U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy alert on July 24, 2020, that provides "clarifying guidance" included in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding the deployment of investment capital, including further deployment after the job creation...
Topic: Immigration Updates
State Dept. Issues One-Month Extension for Immigrant Visa Medical Exams
On July 24, 2020, the Department of State announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved a one-month extension for medical examinations conducted between January 1 and June 30, 2020. The announcement notes that immigrant visas are limited to...
USCIS Postpones Staff Furloughs After ‘Surplus’ Memo Surfaces
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on July 24, 2020, that planned furloughs of more than 13,000 of its employees have been postponed for a month to allow Congress time to act on the agency's emergency funding request for $1.2 billion. Jessica...
Miller Mayer’s Steve Yale-Loehr Quoted re Asylum, USCIS Furloughs, Executive Orders
Miller Mayer immigration attorney Steve Yale-Loehr was quoted in several media this week:· "El servicio de immigracion reduce de inmigración reduce trámites por falta de presupuesto, pero niega atrasos," Univision. (English translation: "If USCIS has to temporarily...
USCIS Has Green Card and EAD Printing Delays
USCIS reportedly has a backlog of 75,000 unprinted employment authorization documents (EADs) and about 50,000 unprinted green cards. Certain foreign nationals with EADs, students filing for STEM OPT EADs, and those whose cards are based on adjustment of status...
USCIS Consolidates Policy Guidance on Applying Discretion in Agency Adjudications
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently consolidated existing policy guidance regarding agency officers' application of discretion in adjudications. Miller Mayer immigration attorneys are concerned that this may mean more denials based on...
Labor Dept. Releases Public Disclosure Data and Selected Program Statistics for Third Quarter of FY 2020
The Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has released a comprehensive set of public disclosure data through the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2020 drawn from employer applications requesting prevailing wage determinations and labor...
Plaintiffs Prevented From Entering U.S. Sue Trump Administration, State Dept.
Several lawsuits were filed recently by individuals and organizations affected by the Trump administration's bans on the entry of certain immigrants and nonimmigrants into the United States. On July 17, 2020, 23 individual and organizational plaintiffs, including...
State Dept. Lists Exceptions Under Recent Presidential Proclamations Suspending Entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants
On July 17, 2020, the Department of State (DOS) provided a detailed list of exceptions under two recent Presidential Proclamations that suspended the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants into the United States. The list includes exceptions for H-1B, H-2B, H-4, L-1,...
Trump Administration Agrees to Rescind New Foreign Student Online-Only Ban
On July 14, 2020, the Trump administration agreed to rescind a new policy to bar nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students taking only online classes from entering into or remaining in the United States. U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs announced the Trump...
