News and Updates from Poarch Thompson Law

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. 

As we already published, USCIS published a Final Rule on August 3 significantly altering certain commonly used immigration applications.

On August 3, 2020, USCIS published a Final Rule altering the USCIS fee schedule by a weighted average increase of 20 percent, including adding a new fee for asylum applications, establishing multiple fees for nonimmigrant worker petitions, and limiting the number of...

The Migration Policy Institute recently issued a report on how the anticipated USCIS furlough of more the 70% of its workers, scheduled to commence August 30, 2020, will impact current immigration processing. (See Impending USCIS Furloughs Will Contribute to Historic...

On July 29, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York enjoined the government from enforcing, applying, implementing, or treating as effective, the USCIS Final Rule on Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds (84 FR 41292, 8/14/19) during the...