Did you know? U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that online account holders can take advantage of a new tool called “myProgress.” “MyProgress” allows applicants to view personalized estimates of approximate wait times for major milestones and actions taken on their cases including final case decisions. These estimates are provided based on case type and historical patterns. They do not guarantee time frames and do not take into account external factors that can prolong the processing of applications. Who can take advantage of this new tool? Online account ho ..read more

The release of the December Visa Bulletin has brought few positive changes for immigrants in both the family sponsored and employment-based preference categories. In this blog post, we share with you everything you need to know regarding the movement (or lack thereof) of the categories for the month of December. Whether you are applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate overseas or applying for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the United States, you won’t want to miss these important updates. Highlights of the December 2023 Visa Bulletin Unfortunately, the December Visa ..read more

Did you know that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has launched a new online change of address self-service tool? This new tool known as “Enterprise Change of Address” (E-COA) is a one-stop shop where most individuals with a USCIS online account can update their mailing and physical address for pending applications, petitions, or requests filed with USCIS. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use this tool instead of the alternative tool because it has drastically improved the speed and efficiency with which these requests can be processed by USCIS. The E-COA tool can be ..read more

A new family reunification parole process has been launched, this time for qualifying nationals of Ecuador. Who is eligible? Nationals of Ecuador petitioned by family members who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and who have received approval on Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to join their family in the United States may participate in this new parole process. Parole will allow such nationals and their immediate family members to be admitted to the United States lawfully for a period of up to three years, while waiting to apply to become lawful permanent residents. Qu ..read more

In this blog post, we share with you an important update from the U.S. Embassy in Israel. If you have a pending nonimmigrant or immigrant visa application awaiting an interview at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem or U.S. Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv, you should be aware that visa services have been temporarily suspended at these missions due to the ongoing conflict in the region. The U.S. Embassy in Israel will be focusing its resources to plan the evacuation and departure of U.S. Citizens from the region. Starting October 13th, the government arranged charter flights to assist U.S. Citizen ..read more

The November Visa Bulletin has arrived! In this blog post we share with you the changes that you can expect to see in the visa bulletin for the upcoming month of November. Whether you are applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate overseas or applying for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the United States, you won’t want to miss these important updates. Overview What is the Visa Bulletin? The Department of State releases the visa bulletin on a monthly basis, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for that particular month in the employment ..read more

It’s official. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it will be increasing the validity period of work permits also known as Employment Authorization Documents (EADS) to 5 years, for certain categories of noncitizens who are employment authorized incident to their immigration status and those who must apply for employment authorization including: Refugees Asylees Noncitizens paroled as Refugees Noncitizens granted Withholding of Removal Noncitizens with pending applications for Asylum or Withholding of Removal Noncitizens with pending applications for Adjus ..read more

On September 20, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a fact sheet unveiling new actions to cut down the processing time of work authorizations filed by certain asylum seekers. Starting October 1, 2023, USCIS will speed up the processing of Form I-765 Applications for Employment Authorization, (also known as EADs) filed by parolees who schedule an inspection appointment through CBP One. Such individuals are eligible to apply for employment authorization immediately. USCIS aims to decrease average processing times for EADs from 90 days to 30 days for such individuals and wi ..read more

We start the week with great news for Cuban and Haitian nationals. On August 10, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced new publications in the Federal Register introducing changes to the Cuban and Haitian Family Reunification Parole processes. The FRP program allows eligible Cuban and Haitian nationals to seek parole into the United States for the purpose of reuniting with their family members while they wait for their immigrant visas to become available to apply for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence ..read more

In this blog post, we summarize the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories of the September Visa Bulletin. This information will be helpful to those applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate overseas, and those applying for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the United States. Overview What is the Visa Bulletin? The Department of State releases the visa bulletin on a monthly basis, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for that particular month in the employment and family preference categories. The purp ..read more