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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.

Release Date 09/30/2020

WASHINGTON-U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Deputy Director of Policy Joseph Edlow issued the following statement in response to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction enjoining fee increases for citizenship and other immigration benefits.

Published by : The Economic Times - Date: October 01, 2020  

Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv on the article:

“While the inclusions are welcome, the guarantee is not for a final approval or denial but their decision making the first time around,” said Rajiv S Khanna, managing attorney at immigration.com. “They often send back a request for evidence and after we respond, they have another 30 days to respond,” he said.

Release Date 10/01/2020

Proposal enforces long-standing law and protects American taxpayers

On Sept. 29, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in Immigration Legal Resource Center et al., v. Wolf, et al., 20-cv-05883-JWS, preliminarily enjoined DHS from implementing or enforcing any part of the USCIS Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements rule.

While the rule is preliminarily enjoined, USCIS will continue to: 

Published by : The Economic Times - Date: October 02, 2020  

Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv on the article:

“The reasoning behind the preliminary injunction is sound. The court found that the President was trying to change immigration law from the White House, over obeying the law as it is written by the legislature,” said Rajiv S Khanna, managing attorney at immigration.com.

Release Date 10/02/2020

On Oct. 2, USCIS issued policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to address inadmissibility based on membership in or affiliation with the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party. Membership in or affiliation with the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party is inconsistent and incompatible with the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America, which includes pledging to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

Release Date 10/06/2020

USCIS  issued policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual clarifying whether temporary protected status (TPS) beneficiaries are eligible for adjustment of status under section 245(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). INA 245(a) requires an alien to have been inspected and admitted or inspected and paroled into the United States, unless exempt from this requirement.