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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”).

Important Notice:  Effective April 1, 2018, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi will no longer process IR5, IR1, IR2, CR1, or CR2 visas.  The U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai will be your interview location if you are in process for an IR5 ( parent of a U.S. citizen), IR1/CR1 visa (spouse of a U.S. citizen) or IR2/CR2 visa (unmarried minor child of a U.S. citizen), AND your interview is scheduled on or after April 1, 2018.  Your letter from the National Visa Center will specify the location of your interview, along with further details about interview preparation.

Starting April 2, USCIS will destroy Permanent Resident Cards, Employment Authorization Cards and Travel Documents returned as undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service after 60 business days if USCIS is not contacted by the document’s intended recipient to provide the correct address.

USCIS encourages applicants to report a change of address within 10 days of relocation using the procedures outlined at uscis.gov/addresschange.

April 03, 2018

Washington

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today ordered further review of the 2016 petition for recognition by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). The review is a direct result of action by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia remanding the case to the Secretary.

“As the court ordered, we will fairly consider all of the facts presented and make an appropriate determination on ACICS’s petition,” said DeVos.

USCIS has reached the congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa cap for fiscal year 2019. USCIS has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap.

The agency will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not prohibited multiple filings.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced the launch of the new website, E-Verify.gov. This is the authoritative source for information on electronic employment eligibility verification. E-Verify.gov is for employers, employees and the general public.

USCIS has received petitions for more than the number of visas available for fiscal year (FY) 2019 for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.

As a result, USCIS will be conducting a lottery to ensure that it does not exceed the CW-1 cap. USCIS will randomly select petitions received between April 2, 2018 and April 13, 2018. If USCIS receives your petition after April 13, it will be rejected and will not be considered for this lottery.

On April 11, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2019.

USCIS recently updated the following USCIS form(s):

Update to Form G-325A, Biographic Information (for Deferred Action); dated 03/29/1804/12/2018 12:00 AM EDTUpdate to Form G-325A, Biographic Information (for Deferred Action); dated 03/29/18For more information, please visit Forms Updates page.

USCIS sometimes transfers cases between the five service centers in order to balance workload and promote timely processing. 

USCIS on April 16, 2018 transferred some of the Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver from the Nebraska Service Center to the Potomac Service Center.

For more details on Workload Transfer Updates please visit this link: https://www.uscis.gov/workload-transfers

The USCIS Policy Manual has been updated to clarify certain requirements for acquisition of U.S. citizenship for children born outside the United States and out of wedlock under sections 301 and 309 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The Policy Alert is available here:

USCIS recently updated the following form.

Update to Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service; New Edition Dated 04/11/1804/19/2018 12:00 AM EDTUpdate to Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service; New Edition Dated 04/11/18.For more information, please visit  Forms Updates page.