On December 23, 2020, the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge (OCIJ) updated the EOIR Practice Manual and changed the filing deadlines for non-detained cases from 15 days to 30 days prior to the hearing.

  DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS (DACA)       What is DACA: On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to an executive order issued by the Obama Administration, announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action (DACA)…

During the 1st month (October) of the Fiscal Year 2021, the U.S. State Department noted that 8,687 immigrant visas were issued worldwide. The busiest U.S. consulate post in the world in Cd. Juarez, Mexico issued a total of 410 immigrant visas to spouses of U.S. citizens (IR1) during October 2020.

EOIR recently released statistics on pending cases, initial receipts, and total completions from FY2008 through FY2020. As of the end of FY2020, EOIR had 1,252,028 pending cases in the queue, and had completed 231,237 cases.

On Friday , December 4, 2020, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis ordered that the Trump Administration must restore the DACA program and accept petitions from new applicants. The ruling opens the door to new DACA applicants for the first time since 2017. Judge Garaufis ruled that Acting Secretary Chad Wolf of the Department of Homeland…

After the President of Mexico visited Washington D.C. this past summer, the U.S. Department of State made a favorable change to Mexico E-2 Visas, increasing the validity period from one (1) year to four (4) years. Eligible Mexican nationals can now apply with the U.S. consulate in Mexico for an E-2 Visa and may now…

Last week, the United States District Court Northern District of California GRANTED a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that prevents the Trump Administration from implementing and enforcing a rule that purports to create new categories that would bar individuals from being eligible for asylum. Last month, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security…

The Department of Homeland Security has extended Temporary Travel Restrictions Applicable to Land Ports of Entry and Ferries Service along the United States- Mexico and the United States-Canada borders. Such travel will be limited to “essential travel”. DATES: These restrictions go into effect at 12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on November 22, 2020 and…

Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York ruled Saturday, that Chad Wolf was not legally serving as the acting secretary of homeland security when he issued a memo in July that stopped new applicants to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Judge Garaufis said Wolf’s appointment…

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on November 13, 2020 plans to implement a revised version of the naturalization civics test. The civics test is one of the statutory requirements for naturalizing and is administered to applicants who apply for U.S. citizenship. The revised version of test includes more questions that test the applicant’s understanding…