The  Proclamation issued on April 22, 2020 and effective on April 23, 2020 at 11:59 PM  suspends entry into the U.S. of immigrants who:

• Are outside the United States on the effective date of the proclamation;
• Do not have a valid immigrant visa on the effective date; and
• Do not have a valid official travel document (such as a transportation letter, boarding foil, or advance parole document).

The following categories are exempted from the proclamation:

1. Lawful permanent residents (LPR)
2. Individuals and their spouses or children seeking to enter the U.S. on an immigrant visa as a physician, nurse, or other healthcare professional to perform work essential to combating, recovering from, or otherwise alleviating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak
3. Individuals applying for a visa to enter the U.S. pursuant to the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program
4. Spouses of U.S. citizens
5. Children of U.S. citizens under the age of 21 and prospective adoptees seeking to enter on an IR-4 or IH-4 visa
6. Individuals who would further important U.S. law enforcement objectives
7. Members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their spouses and children
8. Individuals and their spouses or children eligible for Special Immigrant Visas as an Afghan or Iraqi translator/interpreter or U.S. Government Employee (SI or SQ classification)
9. Individuals whose entry would be in the national interest

Non-immigrants are not included in the proclamation.

President Trump announced in a tweet late Monday night that he plans to suspend immigration to the United States, a move he said is needed to safeguard American jobs and defend the country from coronavirus pandemic, which he called “the Invisible Enemy.”

The Department of Justice announced on Twitter this Tuesday morning, April 31, 2020 , that non-detained immigration court cases will be postponed through May 15, 2020.

ICE issued the latest information related to the COVID-19 pandemic. ICE confirmed that as of 4/13/20, 72 detainees, 19 detention facility personnel, and 67 ICE employees, have tested positive for COVID-19.

Over four hundred thousand residents may be unable to complete the process to become American citizens in time for the November election due to the coronavirus pandemic. USCIS field offices that conduct mandatory interviews of naturalization applicants has been shut down since March 18 and is scheduled to remain closed until at least May 3. The agency has not provided a remote option for citizenship interviews or oath ceremonies.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association has announced that due to the current health crisis their annual conference on immigration law will be held sometime in the fall. It was originally scheduled to take place in June in San Diego.

USCIS encourages all those, including aliens, with symptoms that resemble Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) (fever, cough, shortness of breath) to seek necessary medical treatment or preventive services.  Such treatment or preventive services will NOT negatively affect any alien as part of a future Public Charge analysis.

The Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds final rule does not restrict access to testing, screening, or treatment of communicable diseases, including COVID-19. In addition, the rule does not restrict access to vaccines for children or adults to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases.

Importantly, for purposes of a public charge inadmissibility determination, USCIS considers the receipt of public benefits as only one consideration among a number of factors and considerations in the totality of the alien’s circumstances over a period of time with no single factor being outcome determinative.

To address the possibility that some aliens impacted by COVID-19 may be hesitant to seek necessary medical treatment or preventive services, USCIS will neither consider testing, treatment, nor preventative care (including vaccines, if a vaccine becomes available) related to COVID-19 as part of a public charge inadmissibility determination, nor as related to the public benefit condition applicable to certain nonimmigrants seeking an extension of stay or change of status, even if such treatment is provided or paid for by one or more public benefits, as defined in the rule (e.g. federally funded Medicaid).

USCIS announced on April 1, 2020 that H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY2021 may now be filed with USCIS if based on a valid selected registration. The filing period will last 90 days and must be filed by paper. USCIS noted that nearly 275,000 registrations were submitted during the initial registration period.

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on Monday , March 30th, 2020, flexible measures to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to certain Requests for Evidence (RFE) , Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID), Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIR) and Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOIT) regional investment centers, as well as certain filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion.

This flexibility applies to notices and requests issued between March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020.

Any response to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, or NOIT received within 60 calendar days after the response due date set in the request or notice will be considered by USCIS before any action is taken. Any Form I-290B received up to 60 calendar days from the date of the decision will be considered by USCIS before it takes any action.

To protect the health of our clients, our staff and their families, the staff of Adan G. Vega & Associates, PLLC will be working remotely until further notice.  Aside from no longer having in-person meetings, we remain fully operational.  Our staff is working diligently and are immediately available to you by email and phone from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. At this time please forward documents electronically. We will provide you with instructions for the delivery of original documents such as photographs. Please rest assured we are working on your case.  Be safe and stay healthy.

Para proteger la salud de nuestros clientes, nuestro personal y sus familias, la oficina legal de Adan G. Vega & Associates , PLLC  trabajará de forma remota hasta nuevo aviso. Además de no tener reuniones en persona, seguimos en pleno funcionamiento. Nuestro personal trabaja diligentemente y está disponible de inmediato por correo electrónico y por teléfono de 9:00 am a 6:00 pm. Por el momento, favor de enviarnos los documentos por correo electrónico. En caso de ser documentos originales como fotos, le daremos instrucciones para hacérnoslos llegar. Esperamos regresar a la normalidad muy pronto.