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WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services  announced that, as part of the adjustment of its international footprint to increase efficiencies, Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, will only be processed domestically by USCIS or internationally by the Department of State in certain circumstances beginning Feb 1, 2020.  

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has published revised forms consistent with the final rule on the public charge ground of inadmissibility, which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including USCIS, will implement on Feb. 24, 2020. Beginning Feb. 24, 2020, applicants and petitioners must use new editions of the following forms below (except in Illinois, where the rule remains enjoined by a federal court): 

USCIS is actively monitoring the effects of the public health emergency related to the 2019 coronavirus outbreak on agency operations.

Office Closures in China

According to U.S. Department of State guidance, USCIS is temporarily closing its field offices in Beijing and Guangzhou. USCIS will reschedule all affected appointments and will send new appointment notices to applicants.

Published by : The Times Of India - Date: February 08, 2020  

Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv on the article:

WASHINGTON — The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) deployed 14 additional field representatives to territories across the country this week. The field representatives serve as liaisons between the nearly 9,000 U.S. schools that enroll international students and SEVP. The program, housed within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), certifies schools to enroll international students and protects national security by overseeing those students for compliance with U.S. laws.

WASHINGTON— Due to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has announced his decision to designate Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months.  As a result, eligible nationals of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone who are currently residing in the United States may apply for TPS with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

On November 20, 2014, the President announced a series of executive actions to crack down on illegal immigration at the border, prioritize deporting felons not families, and require certain undocumented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay taxes in order to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.

In early 2015, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor will begin exercising its authority to certify applications for trafficking victims seeking T visas. In addition, WHD will expand its existing U visa program by certifying such requests when it detects three additional qualifying criminal activities in the course of its workplace investigations: extortion, forced labor, and fraud in foreign labor contracting.

• Have you been using E-Verify more than 10 years?

  If yes, please download the new “Historic Records Report” before Dec 31, 2014.

  Effective January 1, 2015, E-Verify transaction records more than 10 years old will be deleted from the system. You will no longer have access in E-Verify to cases you created prior to December 31, 2004.

On Oct. 29, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule amending its regulations governing when USCIS will

• correspond with,
• issue a notice of decision to, or
• provide documents to

an applicant, petitioner, or requester, and/or an attorney of record or accredited representative.

Applicants must submit biometrics if the applicant is applying or re-registering for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and over 14 years old.