USCIS Office Closures Extended
Giselle Carson Mar 29, 2020 in Agencies (CBP, DHS, DOL, DOS, USCIS, ICE)
USCIS has extended its suspension of in-person services at field offices until at least April 7. This will impact and further delay Biometric (fingerprinting) appointments, Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) and Advance Parole (travel document) adjudications, Green Card and Naturalization interviews, Naturalization Ceremonies, and more. Learn more. To stay up-to-date on changes, subscribe to our Immigration News Bites. Subscribe
Continue ReadingUSCIS suspended in-person services at field offices until at least April 1. This will impact and further delay Biometric (fingerprinting) appointments, Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) and Advance Parole (travel document) adjudications, Green Card and Naturalization interviews, Naturalization Ceremonies, and more. Learn more. If you have questions about this change, please reach out to the Marks Gray Immigration Team for assistance.
Continue ReadingPremium Processing Suspension for I-129 and I-140 Petitions
Giselle Carson Mar 21, 2020 in Agencies (CBP, DHS, DOL, DOS, USCIS, ICE)
On March 20, 2020, USCIS temporarily suspended premium processing service for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions until further notice due to the pandemic. What If USCIS Already Accepted Your Request for Premium Processing? As of this writing, USCIS plans to continue with premium processing for those petitions that already have an accepted Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service. What About Other Premium Processing Requests in Progress? For petitions mailed before March 20 that […]
Continue ReadingWhy the Huge Processing Delays?
Giselle Carson May 3, 2019 in Agencies (CBP, DHS, DOL, DOS, USCIS, ICE)
Nationwide millions of employers and people applying for work visas and green cards are waiting longer than ever for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to process and approve applications and petitions. Five years ago, an average case took about five months to process. By fiscal year 2018, that same employer waited nearly 10 months. Today, that wait can be 10 months to a year. Many factors are slowing down cases, including new USCIS’ policies […]
Continue ReadingUSCIS Resumes Premium Processing for H-1B Cap Petitions
Giselle Carson Feb 14, 2019 in Agencies (CBP, DHS, DOL, DOS, USCIS, ICE)
On January 28, USCIS resumed premium processing for FY 2019 H-1B cap petitions only! This is because USCIS still has FY 2019 unadjudicated petitions as a result of the ongoing system inefficiencies and unjustified requests for evidence, which are creating huge delays and backlogs in the system. If you have received a request for evidence (RFE) and choose to pay for premium processing, you should include your RFE response with the request for premium processing. […]
Continue ReadingUSCIS Policy Change: Outright Visa Denials without a Recourse
Giselle Carson Aug 29, 2018 in Agencies (CBP, DHS, DOL, DOS, USCIS, ICE)
USCIS recently announced a major policy change. Officials may immediately reject visa applications at their discretion starting September 11, 2018. Officials are no longer required to send Requests for Evidence (RFEs) or Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs) when they encounter something that could be further explained and supported. This means that more applications will be denied without an opportunity to further explain very technical and specialized issues. If you need guidance for submitting your […]
Continue Reading