U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is experiencing delays in issuing receipt notices for some applications and petitions filed at USCIS lockboxes that are located in Chicago, Illinois, Phoenix, Arizona, and Lewisville, Texas. This announcement does not come as a surprise to most filers, since delays have been experienced for some time
EADs
DHS Announces New Procedure for DACA Recipients
On January 4, 2021, DHS announced that for I-9 purposes, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients may present an unexpired Employment Authorization Document (EAD) with Code C33 issued on or after July 28, 2020, along with an I-797 Extension Notice that shows an additional one-year extension. This new procedure is in response to…
Update: TPS for South Sudan Extended
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudan has been extended again until May 2, 2022. The instructions for beneficiaries have been published in the Federal Register. Through January 4, 2021, TPS beneficiaries who have not already done so should re-register and apply to renew their Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). Those with EADs that expired…
DHS Announces Extension of TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a further extension of status and work authorization until October 4, 2021, for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan on December 9, 2020.
TPS allows individuals to remain in the U.S. because of disease, natural disaster, or conflict in…
USCIS Allows Continued Use of Approval Notices to Show Employment Authorization
Along with extending its flexibility in allowing virtual Form I-9 employment verification until December 31, 2020, USCIS is also continuing its flexibility with regard to long-pending Employment Authorization Document (EAD) applications. USCIS expected that this interim solution would only be necessary through December 1, 2020, but the delays in producing EAD cards have continued.
As…
USCIS Switches to ‘Dates for Filing’ Chart for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status for October
While it typically uses the “Final Action Dates” chart for accepting adjustment of status application filings, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that for October 2020, it will allow employment-based adjustment of status applicants to file based upon the U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) October “Dates for Filing” chart.
This means that individuals…
Foreign Student Status and Student Work Authorization
Foreign students wishing to study in this country may have whiplash over the Trump Administration’s many moves.
Early in 2020, a federal court blocked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from changing the rules regarding duration of status admission to the United States. Under the Trump Administration’s proposed policy, students might unknowingly accumulate unlawful presence…
Waiting for Green Cards
Some 50,000 foreign nationals with approved Lawful Permanent Residency (Green Card) applications have been waiting for months to receive their cards, which provide proof of lawful permanent resident status. Without these cards, the foreign nationals will have difficulty travelling internationally and proving employment authorization. Causing further stress to these individuals is the requirement under the…
USCIS EAD Mailing Expected under Approved Consent Order
The Consent Order and Final Statement (Order) in Subramanya v. USCIS, the case seeking the agency’s issuance of long-delayed Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), has been signed and issued.
Under the Order, approximately 75,000 identified, delayed EADs are expected to be produced and mailed. The Order includes individuals who have EAD approval notices dated from…
I-9 Interim Rule Allows Approved Foreign Nationals to Begin Working
USCIS is in the process of entering a Consent Order to produce, on a specific schedule, Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cards for those 75,000 foreign nationals who have approved employment authorization applications but have been waiting for inordinate amounts of time for the cards themselves. Without the cards, these foreign nationals have not been able…