Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in Conditional Permanent Residence

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judge-7602999_1280Last week the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new policy memorandum that requires the agency to initiate removal proceedings after it denies an application for an immigration benefit, if the foreign national is no longer lawfully present in the United States.

Importantly, the memo exempts certain individuals including beneficiaries of employment-based petitions, but it does not exempt dependent family members.

The memorandum also broadens USCIS’s authority to begin removal proceedings for certain foreign nationals with previous criminal charges, arrests, or convictions.

It is effective immediately.

How will USCIS implement this policy?

Under this policy, USCIS will initiate removal proceedings against a foreign national by issuing a Notice to Appear (NTA) after it has denied an application for an immigration benefit, if the foreign national no longer has a lawful basis to remain in the United States.

The issuance of a Notice to Appear (NTA) commences removal (deportation) proceedings in immigration court. Those who are issued an NTA must appear on the scheduled date before a judge who will decide whether the foreign national has a lawful basis to remain in the country or should be removed.

Traditionally, Notices to Appear (NTAs) have been issued by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.

However, USCIS also has the authority to issue NTAs in limited circumstances defined in policy memorandums issued by the agency.

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This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License Fibonacci Blue

Watch the Press Conference here.

On Wednesday February 26th House lawmakers reintroduced the American Dream and Promise Act of 2025—a bill that would create a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children known as “Dreamers.” The bill would also include beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was first created in 2012 by the Obama administration to protect eligible undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, while allowing them to apply for work authorization for temporary, renewable periods.

After a lengthy legal battle, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit allowed the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to continue to accept and process DACA renewal applications and accompanying applications for employment authorization. However, USCIS is prohibited from processing initial requests for DACA.

In a statement accompanying the reintroduction of the bill, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, one of its authors said, “Dreamers are American in every way but on paper. For decades, they have contributed to and shaped the fabric of America. Yet, they are currently denied their place in the American story.

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Recently, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) requested an update from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding the delayed adjudication of Form I-829 petitions filed by EB-5 investors seeking to remove their conditions on permanent residence.

AILA suggested two alternatives for providing evidence of continued lawful permanent residence which consisted of making simple adjustments to the language of Form I-829 receipt notices.

On January 19, 2024, USCIS responded to these concerns indicating their awareness of the issue and ongoing efforts to reduce the burden on investors.

USCIS pointed out that beginning on January 11, 2023, the agency extended the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) for petitioners who properly filed Form I-829, for 48 months beyond the green card’s expiration date.

This extension was made in consideration of the long processing times USCIS has been experiencing to adjudicate Form I-829, which have increased over the past year.

They also note that USCIS field offices also recently began issuing and mailing the Form I-94 (arrival/departure record) with ADIT (temporary 1-551) stamps as temporary evidence of Legal Permanent Resident status without requiring an in-person appearance at field offices, for investors who have requested evidence of their LPR immigration status from USCIS.

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If you are a family-based conditional permanent resident who was issued a two-year green card based on your marriage to a U.S. Citizen, then you may be interested to know that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently updated its policy guidance for Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Permanent Residence.

The new policy guidance provides new updates for the following individuals:

  • Conditional permanent residents who filed an I-751 petition jointly with their spouse, but are no longer married since their filing (either because of divorce or abuse)
  • Cases where the I-751 petition is being terminated for failure to file the application on time with USCIS or lack of evidence.

Overview

By law, your permanent resident status is conditional if you were married to a U.S. Citizen for less than 2 years on the day you obtained permanent resident status.

This means that at the end of your I-485 adjustment of status (green card) application process, you will receive conditional permanent residence (a 2-year green card) if you were married for less than 2 years at the time of the adjudication of your I-485 adjustment of status application. On the other hand, those who have been married for more than 2 years receive a 10-year green card that is not subject to conditions.

To remove the conditions on permanent resident status, conditional permanent residents must file Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Permanent Residence within the 90-day period before the expiration of their green card status. The I-751 petition must be filed jointly with your U.S. citizen spouse, or you must qualify for a waiver of the joint filing requirement if you are no longer married.

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Did you know?

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced the expansion of the myProgress online tool (formerly known as personalized processing times) to include Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and Form I-131, Application for Travel Document.

What is myProgress?

The myProgress online tool allows applicants to view personalized estimates for important milestones in their cases, including final decision-making on their cases, directly from their online USCIS accounts.

How do I use myProgress?

To take advantage of myProgress, you must sign up for an online USCIS account or log into an existing online account and select your pending application.

If you have electronically filed your application or linked one of the applicable forms to your online account using an online access code, you will see a myProgress tab for your application.

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In this blog post, we close out the week with some great news that may be of interest to EB-5 Immigrant Investors.

On Tuesday July 18th the U.S. Citizenship, and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new changes to the processing of Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor, for EB-5 investment to improve processing times and create greater efficiency.

How Will USCIS Process I-526 Petitions?

The USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) manages Form I-526 petition inventory through workflow queues factoring in whether: a visa is available (or will be available soon) and the underlying project has been reviewed.

Workflow queues are generally managed in first-in, first-out (FIFO) order when a visa is available or will be available soon.

Effective July 18, 2023, IPO will update its approach by grouping petitions by new commercial enterprise (NCE) with filing dates on or before November 30, 2019, within the workflow queue of petitions where the project has been reviewed and there is a visa available or soon to be available, to gain greater processing efficiencies.

In practice this means that multiple petitions with the same new commercial enterprise (NCE) will be assigned to the same adjudicator(s) to help process them more quickly. This is because multiple petitions associated with the same NCE will have an overlap in project documents and issues presented.

This approach will help reduce current EB-5 backlogs, that are stretching to a 4 to 5 year waiting period from date of filing.

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In this blog post, we share with you the latest news in the world of immigration.

Recently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has removed the 60-day rule for civil surgeon signatures on Form I-693 Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, also known as the immigration medical exam.

This form must be completed by a civil surgeon and submitted along with the applicant’s I-485 adjustment of status (green card) application with USCIS.

Green card applicants can now submit their Form I-693 medical examination for up to 2 years after the civil surgeon has signed the form.

Previously, green card applicants were required to have a civil surgeon sign Form I-693 within 60 days of submitting their green card application or risk its rejection with USCIS. The 60-day rule created much confusion among green card applicants and was an unnecessary obstacle to the green card process. Form I-693’s that were not signed within the 60-day period were issued Requests for Evidence (RFE) asking for a compliant Form I-693 signed within the requisite 60-day period.

Now that USCIS has eliminated the 60-day rule, applicants will have more time and flexibility to obtain their signed Form I-693 medical examination without worrying. This change will also decrease the green card backlogs, considering that less RFEs will be issued for deficient Form I-693’s given the 2-year validity period from the date of the civil surgeon’s signature.

In support of its new policy, USCIS has said, “While the 60-day rule was intended to enhance operational efficiency and reduce the need to request updated Forms I-693 from applicants, in practice these efficiencies have not been realized.”

For more information about this new update, please click here.

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It is the end of an era. Yesterday, March 23, 2023, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is ending its COVID-19 flexibility policy, giving applicants and petitioners more time to respond to Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its last extension ended on March 23, 2023. That means that from this point forward, applicants and petitioners must respond to any notices or requests from USCIS, dated after March 23, by the deadlines listed in the notice or request. This includes:

  • Requests for Evidence;
  • Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14);
  • Notices of Intent to Deny;
  • Notices of Intent to Revoke;
  • Notices of Intent to Rescind;
  • Notices of Intent to Terminate regional centers;
  • Notices of Intent to Withdraw Temporary Protected Status; and
  • Motions to Reopen an N-400 Pursuant to 8 CFR 335.5, Receipt of Derogatory Information After Grant.

Applicants who are filing Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion, or Form N-336, Request for a Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings (Under Section 336 of the INA), regarding a decision dated after March 23, 2023, must comply with the deadlines stated on the form instructions.

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USCIS has just made it a lot easier for Lawful Permanent Residents with a lost, stolen, or misplaced green card to obtain evidence of their immigration status. Last week, the Service announced that LPRs may now request an Alien Documentation, Identification, and Telecommunication (ADIT) or I-551 stamp by mail as temporary evidence of their permanent resident status, instead of having to visit a local USCIS field office.

Who needs an ADIT stamp?

The ADIT (Alien Documentation, Identification and Telecommunication systems) stamp (also known as an I-551 stamp) is placed on an individual’s passport or I-94 card as temporary evidence of the alien’s lawful permanent resident status, where the alien no longer has the green card in their possession either due to loss, theft, or where a replacement green card has not yet been issued, or where the alien is waiting for an extension of his or her LPR status to be approved and their extension notice has expired.

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In this blog post, we give you an update on the status of the proposed rule increasing the filing fees for certain applications and petitions filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

As you may remember, on January 4, 2023, USCIS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register proposing an increase in the filing fees of many types of applications, including but not limited to, the I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, N-400 Application for Naturalization, I-129F petition for alien fiancé(e), Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Permanent Residence, Form I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker for H, L, and O classifications, Form I-526 Immigrant Petition for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization, among many others.

The proposed rule also sought to do the following:

  • Incorporate biometrics costs into the main benefit fee and remove the separate biometric services fee
  • Require separate filing fees for Form I-485 and associated Form I-131 and Form I-765 filings
  • Establish separate fees for Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, by nonimmigrant classification.
  • Revise the premium processing timeframe interpretation from 15 calendar days to 15 business days
  • Create lower fees for certain immigration forms filed online.

Under the Administrative Procedure Act, before the government can implement a proposed rule they must abide by a mandatory notice-and-comment rule-making process. This includes offering a public comment period of at least 60 days from the date of the NPRM’s publication in the Federal Register.

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