Saturday, April 25, 2020

USCIS Offices Preparing to Reopen on June 4

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 is readying offices to reopen on or after June 4. Employees in these offices are continuing to perform mission-essential services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public while the offices are closed.

While offices are temporarily closed, USCIS will continue to provide limited emergency in-person services. Please call the USCIS Contact Center for assistance with emergency services.

USCIS field offices will send notices to applicants



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Friday, April 24, 2020

USCIS Updates Policy on False Claims of U.S. Citizenship

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced it is updating its Policy Manual (PDF, 307 KB) to align with the Department of Justice’s Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) precedent decision in Matter of Zhang. Decided in June 2019, the BIA held in this decision that false claims of U.S. citizenship do not need to be knowingly made to make an alien deportable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The<a target='_blank' href="https://www.uscis.go



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May 2020 Visa Bulletin Analysis

For May 2020 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2020/visa-bulletin-may-2020.aspx

Please see below analysis of May 2020 Visa Bulletin:

Family Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored
All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland
born
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F1+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 21 Days+1 Month+6 Months
F2ANo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F2B+2 Months 14 Days+2 Months 14 Days+2 Months 14 Days+1 Month 14 Days+4 Months
F3+1 Month 14 Days+1 Month 14 Days+1 Month 14 Days+1 Month+6 Months
F4+21 Days+21 Days+17 Days+1 Month+5 Months
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored
All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland
born
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F1+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 21 Days+7 Days+7 Months
F2A+1 Month+1 Month+1 Month+1 Month+1 Month
F2B+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 21 Days+1 Month 7 Days+4 Months
F3+2 Months 14 Days+2 Months 14 Days+2 Months 14 DaysNo Change+7 Months 7 Days
F4+3 Days+3 Days+17 Days+7 Days+5 Months



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May 2020 Visa Bulletin

For April 2020 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2020/visa-bulletin-april-2020.aspx

For analysis of May 2020 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2020/visa-bulletin-analysis-may-2020.aspx

May 2020 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from May 1 to May 31 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
F1 22MAR14
22MAR14 22MAR14 22OCT97 01SEP10
F2A C C C C C
F2B 15JAN15 15JAN15 15JAN15 15JAN99 01JUN10
F3 15MAR08 15MAR08 15MAR08 08JUN96 15NOV00
F4 22JUL06 22JUL06 08JAN05 15APR98 01OCT00
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
F1 22NOV14 22NOV14 22NOV14 08DEC99 01JUN11
F2A 01MAR20 01MAR20 01MAR20 01MAR20 01MAR20
F2B 22SEP15 22SEP15 22SEP15 08SEP99 01FEB11
F3 15DEC08 15DEC08 15DEC08 15JUL00 22AUG01
F4 28JUL07 28JUL07 08SEP05 22JAN99 01JUN01



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Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Tools Outage

USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Contact Relationship Interface System (CRIS) on Wednesday, April 22, at 11:59 p.m. through Thursday, April 23, at 3:00 a.m. Eastern.

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 cause.



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Friday, April 17, 2020

DHS and USDA Move to Protect American Farmers and Ensure Continued Flow of America’s Food Supply

WASHINGTON— The Department of Homeland Security, with the support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has announced a temporary final rule to change certain H-2A requirements to help U.S. agricultural employers avoid disruptions in lawful agricultural-related employment, protect the nation’s food supply chain, and lessen impacts from the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency. These temporary flexibilities will not weaken or eliminate protections for U.S. workers.

Under this temporary final rule, an H-2A petitioner with a valid temporary labor certification who is concerned that workers will be unable to enter the country due to travel restrictions can start employing certain foreign workers who ar



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Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Tools Outage

USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Contact Relationship Interface System (CRIS) on Wednesday, April 15, at 11:59 p.m. through Thursday, April 16, at 3:00 a.m. Eastern.

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 cause.



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Tuesday, April 14, 2020

COVID-19 Delays in Extension/Change of Status Filings

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognizes that there are immigration-related challenges as a direct result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We continue to carefully analyze these issues and to leverage our resources to effectively address these challenges within our existing authorities. DHS also continues to take action to protect the American people and our communities, and is considering a number of policies and procedures to improve the employment opportunities of U.S. workers during this pandemic.

Generally, nonimmigrants must depart the United States before their authorized period of admission expires. However, we recognize that nonimmigrants may unexpectedly remain in the United States beyond their authorized period of



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Friday, April 3, 2020

Tools Outage

USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Contact Relationship Interface System (CRIS) on Thursday, April 2, at 11:59 p.m. through Friday, April 3, 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 inconve



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Thursday, April 2, 2020

FY 2021 H-1B Cap Petitions May Be Filed as of April 1

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that H-1B cap-subject petitions for fiscal year (FY) 2021, including those petitions eligible for the advanced degree exemption, may now be filed with USCIS if based on a valid selected registration.

A petitioner is only eligible to file an FY 2021 H-1B cap-subject petition if they electronically registered the beneficiary in the H-1B registration process and USCIS selected the registration submitted for the beneficiary through the random selection process.

The H-1B electronic registration process was well-received by users, who provided a high satisfaction score with the system. Nearly 275,000 unique registrations were submitted duri



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Wednesday, April 1, 2020

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



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