Nearly 2 million Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) are set to expire at the end of 2019 as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to urge affected taxpayers to submit their renewal applications early to avoid refund delays next year. ITINs that have not been used on a federal tax return at least once in the last three consecutive years will expire Dec. 31, 2019. In addition, ITINs with middle digits 83, 84, 85, 86 or 87 that have not already been renewed will also expire at the end of the year. These affected taxpayers who expect to file a...
The Supreme Court on Thursday in a vote of 5-4 (June 27, 2019) rejected the Trump administration’s stated reason for adding a question on citizenship to the 2020 census. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, said the explanation offered by the Trump administration for adding the question “appears to have been contrived.” Executive branch officials must “offer genuine justifications for important decisions, reasons that can be scrutinized by courts and the interested public,” the chief justice wrote. “Accepting contrived reasons would defeat the purpose of the enterprise. If judicial review is to be more than an...
The recent protests against a controversial proposal that would allow extradition to China of people in Hong Kong has caused an uptick in interest in resident status in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. Taiwan is also drawing interest with an affordable investor visa program. Concerns over Beijing’s growing influence in Hong Kong has generated political pressure on Hong Kong citizens and has activated them to consider immigration overseas.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by the end of this month (June) in time for the U.S. government to start printing the 2020 census forms. The decision will affect political representation for millions of people, business decisions in one of the world’s largest consumer markets, and billions of dollars of federal spending. A federal judge previously ruled that the U.S. Commerce Secretary has violated both the law and the “public trust” in adding the question. The question about citizenship first appeared in the U.S. Census in 1820 and was removed in 1950.
The Board of Immigration Appeals held on May 31, 2019 that an immigration judge (IJ) has the authority to dismiss removal proceedings upon a finding that it is an abuse of the asylum process to file a meritless asylum application with USCIS for the sole purpose of seeking cancellation of removal in the immigration court.
On May 22, the House Judiciary Committee took a huge step towards protecting Dreamers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients by passing two bills out of committee : the Dream Act of 2019 the American Promise Act of 2019. These bills will be combined as H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, and would offer Dreamers and TPS/DED recipients permanent protections and a path to citizenship. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 6 early this week. This bill would offer permanent protections and a path to citizenship to Dreamers...
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...
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...
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