WASHINGTON— U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will celebrate Independence Day this year by welcoming approximately 11,000 new citizens in more than 195 naturalization ceremonies between June 28 and July 5. These ceremonies demonstrate our government’s commitment to welcoming immigrants and promoting the benefits of U.S. citizenship for all who are eligible. In fiscal year 2023, […]
Editorial credit: Shutterstock On June 14, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify how prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) can adopt a child through the Hague Adoption Convention process. This policy manual update affirms our commitment to the standards and principles of the Hague Adoption Convention, including safeguards to protect […]
Editorial credit: Kristi Blokhin / Shutterstock.com U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance regarding the F and M student nonimmigrant classifications, including the agency’s role in adjudicating applications for employment authorization, change of status, extension of stay, and reinstatement of status for these students and their dependents in the United States. This […]
Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued policy guidance updates in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify the types of venues USCIS may use for administrative naturalization ceremonies. This clarifying guidance is part of USCIS efforts to educate the public and those seeking to donate venue spaces, and to provide more transparency on how to partner with […]
The lack of a major overhaul in the United States’ immigration system for roughly thirty years has created an ecosystem where states have attempted to insert their authority over immigration, especially when it comes to enforcement. Texas has made headlines with its tougher approach and outsized role in shaping America’s immigration enforcement policy, while some states have […]
By Emma Winger, Immigration Impact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a temporary rule last week that automatically extends employment authorization for certain noncitizens waiting for USCIS to process their work permit renewal applications. As of December 2021, over 80,000 noncitizens had lost or would soon lose the right to work because of adjudication delays and a growing […]
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on March 7, 2022 announced that it is updating the USCIS Policy Manual to consider deferred action and related employment authorization for noncitizens who have an approved Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification but who cannot apply to adjust status […]
By Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact Thousands of applicants for U.S. citizenship have been waiting for well over a year for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to process their applications. But the problem isn’t the usual bureaucratic red tape. In this case, thousands of paper-based immigration records (known as “A-Files”) are locked in man-made caves that USCIS […]
By Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun implementing policies in recent weeks which expand access to lawful immigration status, employment, and humanitarian protections for people who were previously under assault by the Trump administration. ‘ These latest developments include a redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, a […]
By Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Immigration Impact When President Biden took office, he inherited a legal immigration system that was teetering on the brink of collapse. Delays within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have reached historic levels and some work permit applications are taking so long to process that thousands are losing their jobs. A new […]