The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum on April 15, 2015, on a technical matter under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). U.S. immigration law generally limits dependent or derivative status to children who are under twenty-one years of age. In the...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an explanation regarding signature waivers for permanent resident cards (i.e. green cards). This is in reference to situations in which a form I-551 (commonly, a "green card") bears the notation signature waived, rather than the green card...
It has been announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to negotiate for an expansion of preclearance operations to ten additional overseas airports. Preclearance facilities, which are operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are designed to improve U.S. security while simultaneously...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum on June 25, 2015, rescinding a 2013 hold on cases that were dependent upon the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court case related to the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). The June 2014 Supreme Court...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is demanding the return of employment authorization documents (EADs) issued to certain foreign nationals enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The EADs in question were inadvertently issued by the USCIS after February 16, 2015,...
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, pursuant to the individual liberties protected by the constitution of the United States, all U.S. states must permit same-sex marriages. Although this case did not directly deal with immigration law, it nevertheless serves to expand...
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on June 15, 2015, in Kerry v. Din, a case that involved the doctrine of consular nonreviewability. Consular nonreviewability protects the decisions of U.S. consular officers, including approvals and denials of visa applications, from review by U.S. courts....
A nationwide, class action lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for delays in the adjudication of employment authorization documents (EADs). This lawsuit, captioned Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) v. USCIS, asserts...
Foreign nationals with long-pending adjustment of status applications (form I-485) should anticipate being issued requests for evidence (RFEs) as the visa bulletin cutoff date approaches the priority dates of their respective cases. These RFEs typically request submission of updated I-485 eligibility documentation, including new medical...
Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS), offers analysis of visa bulletin trends and predictions for the June 2015 Visa Bulletin, as he does each month. This latest information includes the disappointing possibility that the...
