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Release Date: May 22, 2017

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly today announced his decision to extend—for an additional six months—the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Haiti.  This extension is effective July 23, 2017 through January 22, 2018.

Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Haiti (and eligible individuals without nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) through Jan. 22, 2018. After consulting with the appropriate U.S. government agencies and reviewing country conditions, Secretary Kelly has determined that a limited, six-month extension is warranted.

As of May 25, 2017, USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the maximum possible numerical limit (the “cap”) of workers who may be issued CNMI-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) visas or otherwise provided with CW-1 status for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Although the FY 2018 cap has not been set, it is required by statute to be less than the 12,998 workers set for FY 2017.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services launched a virtual assistant named “Emma” on uscis.gov, allowing customers to quickly find accurate information. She answers questions in plain English and navigates users to relevant USCIS web pages.

She is named after Emma Lazarus, whose famous words are inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

USCIS reminds all approved EB-5 regional centers with a designation letter dated on or before Sept. 30, 2015, that they must file Form I-924A, Supplement to Form I-924, for fiscal year 2015 no later than Dec. 29, 2015. 

Regional centers are required to submit Form I-924A every year to demonstrate continued eligibility for the regional center designation. See 8 CFR 204.6(m)(6). 

The city of Chennai and surrounding areas in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu as well as the adjacent Union Territory of Pondicherry (Puducherry) have experienced very heavy rains in recent weeks resulting in localized flooding, which has been severe in some areas. The Adyar River has overflowed its banks and rains are expected to continue for several days. U.S. citizens visiting and residing in the area should shelter in place. The Chennai International Airport is closed and no flights are currently operating.

On October 28, 2015, the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman’s Office hosted a public teleconference regarding U.S. Department of State (DOS) Consular Returns to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  Representatives from the USCIS Service Center Operations and DOS’ National Visa Center (NVC) and Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) responded to questions posed by the Ombudsman’s Office and the public.  The discussion focused on why a consulate may return a petition, the process for returns within DOS and USCIS, and processing times.

The deadline for eligible nationals of Nepal (and people without nationality who last habitually resided in Nepal) to register for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. This deadline marks the end of the 180-day initial registration period. The TPS designation for Nepal runs from June 24, 2015, through Dec. 24, 2016.

Eligibility

USCIS has published an update to:

Are you seeking to adjust your status and become a U.S. permanent resident under a family-sponsored or employment-based preference immigrant visa? If you have not yet had a relative or employer file an immigrant visa petition on your behalf, please learn more about the Adjustment of Status Filing Process.

I-485 Employment-Based Inventory Statistics (updated April 2017)  

Note: This version of the I-485 pending inventory includes the pending I-485s from the Service Centers only. This version does not include the pending I-485 inventory from the Field Offices.