Articles Posted in Immigration News

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Friday, October 16^th, that they would be increasing fees for premium processing, effective Monday, October 19^th. The USCIS premium processing service allows some petitioners to pay an additional filing fee to expedite the adjudication of certain forms, normally within 15 days.

Fee Increases:

• Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, fee increase from $1,440 to $2,500, for all filings except those from petitioners filing Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, requesting H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status.

A federal judge has granted a motion for preliminary injunction against changes, mostly large increases in USCIS fees that was scheduled to take effect on Friday, October 2^nd. This preliminary injunction is Nationwide and the USCIS cannot raise fees, until this injunction is removed!

Please visit the Forbes news article for more detailed information: Judge Blocks USCIS Fee Increases: Here’s Why It Happened

Link to: Nationwide Preliminary Injunction (PDF)

USCIS announced on Friday, September 18^th, that they have updated the policy guidance concerning residency requirements under section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)! These changes were made to comply with the newly enacted Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act.

*Under the new law, a child born outside of the United States acquires automatic citizenship under INA 320, even if the child is residing outside the United States, in cases where the child is a lawful permanent resident (LPR) and is in the legal and physical custody of his or her U.S. citizen parent who is:

• Stationed and residing outside of the United States as a member of the U.S. armed forces;

I have listed the general COVID safety guidelines for entering a USCIS facilities below. Remember to check for the specific guidelines that you must follow for any building that you may personally need to enter for official USCIS related business.

Guidelines for Entering USCIS Facilities

– Visitors may not enter a USCIS facility if they:

List of some of the Top News Stories related to Trump and Biden on Immigration:

American Action Forum, 9/8/20:

Comparing Trump and Biden on Immigration

USCIS announced on Friday, September 11th, that they were extending the flexibilities that they originally announced on March 30th. These flexibilities are for responding to certain requests from the USCIS, some are listed below:

• Requests for Evidence;
• Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14);

On August 25^th, Secretary Pompeo, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, announced expanded ability of consular officers to waive the in-person interview requirement for individuals applying for a nonimmigrant visa in the same classification. Before this new expansion, only those applicants whose nonimmigrant visa expired within 12 months were eligible for an interview waiver.

Review the  Department of State (DOS) U.S. Visa News Article, “DOS Expands Interview Waiver Eligibility” for more details!

Source of Information:

USCIS has now updated their Policy Manual with guidance on the final fee rule! The final fee rule adjusts the fees USCIS charges for certain immigration benefit applications and petitions, in this case mostly increases. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on August 3, 2020 and the fees changes will take effect on Friday, October 2nd.

Link to the Final Rule on the USCIS fee changes, includes the new fee charts: Final Rule

Please visit the USCIS news alert for more detailed information: USCIS Issues New Policy Guidance on Final Fee Rule