DACA recipients can now breathe a sigh of relief. We are happy to report that the Department of Homeland Security recently published a final rule in the Federal Register, taking a major step to safeguard the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, while the fight to uphold DACA is in litigation. What does this […]
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USCIS Announces Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) Loses Accreditation: How this Impacts F-1 Students, STEM OPT Extensions, H-1B Master’s Cap, and More…
In this blog post, we bring you some unfortunate news. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will no longer recognize the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an accrediting agency. Sadly, this means that certain F-1 student visa applicants will be impacted by this change, including those undertaking an […]
DHS Announces Ethiopia Designation for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months
Happy Halloween! In this blog post, we bring you a brand-new immigration update. On October 21, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the designation of Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of 18 months. This decision marks Ethiopia’s first designation for TPS. This designation was made based on ongoing armed […]
Status of Worldwide Consular Visa Operations, October 2022
Our readers will be happy to know that the Department of State has released a new update in the month of October on the status of worldwide consular visa operations. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a period of uncertainty and created tremendous backlogs at the Consular level. As most of you will remember, Consular missions around […]
USCIS Extends COVID-19-related Flexibilities until January 24, 2023
We start off the week with the latest news regarding COVID-19-related flexibilities for responses to Requests for Evidence, NOIDs, and such related notices issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. What do I need to know about these new updates? USCIS RFE/NOID Flexibility Continued for Responses to Agency Requests USCIS has announced that it will continue its […]
All About the November 2022 Visa Bulletin, What to Expect, and More!
In this blog post, we cover the release of the November Visa Bulletin 2022 and what you can expect for employment based and family preference categories during the upcoming month of November. The Department of State releases the visa bulletin on a monthly basis, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for that particular month. The “Final […]
USCIS Opens New Admissions Process for Venezuelans, Starting Today October 18, 2022
In this blog post, we follow up on our previous reporting relating to a brand-new program launched by the Biden administration that will allow for the admission of up to 24,000 Venezuelans, closely following in the footsteps of the Uniting for Ukraine program. Today, October 18, 2022, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its […]
Biden Administration Launches New Entry Program for Venezuelan Nationals, Mirroring Uniting for Ukraine
The Biden administration is ramping up efforts to secure the Southwest border to curb illegal immigration stemming from the humanitarian and economic crisis in Venezuela. In a press release issued October 12, 2022, the Biden administration announced that effective immediately, Venezuelans who enter the United States between ports of entry, without authorization, will be returned […]
USCIS Extends its Temporary Waiver of the 60-Day Rule for Civil Surgeon Signatures on Form I-693 Green Card Medical Exams
Happy Columbus Day! We start the week with great news for green card applications. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it is extending a policy that previously waived the requirement for civil surgeons to sign the Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, no more than 60 days before […]
U.S. Appellate Court Declares DACA Illegal, Sending Lawsuit to Lower Court
In the latest legal saga concerning the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a federal appeals court has declared the DACA program illegal, causing uncertainty for the future of the program. Yesterday, the three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a ruling in which it found that the Obama administration […]