All U.S. embassies and consulates have suspended all routine nonimmigrant and immigrant visa services, and no announcement has been made about when DOS plans to reopen them. It is likely that posts will reopen on a rolling basis depending on the circumstances on the ground. In fact, little guidance has been issued. The National Visa […]
Palmer Polaski Blog
Palmer Polaski Immigration Alerts
USCIS: Many immigration benefits and requests are submitted to USCIS service centers by mail and those offices continue to operate and are processing cases. Receipt notices are being issued, as are work permits, travel permits, green cards, I-797 Approval Notices, and other official notices. And, while requests for evidence (RFEs) and notices of intent to […]
The following additional items may be of interest to our readers: “Birth Tourism” New Rule in Effect: In late January, DOS issued a final rule establishing a rebuttable presumption that a B visa applicant who a consular officer believes will give birth during her stay in the U.S. is traveling for the primary purpose of […]
USCIS will begin accepting applications to adjust to LPR status from certain Liberian nationals under Section 7611 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2020, Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF), signed into law on December 20, 2019. To be eligible for permanent residence under LRIF, a Liberian national must have been continuously physically present […]
Do you know that many U.S. consulates provide an option for the NIV interview to be waived if certain criteria are met? This option is important to consider when, increasingly, NIV applicants are subject to long wait times either for scheduling an NIV interview or waiting for visa issuance post interview. According to the immigration […]
It’s not just you! Foreign nationals who consular process their immigrant visas applications at U.S. consulates abroad and thus avail themselves of the State Department’s system for submitting documentation have been experiencing a myriad of technical problems and interview scheduling delays. First, applicants are experiencing problems in paying their visa fee invoices. Fees that seem […]
On February 21, President Trump’s newest Presidential Proclamation went into effect expanding the Travel Ban 3.0 to include certain foreign nationals of the following six countries: Eritrea: All immigrants, except Special Immigrants who have provided assistance to the U.S. government. Kyrgyzstan: All immigrants, except Special Immigrants who have provided assistance to the U.S. government. Myanmar […]
In early February, a nationwide permanent injunction was granted by a federal district court, enjoining USCIS from enforcing its August 9, 2018, Policy Memorandum entitled “Accrual of Unlawful Presence and F, J and M Nonimmigrants.” The decision is important for many reasons: First, the decision saves thousands of F, J, and M nonimmigrants from suffering […]
On March 11th, 2020, President Trump issued a new Presidential Proclamation expanding the scope of two previously issued travel bans suspending entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants into the United States, with exceptions detailed below, in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 or“COVID-19”. The Proclamation, entitled, Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional […]
In light of the outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, the Trump Administration has taken several measures to control and limit the entry of individuals potentially exposed the virus in China from entering the United States. On January 31, President Trump issued a Proclamation suspending entry of certain immigrants and nonimmigrants who were physically present […]
