News and Updates from Poarch Thompson Law

Come learn about the 10 steps to naturalization at the next USCIS Lunch & Learn! Attorney Rachel Thompson will introduce her mother, Joy Hepkins, who will talk about her immigration journey to U.S. citizenship at this informative USCIS Washington District Office...

Due to USCIS delays in production of certain employment authorization documents, USCIS announced that employees may use Form I-797, Notice of Action to complete I-9 verification with the following caveats:  the notice date on the I-797 must be on or after December 1,...

USCIS announced that it will not furlough approximately 13,400 employees but at the cost of increased USCIS delays.  This year, USCIS processing times have increased substantially, including for work authorization. This decision, by USCIS’ own admission (Deputy...

On March 9, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) instituted a temporary exemption regarding the online study policy for the 2020 spring and summer semesters. This policy permitted F and M students to take more online courses than normally allowed for purposes of maintaining a full course of study to maintain their F-1 and M-1 nonimmigrant status during the COVID-19 emergency. 

Practitioners nationally have reported significant delays in receiving receipt notices form USCIS service centers after properly filing applications. While the canceled check sent with the application may provide evidence of receipt and a possible file number, it is critical to be able to demonstrate when the application was mailed and received by using some form of return receipt or delivery confirmation.