Immigration Updates

Democrats blocked from including immigration reform in the party-line spending bill. The Senate parliamentarian on Sunday rejected Democrats’ push to include a pathway to legal status in their social spending plan, a blow to the party’s efforts to enact immigration reform. “Our economy depends more than ever on immigrants,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.…

I am proud to announce that I have been nominated to Co-Chair the AILA NY Asylum Committee 2021-2022. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is the national association of more than 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. AILA member attorneys represent the U.S. families seeking permanent residence for close family…

As a law enforcement official, you play an important role in the application process for U nonimmigrant status (also known as a U visa). The U visa can be a key tool to support your case. The U visa can help certain crime victims feel safer reporting crimes, so that they may be more willing…

The Visa Bulletin for July 2021 summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during July for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center. FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES First: (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens: 23,400 plus…

Timeliness of the Fiscal Year 2021 Third Quarter Completions (April – June 2021) Form Type Case Type Completed 0-180 Days Quarterly Completions Cumulative total of all completions 43.43% 1,043 I-129CW Petition for CNMI Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker 100% 2 I-129E2 CNMI Treaty Investor 100% 3 I-129F Petition for Fiancée 30.77% 39 I-129H1B Nonimmigrant Specialty Occupation Worker…

On April 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 141 S. Ct. 1474(2021), holding unequivocally that a Notice to Appear (NTA)—the charging document thatcommences immigration court removal proceedings—must contain the time and place of thehearing in a single document in order to trigger the stop-time rule in cancellation of removalcases, and that…

AILA Doc. No. 20071435 | Dated April 30, 2021 April 30, 2021 DOS announced U.S. embassies and consulates are using a tiered approach to triage immigrant visa applications and to address the backlog in the processing of immigrant visas. DOS identified four priority tiers listing the main categories of immigrant visas in each: Per DOS,…

BRIEFING ROOM A Proclamation on Revoking Proclamation 10014 FEBRUARY 24, 2021 • PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS The suspension of entry imposed in Proclamation 10014 of April 22, 2020 (Suspension of Entry of Immigrants Who Present a Risk to the United States Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak), as extended by section…

U.S. Supreme Court hands victory to immigrants facing deportation By: Andrew Chung The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday offered new hope to thousands of long-term immigrants seeking to avoid deportation in a ruling that faulted the federal government for improperly notifying a man who came to the United States illegally from Guatemala to appear for…

March 12, 2021 The Biden administration rescinded a 2018 agreement between the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services that encouraged child welfare officers to share sensitive personal information about potential sponsors for unaccompanied children with immigration enforcement agents. The move is part of a larger effort to reduce the number of children…