Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
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The blog offers articles that you will find helpful when struggling with a green card. Jacob Sapochnick is recognized as one of the most innovative, up-and-coming Immigration Lawyers in the nation. He devotes 100% of his practice to Immigration Law, representing Corporations, Hotels, Restaurants, and other organizations, as well as, entrepreneurs, and individuals worldwide. He also provides..
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
2w ago
This week we bring you new updates regarding the I-693 medical examination.
On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that any Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, that was properly completed and signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, does not expire and can be used indefinitely as evidence to show that the applicant is not inadmissible on health-related grounds.
What is Form I-693?
The Form I-693 is a medical examination report that must be completed by a USCIS approved civil surgeon. It is ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
2w ago
We are pleased to announce that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will soon publish a new temporary final rule in the federal register aimed at streamlining the processing of renewal applications for Employment Authorization Documents (also known as EADs) and increasing the automatic extension period of EADs.
What does this new rule propose?
The new temporary final rule (TFR) proposes an increase of the automatic extension period of certain employment authorization documents (EADs) from up to 180 days to up to 540 days from the expiration date printed on EADs.
Who wil ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
1M ago
The Department of State has published the April 2024 Visa Bulletin, bringing significant advancements in the final action dates for most employment-based categories, and modest advancement for the family-sponsored categories when compared to the previous month.
Highlights of the April 2024 Visa Bulletin
Dates for Filing Chart
For the family-sponsored preference categories, the Dates for Filing Chart remains unchanged from the previous month, with the exception of the family sponsored fourth preference category (F4) for India which will advance by 1.5 months to April 8, 2006, and Phi ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
2M ago
Recently, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) requested an update from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding the delayed adjudication of Form I-829 petitions filed by EB-5 investors seeking to remove their conditions on permanent residence.
AILA suggested two alternatives for providing evidence of continued lawful permanent residence which consisted of making simple adjustments to the language of Form I-829 receipt notices.
On January 19, 2024, USCIS responded to these concerns indicating their awareness of the issue and ongoing efforts to reduce the ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
2M ago
The March 2024 Visa Bulletin is finally here, and with it we have big advancements in the family sponsored preference categories, and minor advancements in the employment-based categories.
Highlights of the March 2024 Visa Bulletin
Dates for Filing Chart
The Dates for Filing Chart remains unchanged from the previous month, for both the family sponsored and employment-based categories, with the exception of the employment-based fourth preference category, EB-4 which will advance by 4 months to January 1, 2020.
Employment-based categories
Movement in the Final Action Dates
The Final A ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
2M ago
On January 30, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule in the Federal Register making significant fee increases for various immigration applications and benefit requests. This fee increase will be the first major adjustment in the filing fees since 2016. The increase is meant to address the agency’s operational and financial challenges to support the timely processing of new applications.
The fee increase will take effect starting April 1, 2024. All applications postmarked after this date will be subject to the fee increases in the final rule ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
3M ago
In this blog post, we provide new insights recently shared by Charlie Oppenheim, the former Chief of Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting at the U.S. Department of State, who oversaw the monthly publication of the Visa Bulletin until his retirement in 2022.
In a recent Chatting with Charlie webinar, he provided his expertise regarding the future movement of the employment based and family preference categories on the Visa Bulletin.
The Dates for Filing for the employment based and family sponsored preference categories have remained the same since the publication of the October Visa Bulletin ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
3M ago
According to recent data released by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), applications for U.S. Citizenship surpassed pre-pandemic levels in fiscal year 2023, welcoming 878,500 new citizens from all over the world.
To be eligible for naturalization, applicants must meet certain eligibility requirements set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The requirements generally include being a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for at least five years or at least three years for spouses of U.S. Citizens. Applicants must establish that they have good moral character, h ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
3M ago
The February 2024 Visa Bulletin was recently published by the Department of State.
While the Dates for Filing Chart remains unchanged from the previous month, the Final Action Dates Chart shows some modest advancements in some of the employment-based preference categories, specifically EB-1 worldwide continues to be current, EB-2 Worldwide will advance by two weeks to November 15, 2022, EB-3 Professional and Skilled Workers, India will advance by one month to July 1, 2012, and the rest of the world will advance by one month to September 1, 2022. EB-5 India will advance by one week to Dec ..read more
Sapochnick Law Firm Blog » Green Card
3M ago
On January 5, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released updated policy guidance describing how the agency analyzes an employer’s ability to pay the offered wage to prospective employees with employment-based immigrant petitions requiring a job offer, filed with USCIS under the first, second, and third preference categories, also known as EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3.
Specifically, the policy guidance clarifies how an employer’s ability to pay will be demonstrated where a beneficiary of a pending Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, decides to change to a new empl ..read more