USCIS will permanently close its field office in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. The last day the office will accept applications/petitions and be open to the public is May 30, 2019.
The U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez will assume responsibility for certain limited services previously provided by USCIS to individuals residing in the Mexican states of Baja
California Norte, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, and Sonora.
All immigrant visa applicants are required to submit to a medical examination at the time of an application for an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate.
In addition, some applicants for nonimmigrant visas may also be referred for medical screening if a consular officer has reason to believe the applicant may be inadmissible under health-related grounds described in INA§212(a)(1) — especially when the applicant has a criminal record that suggests drug or alcohol misuse.
The results of the medical exam can lead to visa refusal based on INA§212(a)(1) inadmissibility.
A recent modification to the FAM indicates that consular records will not be divulged–by either the consular officer or the panel physician, “but panel physicians may share their own records in the form of lab reports and similar documentation with the applicant upon request.” The instructions of the FAM indicate that neither consular officers nor panel physicians may provide copies of the completed DS medical forms to the applicants or other interested parties because they are visa records and confidential under INA 222(f), but now after the modification of the FAM the panel physicians may share their own records in the form of lab reports and similar documentation with the applicant upon request.
Previously medical records relating to a visa refusal were difficult, if not impossible to obtain. Panel physicians protested that the medical reports were prepared for the U.S. embassy or U.S. consulate and not for the patient and for that reason were not made available to the patient. The new change to the FAM has changed that policy.
USCIS has released a new version for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.
The new edition is dated 1/31/19 and starting 5/20/19, USCIS will only accept this edition.
Memorial Day is right around the corner. This is an opportunity to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield. It is important to remember them and their stories and to put a human face on history.
As part of the “children of the 1960s,” I remember the tail end of the Vietnam War, where we lost more than 58,000 men and women.
Prior to the Vietnam conflict, the “Greatest Generation” lost a countless number of young soldiers to ultimately win World War II. Today less than 500,000 of the 16 million who served during World War II are still alive.
So , it is important for us to remember all of them and to appreciate for having people like them walk the earth.
The Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, can be filed online with USCIS by an individual applicant (without co-applicants, or legal or accredited representation) to extend stay and if the applicant holds status as a:
Last Thursday, May 16, 2019, the Trump administration proposed an immigration plan aimed at more closely connecting immigration visas to jobs, rather than being based on family ties or refugee admissions.
The plan would seek to tilt immigration toward workers with extraordinary talent, sought-after specialized vocations and exceptional students.
To some degree, that shift may be already occurring in particular with immigrants from China and India.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a proposed rule on Friday, May 10, 2019, that would bar access to public housing for unauthorized immigrants and their families on the premise of reducing wait times for housing assistance. At this time the proposed rule has not been finalized into a final binding rule.
President Trump issued a proclamation on May 8, 2019 extending for 90 days the suspension and limitation of entry at the southern border.
The initial proclamation renders certain individuals ineligible to be granted asylum. Such interim rule would begin running if the court imposed injunction by the United States District Court judge in the Northern District of California is lifted.
DHS will not will not implement or enforce the decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS ) for Honduras or Nepal pending final disposition of the Ramos v. Nielsen, No. 18–16981 (9th Cir. filed Oct. 12, 2018) appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals or by other order of the court. . Beneficiaries under the TPS designations for Nepal and Honduras will retain their TPS, provided that an individual’s TPS status is not withdrawn because of ineligibility.
DHS is further announcing it is automatically extending through March 24, 2020, the validity of TPS-related Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), Forms I–797, Notice of Action (Approval Notice), and Forms I–94 (Arrival/Departure Record) (collectively ‘‘TPS-Related Documentation’’), as specified in the Notice, for beneficiaries under the TPS designation for Nepal, provided that the affected TPS beneficiaries remain otherwise individually eligible for TPS.
The TPS designation for Honduras remains in effect through January 5, 2020. See 83 FR 26074 (June 5, 2018).
In the event that the preliminary injunction in Ramos v. Nielsen is reversed and that reversal becomes final, DHS will allow for a transition period, as described in the ‘‘Possible Future Action’’ section of this Notice.
The Ramos v. Nielsen appeal is available at http:// uscis.gov/tps.
Federal investigators have arrested at least 50 people in Texas on Monday, May 13, 2019, for participating in a sham marriage scheme that charged foreigners up to $70,000 to help obtain legal immigration status in the U.S. The criminal enterprise operated out of the Houston area and arranged the fake marriages with U.S. citizens who would receive a cut of the payments from the foreigners.
The Department of Justice said in a statement that “The spouses allegedly entered into the marriage pursuant to a financial arrangement for the primary purpose of circumventing U.S. immigration laws.” Those named in the indictment are being charged with marriage fraud, mail fraud and tampering with a witness.
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