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Please click on the link for the updated PERM Processing Times.

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.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2024 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 1 and run through noon Eastern on March 17, 2023. During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to complete and submit their registrations using the online H-1B registration system.

Release Date 

01/30/2023

New Features Provide State-of-the-Art Security

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today new designs to improve security of Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). USCIS will begin issuing the redesigned cards on Jan. 30, 2023.

This article is part of the continuing series of interviews between The Practical Lawyer Editorial Board Member Rajiv S. Khanna and leading practitioners across the country, designed to provide personal and professional insights into various areas of the law.

Read more by clicking the pdf attachment.

Release Date 

01/13/2023

Changes Strengthen Efforts to Hold Unscrupulous Employers Accountable 

Release Date 

01/23/2023

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that certain asylum applicants can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online.

Effective immediately, applicants for employment authorization under category (c)(8), Pending Asylum and Withholding of Removal Applicants and Applicants for Pending Asylum under the ABC Settlement Agreement, may file Form I-765 online.

Release Date 

01/23/2023

USCIS is extending the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) for petitioners who properly file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, or Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status for 48 months beyond the card’s expiration date. This change started on January 11, 2023, for Form I-829 and will start on January 25, 2023, for Form I-751.

Release Date 

01/24/2023

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending certain COVID-19-related flexibilities through March 23, 2023. Under these flexibilities, USCIS considers a response received within 60 calendar days after the due date set forth in the following requests or notices before taking any action, if the request or notice was issued between March 1, 2020, and March 23, 2023, inclusive:

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 106 (Monday, June 3, 2013)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 32989-32990] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2013-13065] [[Page 32989]]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 22 CFR Part 42 [Public Notice 8345] RIN 1400-AC86 Visas: Documentation of Immigrants under the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Amended AGENCY: Department of State. ACTION: Final rule.

• USCIS policy memorandum stating that effective September 1, 2013, the Government of Ethiopia will require prospective adoptive parents include evidence that U.S. government completed a Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) review of the prospective adoptive child’s immigration eligibility.

Please check the attachment to read USCIS Policy Memo.