On March 29, 2023, USCIS announced that when the last day to file a benefit request or respond to a USCIS action falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, it will consider a filing or response submitted on paper timely if received by the end of the next business day.
Yes, it's true that your filings may get lost after they've been delivered to USCIS. In our experience, it's extremely rare for USCIS to lose a package after it has been delivered to its facility. Oftentimes, it's the carrier that may have lost/damaged the package while on route to USCIS. This may happen due to no fault of anyone such as extreme weather or a car accident. For time-sensitive...
Since 2013, certain aliens who are only inadmissible based on the 3-year or 10-year unlawful presence bar may seek a provisional unlawful presence waiver while present in the United States by filing Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver. An approved provisional unlawful presence waiver is not effective unless and until the alien departs from the United States, appears...
Below is a sample Request for Additional Evidence (RFE) which is a form of challenge issued by USCIS. The RFE focuses on a pending green card application filed under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness program (LRIF). This form of RFE may be considered a template RFE because it can be easily adapted and sent out to any pending green card application filed under LRIF. You may receive a...
On June 9, 2021, USCIS issued policy updates to improve the immigration system. Improvements are expected to continue under the Biden administration. USCIS is committed to modernizing the immigration system and operating it in a fair, efficient, and humane manner. Expedited Processing USCIS provided further guidance on when expedited processing may be warranted. Please see our post regarding...
Great news for petitioners and beneficiaries of H-1B and other nonimmigrant work categories. USCIS just announced that it has revised its policy manual and reverted back to the previous practice of giving deference to prior determinations when adjudicating extension requests. This totally makes sense. Why challenge an extension when the underlying facts have not changed and in most cases have...
The answer should be fairly straightforward. But USCIS has not always been consistent in adjudicating similar cases. They are supposed to follow the "last action" rule. Once GC is approved, then the beneficiary becomes a lawful permanent resident from that point onwards. The pending H-1B extension may be approved but only up to the day before GC approval. But the varying adjudication outcomes...
Update 11/21/2023 This is probably the fastest approval for a cap-subject H-1B this year in 8 days. Recent Case Highlight: H-1B Case Filed: 10/10/2023 at Nebraska Service Center Status: Approved Approval Date: 10/18/2023 Processing Duration: Just 8 days! Update 10/30/2023 As we reach the end of the H-1B cap filing season, processing time for cap H-1Bs remains fast. At this point in October,...
President Biden signed executive order on January 29, 2021 which revokes the "Buy American and Hire American" executive order signed during the Trump era. The BAHA order signed in 2017 led to initiatives that dramatically increased scrutiny of H1B and L1. Overall challenges in the forms of requests for evidence increased at one point to over 60%. Attached is the flyer from USCIS touting its...
Update 1/24/2023 A new round of extension. The cutoff date is now March 23, 2023. Just like the last announcement, USCIS anticipates that this will be the final extension of these accommodations. The following requests/notices received between March 1, 2020 and March 23, 2023, will get additional 60 days to respond. Requests for Evidence; Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14); Notices of...