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USCIS Service Center Processing Times as of April 15, 2010.

Release Date 

01/03/2023

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees. The new fees would allow USCIS to more fully recover its operating costs, reestablish and maintain timely case processing, and prevent the accumulation of future case backlogs. USCIS receives approximately 96 percent of its funding from filing fees, not from congressional appropriations.

Release Date 

01/04/2023

USCIS has published Form I-956K, Registration for Direct and Third-Party Promoters. The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 added the requirement for direct and third-party promoters to register with USCIS.

Each person acting as a direct or third-party promoter (including migration agents) of the following must complete Form I-956K:

Release Date 

01/04/2023

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is changing the filing location for Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, to streamline workloads in an ever-increasing electronic environment. Previously, this petition was filed either at the Texas Service Center or the Nebraska Service Center depending on the state where the petitioner resides. With this change, all Form I-730 petitions should be filed at the Texas Service Center.

USCIS recently updated the following USCIS form(s):

Form G-1055, Fee Schedule

01/04/2023 01:59 PM EST

Edition Date: 01/04/23. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page.

Form I-956K, Registration for Direct and Third-Party Promoters

09/07/2022 12:45 PM EDT

Edition Date: 09/07/22. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions.

USCIS recently updated the following form.

Form I-134, Declaration of Financial Support

01/04/2023 09:24 AM EST

Edition Date: 01/04/23. Starting March 6, 2023, USCIS will only accept the 01/04/23 edition. Until then, you can also use the 10/18/22 edition. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions.



Before 04/25/22, this form was called Form I-134, Affidavit of Support.

Release Date 

01/12/2023

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is implementing the final phase of the premium processing expansion for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications.

[Federal Register: March 31, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 61)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 15991-15992]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31mr10-1]

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Rules and Regulations

Federal Register

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ICE Detention and Removal Operations Director issued a memo to field office directors clarifying the February 22, 2010 memo on removal goals.

Work permits and c9 I-765 application - The center recommends applicants and attorneys to follow the current Pre-Order Instructions which points out that applicants should file the renewed I-485 application with the TSC (Texas Service Center) when the form has been denied and renewed by the IJ. This also holds well when the applicant or attorney submits a new Form I-485 application to the IJ.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that it has published new versions of the Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, Form I-600 and the Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, Form I-600A .  The new date on the bottom of both forms is “12/30/09 N.” Due to the changes on the forms, previous versions will no longer be accepted after a 60 day transition period. 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin implementing new enhanced security measures for all air carriers with international flights to the United States to strengthen the safety and security of all passengers—superseding the emergency measures put in place immediately following the attempted terrorist attack on Dec. 25, 2009.

ICE updated its list of Student and Exchange Visitor Program approved schools.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that travelers interested in applying to the Global Entry and Privium Trusted Traveler programs may do so at one of five “one-stop-shop” joint enrollment centers established as a pilot initiative in the United States and the Netherlands through the Fast Low-Risk Universal Crossing (FLUX) program.

Introduction

These Questions & Answers address the automatic extension of F-1 student status in the United States for certain students with pending or approved H-1B petitions (indicating a request for change of status from F-1 to H-1B) for an employment start date of Oct. 1, 2010 under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 H-1B cap.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the H-1B cap?

A: The cap is the congressionally-mandated limit on the number of individuals who may be granted initial H-1B status or visas during each fiscal year. For FY 2011, the cap is 65,000.

The H-1B Program

U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.

For more information about the H-1B program, see the link to the left under temporary workers for H-1B Specialty Occupations, DOD Cooperative Research and Development Project Workers, and Fashion Models.

How USCIS Determines if an H-1B Petition is Subject to the FY 2011 Cap

 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it continues to accept H-1B nonimmigrant petitions subject to the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY 2011) cap. USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received for both the 65,000 general cap and the 20,000 U.S. master’s degree or higher educational exemption.

USCIS has received approximately 13,500 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap. The agency has received approximately 5,600 petitions for individuals with advanced degrees.