On July 29, 2016, USCIS announced the long-awaited for new rules regarding the Provisional Waiver Program (I-601A). The changes aren’t in effect yet – that will happen on August 29, 2016. So, what changes can we expect at the end of the month? You can read through the 119-page notice, but I have broken out some […]
New I-601A Provisional Waiver Rules Announced Read More »
Last Thursday, the U.S Supreme Court issued a 4-4 split non-decision in United States v. Texas. This was the case that questioned whether or not the President had the authority to issue the programs we came to know as DAPA and Expanded DACA. There’s a lot of information out there about what this means, so I’d
A Supreme Disappointment: The Supreme Court’s Non-Decision on DAPA and Expanded DACA Read More »
If you filed an I-918 U application in or after March 2014, you probably feel like you’ve been stuck in a time warp. The Vermont Service Center (VSC) seemingly hasn’t worked on any new I-918 cases since March 2014. Month after month, thousands of new I-918s get filed, yet, no old cases get adjudicated. USCIS has repeatedly
Some U Cases Moving from Vermont to Nebraska Read More »
Sometimes people don’t think about filing for Naturalization until their green card is about to expire. They look at the cost of applying for a Naturalization (the N-400 is $680.00) and then they look at the cost of applying for a green card renewal (the I-90 is $365.00) and decide it may be more cost-effective to just do Naturalization. Which may
How Naturalization and Renewing Your Green Card (Don’t Often) Work Together Read More »
Over the past few years, we’ve talked about how only 10,000 U visas are available each year, and how on October 1 each year – the start of the government’s fiscal year and when new visas become available – U visas are gone faster and faster. We are now at a point where so many U applications have been
On The U Visa Waitlist? Read More »
It’s been several months since we’ve heard anything about immigration reform. Deferred Action for Parents (DAPA) and Expanded DACA remain stuck in Federal Court, and we may not have a decision on those programs until President Obama is out of office. Comprehensive Immigration Reform that would require Congress to act together seems laughable right now. But, just because these big
No Reform Means No Change to Immigration, Right? Wrong! Read More »
The National Visa Center (NVC) plays a key part in helping bring family members together. It’s an office within the U.S. Department of State and serves to collect documents and information needed for an immigrant visa interview that will be held at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate outside the United States. A file arrives at
Problems with the National Visa Center (NVC) Read More »
Late last fall, I wrote about how U visas were gone for 2014. Now again, USCIS has run out of U visas. The government fiscal year begins on October 1st. That means that the fiscal year 2015 is from October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015. When Congress created the U visa, they made it so
No More U Visas for 2015 Read More »
Last week, I was up in the Northeast. I spent the weekend in Groton, Connecticut with my brother and his family and then, on Tuesday, I headed north towards Boston for our American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Annual Conference. En route from Groton to Boston, I stopped in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Or as they like to
Immigrants to America: Lessons from a Trip to Boston Read More »
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice released numbers that show the approval and denial rates from Immigration Courts and individual Immigration Judges around the U.S. Nationally, the average asylum grant rate in immigration courts is 53% which, effectively, brings the national denial rate to 47%. In contrast, the Stewart Detention Center in south
Asylum in Atlanta: Affirmative vs. Defensive Applications Read More »
