the five service centers. Occasionally, USCIS will transfer cases from one service center to another in order to balance workloads and ensure timely processing. In the past, USCIS has issued a Web alert for each transfer. Now, the new Web page will list all of the transfers that USCIS makes as well as any additional information that customers should know about the transfer.

On May 12, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting premium processing, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher.

USCIS offers immigration relief measures for people affected by natural disasters, such as the severe earthquakes that recently occurred in Ecuador, Japan and Burma.

These measures may be available upon request:

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has re-designated Somalia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and has extended the existing TPS designation for Somalia from Sept. 18, 2012 through March 17, 2014, allowing eligible nationals of Somalia to register or re-register for TPS in accordance with the Federal Registernotice.

USCIS wants you to know that Green Cards (also known as Permanent Resident Cards) do not always include the holder’s signature. In limited cases, USCIS may waive the signature requirement for certain people, such as children under the age of consent or individuals who are physically unable to provide a signature.

Since February 2015, USCIS has been waiving the signature requirement for people entering the United States for the first time as lawful permanent residents after obtaining an immigrant visa abroad from a U.S. Embassy or consulate.