On Wednesday, October 26, 2016  the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in the Federal Register that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is extending the designation of Nepal for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of 18 months, effective December 25, 2016, through June 24, 2018.

On October 26, 2016, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the designation of Nepal for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been extended for a period of 18 months, effective December 25, 2016, through June 24, 2018. This extension allows eligible Nepalese nationals (and aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Nepal) to retain TPS through June 24, 2018, so long as they otherwise continue to meet the eligibility requirements for TPS. DHS has determined that an extension is warranted because conditions in Nepal supporting its designation for TPS continue to be met.

USCIS has determined that most applicants in the family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories can use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart in the DOS Visa Bulletin for November 2016. However, employment-based, fifth preference applicants must use the Application Final Action Dates chart in the November 2016 Visa Bulletin. The specific guidance from USCIS.gov is as follows: For Family-Sponsored Filings: You must use the Dates for Filing Family-Sponsored Visa Applications chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for November 2016. For Employment-Based 1st through 4th Preference Filings: You must use the Dates for Filing of Employment Based Visa Applications chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for November...

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Friday, OCTOBER 21, 2016, released policy guidance on extreme hardship determinations regarding certain relatives. This final guidance is one of the lesser known initiatives announced under President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration. This guidance becomes effective December 5, 2016. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing the latest policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual on determinations of extreme hardship to qualifying relatives as required by certain statutory waiver provisions. The guidance clarifies the adjudication of certain waiver requests that require USCIS to determine claims of extreme hardship to qualifying relatives. Several statutory...

Step 1: Contact (800) 375-5283 Contact the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at (800) 375-5283 or submit an online request. NCSC can help customers, community-based organizations and liaison groups with case-related inquiries and expedites. Step 2: NCSC Follow-Up Email If more than 30 days have passed since you contacted NCSC and the issue has not been resolved or you have not received a response, email the USCIS Service Center that has jurisdiction of your case to check the status. California Service Center: csc-ncsc-followup@uscis.dhs.gov Vermont Service Center: vsc.ncscfollowup@uscis.dhs.gov Nebraska Service Center: nscfollowup.ncsc@uscis.dhs.gov Texas Service Center: tsc.ncscfollowup@uscis.dhs.gov Potomac Service Center PSC.ncscfollowup@uscis.dhs.gov Step 3: Email Service Center Operations...

On October 18, 2016, USCIS released the latest updated processing time reports, with processing dates as of August 31, 2016, for the California Service Center (CSC), the Nebraska Service Center (NSC), the Texas Service Center (TSC), the Vermont Service Center (VSC), the Potomac Service Center (YSC), the National Benefits Center (NBC), and the Immigrant Investor (EB-5) Program.

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Departmental Offices announced that the Interest Rate Paid on Cash Deposited to Secure U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Immigration Bonds will be set at an interest rate of 0.31 per centum per annum.   The change will be effective for the period beginning October 1, 2016, and ending on December 31, 2016.

Department of State in a Liaison Meeting on October 6, 2016 announced that a TN visa is not employer specific. DOS takes the position that if the TN worker changes employers, the TN visa remains valid until it expires or is revoked. When a worker changes employers, however, DOS suggests that the TN worker should keep the I-797 approval notice for their records, and in case it is requested by a Department of Homeland Security official.

1. The Department made the formal public announcement of the Diversity Visa (DV) 2018 program on September 16, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Posts may now access an English language version of the DV-2018 instructions bulletin from travel.state.gov (TSG). 2. The Immigration and Nationality Act states that no DVs shall be provided for "high admission" countries – those countries from which there were more than a total of 50,000 immigrants during the previous five years. 3. For DV-2018, there is one change to the eligible countries list: Ecuador is once again eligible this year. The complete list of ineligible countries is:...

Last year, an organization known as the Louisiana Family Forum lobbied Louisiana legislators for a bill that would curb a supposed epidemic of “marriage fraud”.  A state representative, Valarie Hodges, obliged and introduced the bill to the state legislature. Both claim to be a voice for “traditional families” amid the country’s latest wave of nativism. The bill became law and received little attention when it went into effect in January 2016. The little-noticed new state law has effectively made it illegal for thousands of refugees to get married. So, as of this year, any foreign-born person wanting to get married...