On October 2nd the Department of Homeland Security published a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to implement major changes to the affidavit of support in green card cases. If finalized, this rule will impose significant burdens on family petitioners in adjustment of status cases, such as marriage based green card situations. SUMMARY OF CURRENT RULES…
In another stark reminder that marriage immigration fraud is a serious criminal matter and never works out, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina charged 11 suspects with serious federal crimes. The charges stem from an alleged marriage immigration fraud scheme by which foreign nationals entered into sham marriages with US…
On September 29, 2020 a Federal District Court Judge for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction enjoining USCIS immigration fee increases that were scheduled to take effect on October 2, 2020. BACKGROUND ON USCIS IMMIGRATION FEE INCREASES On July 31, 2020 the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule proposing several…
One of the most stressful times in a marriage green card process is the final marriage green card interview. This is the opportunity for a USCIS adjudicator to question the spouses about the good faith nature of their marriage to make sure there is no marriage fraud (e.g., getting married solely for a green card)….
The USCIS has announced that effective April 3, 2017, H1B premium processing for I129 petitions will be suspended for perhaps 6 months. Notably, this suspension of I-907 premium processing requests will apply to ALL new H1B cap petitions filed for fiscal year 2018, including both regular cap and the master’s degree exemption cap. As a…
The USCIS, in conjunction with the Department of State, announced on September 9, 2015 a major change regarding the timing of filing adjustment of status applications, or submitting immigrant visa application documents, for beneficiaries of pending family or employment based immigrant visa petitions. This is in response to a previous directive from President Obama and…
