Category: Live In The US

On December 4, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis issued an order requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The DACA program is an Obama-era initiative that has allowed undocumented foreign nationals who came to the U.S. as children to stay in the country and work legally. Under the […]

On December 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Facebook alleging its hiring process favors temporary visa holders over U.S. workers in violation of the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). The INA makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against U.S. citizens and nationals, asylees, refugees, and certain lawful […]

On November 18, 2020, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its policy manual to reflect new guidance on when applicants would be ineligible for naturalization based on their lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. All naturalization applicants must establish that they were lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence at the time of filing […]

USCIS announced last week that it plans to implement a revised version of the civics test for naturalization applications. The agency first made this announcement in July of 2019. USCIS stated that it revised the civics test as part of an update that it performs every 10 years to ensure that it continues to comprehensively […]

With the 2020 Presidential Election quickly approaching on November 3, 2020, and early and absentee voting already underway in several states, it is important to know who is eligible to vote in the election. Ensuring you are eligible to vote prior to voting is essential, because unlawfully voting in an election is a violation of […]

On September 24, 2020, the Department of State (DOS) released the highly-anticipated October 2020 Visa Bulletin. The Visa Bulletin, released monthly by the DOS, provides updated dates on when a foreign national can submit their Adjustment of Status (AOS) application or have their AOS case adjudicated. The submission of an AOS application is the final step […]

Conditional green cards are issued to foreign nationals who, at the time of filing a marriage-based green card, have been married to their U.S. citizen spouse for less than two years. A conditional green card is only valid for two years.  How to Remove Conditions on Residence To remove the conditions on residence and obtain […]

Last week, USCIS updated policy guidance concerning residency requirements under section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to comply with the requirements of the recently enacted Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act.  Under the new law, a child born outside of the U.S. acquires automatic citizenship under INA 320, […]

On Monday, September 14, 2020, a federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can phase out protections for hundreds of thousands of families that have been living and working legally in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).  The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California lifted a block on […]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 30, 2020, USCIS announced that it would allow flexibility in responding to certain agency requests. USCIS has recently announced that they are extending this courtesy to cases in which notices were issued between March 1, 2020, and January 1, 2021.  This flexibility applies to the following: Requests for […]