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In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it adopted measures to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to certain Requests for Evidence (RFE) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID). This alert clarifies that this flexibility also applies to certain Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIR) and Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOIT) regional investment centers, as well as certain filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that it will reuse previously submitted biometrics in order to process valid Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, extension requests due to the temporary closure of Application Support Centers (ASC) to the public in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This announcement is consistent with existing USCIS authorities regarding the agency’s ability to reuse previously submitted biometrics.

USCIS has received enough electronic registrations during the initial period to reach the FY 2021 H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap). USCIS randomly selected from among the registrations properly submitted. USCIS intends to notify petitioners with selected registrations no later than March 31, 2020, that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration.

Registrants’ online accounts will now show one of the following statuses for each registration (that is, for each beneficiary registered):

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is adopting a measure to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to requests for evidence (RFEs) and notices of intent to deny (NOIDs) dated between March 1 and May 1, 2020.   

Alert: While premium processing is suspended, petitioners may submit a request to expedite their petition if it meets the criteria on the Expedite Criteria webpage. It is the petitioner’s responsibility to demonstrate that they meet at least one of the expedite criteria. All expedite requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and requests granted at the discretion of USCIS office leadership.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 National Emergency announced by President Trump on March 13, 2020, USCIS will accept all benefit forms and documents with reproduced original signatures, including the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, for submissions dated March 21, 2020, and beyond.

Updated USCIS form(s):

Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant06/09/2020 09:15 AM EDTStarting Jan 4, 2021, USCIS will only accept the 06/09/20 edition. Until then, you can use the 04/12/18 and 12/23/16 editions. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions.For more information, please visit Forms Updates page.

These dates reflect the month and year in which cases were filed and are currently being adjudicated. The Reconsideration Request to the CO date reflects the month and year in which cases that are currently being reviewed were appealed.  

Please visit this page for PERM Processing Times (as of 10/31/2020)

Published by : The Economic Times - Date: November 09, 2020  

Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv on the article:

“On the green card side, Mr Biden has expressly stated that he wants to remove the percountry quota. This change can also be introduced relatively quickly and the benefits could manifest within a year potentially,” said Rajiv S Khanna, Managing Attorney at immigration.com.

For more details please see the attachment below.

Release Date 11/13/2020

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today plans to implement a revised version of the naturalization civics test. The agency first announced plans to revise the civics test in July 2019.

Release Date 11/13/2020

USCIS is clarifying existing guidance on the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) in the USCIS Policy Manual to address:

Release Date 11/17/2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is updating existing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding the exercise of the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security’s discretion in adjudications of adjustment of status applications.

Release Date 11/17/2020

Rule will encourage these aliens to depart the country

Release Date 11/18/2020

On Nov. 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify the circumstances when USCIS would find applicants ineligible for naturalization  because they were not lawfully admitted for permanent residence. 

Release Date 11/18/2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2021. Nov. 16 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2021. USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Nov. 16, that request an employment start date before April 1, 2021.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced an extension of the flexibility in complying with requirements related to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, due to COVID-19.