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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are extending the joint agency pilot program for Canadian citizens seeking L-1 nonimmigrant status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) through April 30, 2019. Earlier this year, the USCIS California Service Center (CSC) and the CBP Blaine, Washington, port of entry (POE) announced this pilot program which was scheduled to run from April 30, 2018, through Oct.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is continuing to implement the June 28, 2018, Policy Memorandum (PM), Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens (PDF, 140 KB).

Are you seeking to adjust your status and become a U.S. permanent resident under a family-sponsored or employment-based preference immigrant visa? If you have not yet had a relative or employer file an immigrant visa petition on your behalf, please learn more about the Adjustment of Status Filing Process.

On Nov. 15, the Public Engagement Division (PED) held a stakeholder teleconference to discuss the USCIS Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens policy memorandum (PM) that was issued on June 28. USCIS representatives provided an overview of the memorandum, shared an update on the continued implementation of the PM, and addressed many questions submitted in advance.

USCIS has published a policy memorandum (PDF, 121 KB) (PM) clarifying the requirement that a qualifying organization employ a principal L-1 beneficiary abroad for one continuous year out of the three years before the time of petition filing (“one-year foreign employment requirement”).

Effective Monday December 21, 2015, per the Fiscal Year 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act, the U.S. Consulate in Chennai will begin collecting an additional (U.S. dollar) $4,500 per application for all new Blanket L-1 applications.

USCIS published an update to Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. The new edition is dated 11/23/15.

Starting 02/29/16, USCIS will accept only the 11/23/15 edition. USCIS will not accept editions dated 04/13/13 or earlier after that date. The edition date can be found at the bottom of every page on the form and instructions.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved the statutory maximum of 10,000 petitions for U-1 nonimmigrant status (U visas) for fiscal year 2016. This marks the seventh straight year that USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U visas in 2009.

USCIS recently began transferring certain casework from the Vermont Service Center (VSC) to the California Service Center (CSC) and Nebraska Service Center (NSC) to balance workloads. The CSC will now process Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status.

Starting January 1, 2016, customers who wish to file Form I-290B, Notice of Motion or Appeal, in response to a decision on their Form N-600 or N-600K must mail their Form I-290B to the Chicago Lockbox. USCIS will no longer accept these forms at local field offices.

Customers should mail their Form I-290B for Form N-600 or N-600K to:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services launched a virtual assistant named “Emma” on uscis.gov, allowing customers to quickly find accurate information. She answers questions in plain English and navigates users to relevant USCIS web pages.

She is named after Emma Lazarus, whose famous words are inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

USCIS reminds all approved EB-5 regional centers with a designation letter dated on or before Sept. 30, 2015, that they must file Form I-924A, Supplement to Form I-924, for fiscal year 2015 no later than Dec. 29, 2015. 

Regional centers are required to submit Form I-924A every year to demonstrate continued eligibility for the regional center designation. See 8 CFR 204.6(m)(6). 

The city of Chennai and surrounding areas in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu as well as the adjacent Union Territory of Pondicherry (Puducherry) have experienced very heavy rains in recent weeks resulting in localized flooding, which has been severe in some areas. The Adyar River has overflowed its banks and rains are expected to continue for several days. U.S. citizens visiting and residing in the area should shelter in place. The Chennai International Airport is closed and no flights are currently operating.