On June 30, 2022, the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman submitted its 2022 Annual Report to Congress. The report outlines "some of the most significant problems encountered by individuals and employers when seeking immigration benefits," including...
Topic: Immigration Updates
CBP Ends Use of Expired U.S. Passports for Direct Return of U.S. Citizens to United States
As of July 1, 2022, U.S. citizens can no longer use their expired U.S. passports to return to the United States. U.S. citizens overseas with expired passports should contact their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate to apply for a passport. Related Links: CBP...
White House Extends and Expands Eligibility for Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
The White House issued a memorandum deferring through June 30, 2024, the removal of any Liberian national, or person without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who is present in the United States and who was under a grant of Deferred Enforced...
Supreme Court Allows Biden Administration to Terminate ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy
On June 30, 2022, the Supreme Court held that the Biden administration could end the so-called "Remain in Mexico" policy, which required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their immigration hearings. The Court ruled that the Biden administration's attempt to...
USCIS Urges Employment-Based Adjustment Applicants to Promptly Send Medical Forms When Requested
To ensure that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is able to use as many available visas as possible for fiscal year 2022, the agency is urging anyone within the United States who may be eligible for an employment-based adjustment of status to note the...
OFLC Publishes Prevailing Wage Data, Implements 2018 SOC Codes
On July 1, 2022, the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC): Published the latest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for July 2022 through...
USCIS Ombudsman Discusses Challenges of USCIS Fee-setting Structure
The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Ombudsman released a report on June 15, 2022, "The Challenge of the Current USCIS Fee-Setting Structure." The USCIS Ombudsman examined the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding model...
E-Verify Releases New Case Processing Features
On June 21, 2022, E-Verify released several new features "to increase awareness of existing duplicate cases and reduce overall case processing time." E-Verify also redesigned the "Search Cases" page to provide "a more robust case query function." Among other things,...
Amendment to Salvage Unused Immigrant Visa Numbers Advances in House
The House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee passed an amendment, introduced by Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations for fiscal year 2023 that would recapture unused, expired family- and employment-based immigrant...
USCIS Issues Policy Alert on Effect of Returning to United States During 3- or 10-Year Period After Departure or Removal
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy alert on June 24, 2022, on inadmissibility under § 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), specifically, the effect of returning to the United States during the statutory 3- or...
