USCIS Announces Final Rule to Be Published on Fee Increases

By Roujin Mozaffarimehr Today, USCIS announced that it plans to publish its final rule in the Federal Register on Monday, August 3rd, 2020 to increase fees across the board for immigration-related filings. A copy of the rule for public inspection can be found here. Notable changes include: I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (online…

District Court in New York Issues Injunctions on Public Charge Rule During COVID Pandemic

By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On July 29th, The United States District Court, Southern District of New York issued two decisions to temporarily enjoin the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State from implementing the recent Public Charge Rule that took effect earlier in February 2020.[1] Below, we discuss the recent changes to the Public…

USCIS Issues Policy Memorandum in Reconsideration of DACA

By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On July 28th, Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf issued a Policy Memorandum titled, “Reconsideration of the June 15, 2020 Memorandum Entitled ‘Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children.”[1] This new memorandum was issued after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on June 18th which determined…

DOS Clarifies June 22nd Proclamation— Additional Details on National Interest Exception Requirements

By Roujin Mozaffarimehr As we reported last month, on June 22, 2020, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation suspending the entry of H-1B and H-2B visas and accompanying dependents, certain J visas, and L visas and accompanying dependents, and extending the April 2020 suspension on certain immigrants.  banning visa issuance through December 31, 2020.…

ICE announces temporary modifications to the SEVP online study policy for nonimmigrant students for fall 2020

On July 6, 2020, the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced certain adjustments to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) online study policy for nonimmigrant students for Fall 2020. A Temporary Final Rule is anticipated to be published in the Federal Register by the Department of Homeland Security soon. Spring/Summer and Fall 2020 Semesters…