**UPDATE** on November 2, 2019, a District Court judge in Oregon granted a nation-wide temporary restraining order which prohibits the implementation of the new policy based on the presidential proclamation described below. October 15, 2019: On October 4, 2019, the President issued Presidential Proclamation 9945, which will prevent new immigrants from entering the U.S. Read More »
Author: jmguzman
POSTPONED! – New State Department “Public Charge” Rule Applies to Visa Applicants starting 10/15/19
**UPDATE** Late on October 15, 2019, The U.S. Department of State (DOS) decided to postpone implementation of its new public charge regulation. It will first develop new visa application forms and procedures, which are expected to require information related to the visa applicant’s health, finances, education and receipt of public benefits. This means that the Read More »
Certain new USCIS forms required on October 15, 2019! – POSTPONED!
**UPDATE** October 11, 2019: Today, a federal district court temporarily stopped the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from implementing new “public charge” requirements for certain nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions and applications. This means that the new versions of forms mentioned in the October 9, 2019 post below will NOT go into effect, and have Read More »
New Social Media Information is Required on all Visa Applications
June 3, 2019 – The following summary is provided courtesy of Fragomen Worldwide: The State Department now requires foreign nationals to disclose five years of social media and contact history when applying for a nonimmigrant or immigrant visa. New questions about social media use, prior email addresses and prior phone numbers were added late last Read More »
DHS Fraud Alert regarding telephone scam (March 2019)
On March 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a fraud alert to warn about reports that DHS telephone numbers have been used as part of a telephone spoofing scam throughout the country. As stated in the DHS press release: “The perpetrators of the scam represent themselves Read More »
U.S. State Department to Reduce H Visa Interviews in China to Three Locations
February 4, 2019: Starting March 1, 2019, H and L visa interviews in China will be limited to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing or the U.S. Consulates in Guangzhou or Shanghai. Since H interviews will only be conducted in these three locations, visa applicants will probably experience longer wait times to make visa appointments and Read More »
Update on Partial Government Shutdown, 2018-2019
**UPDATE** on January 25, 2019, the President signed a short-term funding bill that reopened the federal government. The bill does not include funds to construct a border wall, and only includes funding through February 15, 2019. Congress passed the bill immediately, but another partial shutdown could occur again if Congress and the White House do Read More »
Validity period of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
November 15, 2018: Effective November 1, 2018, USCIS revised its policy guidance on the validity period of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, commonly referred to as the “medical exam.” According to the updated policy, USCIS will require applicants to submit this form (signed by a USCIS-approved civil surgeon) no more than Read More »
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Injunction Requiring Acceptance of DACA Renewals
November 9, 2018: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a District Court’s nationwide injunction requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue to accept DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) application renewals while a lawsuit challenging the Administration’s termination of DACA continues. In affirming the lower court’s ruling and injunction, the Ninth Read More »
TPS Status Preserved and Extended due to October 2018 Court Order
October 31, 2018: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register that temporarily preserves Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. All were countries whose nationals were set to lose their TPS status over the course of the next year: Sudan on November Read More »