USCIS Temporary Office Closure Extended until at least May 3

On March 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services temporarily suspended in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASCs) to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). USCIS offices will begin to reopen on May 4 unless the public closures are extended further. Employees in these offices are continuing to perform mission-essential services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public. 

USCIS will continue to provide limited emergency ser

USCIS to Continue Processing Applications for Employment Authorization Extension Requests Despite Application Support Center Closures

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that it will reuse previously submitted biometrics in order to process valid Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, extension requests due to the temporary closure of Application Support Centers (ASC) to the public in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This announcement is consistent with existing USCIS authorities regarding the agency’s ability to reuse previously submitted biometrics.

Applicants who had an appointment scheduled with an ASC on or after the March 18 closure or has filed an I-765 extension will have their application processed using previously submitted biometrics.  This will remain in effect until ASCs are open for appointments to

USCIS Expands Flexibility for Responding to USCIS Requests

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it adopted measures to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to certain Requests for Evidence (RFE) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID). This alert clarifies that this flexibility also applies to certain Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIR) and Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOIT) regional investment centers, as well as certain filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion.

Notice/Request/Decision Issuance Date:

This flexibility applies to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, NOIT or appealable decision within AAO jurisdiction and the issuance date listed on the request, notice or decisio

H-1B Initial Electronic Registration Selection Process Completed

USCIS has received enough electronic registrations during the initial period to reach the FY 2021 H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap). We randomly selected from among the registrations properly submitted. We intend to notify petitioners with selected registrations no later than March 31, 2020, that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration.

Registrants’ online accounts will now show one of the following statuses for each registration (that is, for each beneficiary registered):

• Submitted: A registration status may continue to show “Submitted” after the initial selection process has been completed. “Submitted” registrations

USCIS Announces Flexibility for Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Deny

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is adopting a measure to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to requests for evidence (RFEs) and notices of intent to deny (NOIDs) dated between March 1 and May 1, 2020.   

For applicants and petitioners who receive an RFE or NOID dated between March 1 and May 1, 2020, any responses submitted within 60 calendar days after the response deadline set for

Tools Outage

USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Contact Relationship Interface System (CRIS) on Friday, March 27, at 11:59 p.m. through Saturday, March 28, at 3:00 a.m. (EST).

During this time frame, users may experience technical difficulties with one or more of the following online tools:

• Check My Case Status
• e-Request
• Change of Address online
• Check Case Processing Times
• Civil Surgeon Locator
• Office Locator
• File Online
• myUSCIS online account

We apologize for any inconvenience this may

USCIS Temporarily Closes Rome and Nairobi Offices to the Public

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced it has temporarily closed its offices in Rome, Italy, and Nairobi, Kenya, to the public, due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In February, USCIS announced the temporarily suspension of services at its offices in Beijing and Guangzhou, China.

USCIS will post updates on the office pages when the offices are scheduled to reopen. 

USCIS will reschedule all appointments and will continue to respond to email inquiries. Please visit the “Contact Us” sections on our Nairobi and <a target='_blank' href="https: