USCIS offices will reopen on April 7, 2020 unless the public closures are extended further. Employees in these offices are continuing to perform mission-essential services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public.
USCIS field offices will send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies impacted by the extended closure.
The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced on March 21, 2020 that the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020.
Taxpayers can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed.
This deferment applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers as well as those who pay self-employment tax.
Taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms to qualify for this automatic federal tax filing and payment relief.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today ( March 20, 2020) announced that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 National Emergency announced by President Trump on March 13, 2020, all benefit forms and documents with reproduced original signatures will be accepted, including the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, for submissions dated March 21, 2020, and beyond.
USCIS already accepts various petitions, applications and other documents bearing an electronically reproduced original signature.
This means that a document may be scanned, faxed, photocopied, or similarly reproduced provided that the copy must be of an original document containing an original handwritten signature, unless otherwise specified.[1]
For forms that require an original “wet” signature, per form instructions, USCIS will accept electronically reproduced original signatures for the duration of the National Emergency.
This temporary change only applies to signatures. All other form instructions should be followed when completing a form.
Individuals or entities that submit documents bearing an electronically reproduced original signature must also retain copies of the original documents containing the “wet” signature.
USCIS may, at any time, request the original documents, which if not produced, could negatively impact the adjudication of the immigration benefit.
[1] See Volume 1, General Policies and Procedures, Part B, Submission of Benefit Requests, Chapter 2, Signatures [1 USCIS-PM B.2].
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The State Department will announce a level 4 travel advisory for all international travel citing the coronavirus pandemic . That is its most severe warning.
Americans would be instructed not to travel abroad.
U.S. citizens will be instructed to repatriate to the U.S. If they don’t return, they need to prepare to shelter in place.
Mike Pompeo has approved it. Two State Dept officials have confirmed the pending advisory.
Members of Congress are working on how to get Americans home.
It was less than one week ago, the State Department raised the global travel advisory to level 3 : Reconsider travel.
All non-detained hearings, including merits hearings, are postponed through April 10.
In addition, certain immigration courts are entirely closed. The Houston EOIR is not one of them, so they will be currently accepting filings.
Below is the EOIR statement as well as an EOIR link, which provides information on which courts are entirely closed.
EOIR Statement:
Attributable to an EOIR spokesperson:
Due to EOIR’s continuing evaluation of information from local, regional, state, and federal officials regarding the coronavirus pandemic, the agency is postponing non-detained hearings nationwide. As a result, the following immigration court locations are closed:
These postponements and closures are effective March 18, 2020, through April 10, 2020. Detained cases will be heard as scheduled.
Please check Twitter (@DOJ_EOIR), Facebook (Executive Office for Immigration Review), and EOIR website for updates, including information about emergency filings for cases assigned to an immigration court that is temporarily closed.
Case status and hearing date information on the automated case information hotline and online application may not be updated for those cases postponed due to operational changes during the coronavirus pandemic. Following the issuance of a new hearing notice, such information will be updated. As always, court documents such as notices are your official source of information.
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/eoir-operational-status-during-coronavirus-pandemic
U.S. immigration offices across the country will temporarily close to the public as a result of the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The move by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which will postpone naturalization ceremonies and citizenship and asylum interviews, among other functions, represents the biggest impact to the immigration system as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
ICE notes that as of 3/13/20, there are no confirmed COVID-19 cases in ICE detention facilities and is screening new detainees.
ICE has temporarily suspended social visitation but non-contact legal visitations will continue to be permitted.
In response to the global pandemic COVID-19, and in line with the Mexican government’s call to increase social distancing, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and all U.S. consulates in Mexico will suspend routine immigrant and non-immigrant visa services starting March 18, 2020, and until further notice. The U.S. Embassy and consulates will continue to provide essential consular services to U.S. citizens as well as emergency visa services.
We appreciate your trust in the Law Offices of Adan G. Vega and Associates, PLLC. for allowing us to be your legal counsel.
As we continue to monitor COVID-19 developments closely, the health and well-being of the communities, our clients, and our staff is of the utmost importance.
We have implemented a strategy to limit the impact the situation has on our ability to provide service support to our clients. The Law Offices of Adan G. Vega and Associates, PLLC and support teams are currently operating at 100% capacity with a business as usual mentality.
That said, we have taken the following precautions to protect our staff, and ultimately the community’s well-being:
1. The law office is encouraging teleconferencing and we are proceeding with an office schedule which is aligned with the recommendations currently made by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). At this time, we are not making any further adjustments to our schedules other than limiting office visits as much as possible.
2. Hand sanitizer has been made readily available throughout our law office and all employees are being encouraged to use sanitizer and/or wash their hands repeatedly throughout the day.
3. We are limiting all internal meetings with our staff and will utilize tele-conferencing as needed.
4. We are limiting the number of outside visitors entering our office.
5. We advise all of our clients to maintain contact with our law offices to obtain updates as to USCIS in person interviews and EOIR court hearings that may be cancelled or postponed during the next 30 days.
While we continue to monitor this fluid situation, please be assured we have an ongoing contingency plan in place to remain fully operational regardless of the potential for circumstances to change.
Please contact our law office for further assistance.
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