All articles tagged with #uscis
USCIS announced that foreigners in the U.S. seeking a green card must generally apply from their home country, with limited exceptions, a move that could slow processing, create confusion, and invite legal challenges as the rollout remains unclear about who’s affected and what waivers might exist.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has begun asking most green-card applicants to apply from their home countries, reversing decades of allowing filings from inside the United States. Lawyers say the change could strain the processing system and deter some migrants from pursuing legal permanent residency.
Friday's USCIS memo restricting 'adjustment of status' to extraordinary circumstances rattled immigration lawyers and clients, triggering a weekend flood of questions about whether to file, wait, or travel abroad while green-card cases are in limbo. While USCIS said the guidance likely won’t affect applicants who provide an economic benefit or national interest, many tech workers, startup founders, physicians, students, and others face renewed uncertainty and potential delays in consular processing, forcing some to consider leaving the U.S. for extended periods as cases unfold.
A May 21 USCIS memo (PM-602-0199) redefines adjustment of status for green cards as a discretionary process that requires applicants to show “unusual or outstanding equities,” raising the bar for those applying from within the U.S. and potentially affecting about 1 million pending I-485 cases. The shift could push many to seek visas from abroad, but the State Department has halted immigrant visa processing in 75 countries, leaving some applicants with nowhere to go and inviting legal challenges against the policy.
Trump’s administration announced tighter rules restricting adjustment-of-status for green cards, allowing it only in extraordinary circumstances and forcing many applicants to remain outside the U.S. while cases are processed. The move drew immediate backlash from lawyers, business leaders, and AI researchers who warn it could disrupt skilled labor, slow American competitiveness in AI, and upend long-standing visa holders, even as proponents frame it as enforcing immigration law. Critics include tech founders, investors, and lawmakers who say the policy risks undermining innovation and the economy.
The Trump administration announced that foreigners currently in the United States who want permanent residence must return to their home country to apply for a green card, with limited exceptions for extraordinary circumstances, expanding barriers to legal immigration and potentially separating families.
The DHS and USCIS said that individuals seeking to adjust to a U.S. green card must apply from outside the United States via a U.S. consulate, a policy change critics say will disrupt thousands of applicants, potentially impact mixed-status families, and worsen processing backlogs, with unclear effects on already-pending cases.
Trump’s administration is temporarily relocating immigration lawyers from USCIS to the Justice Department to speed up denaturalization cases, aiming to crack down on fraud in naturalization. The transfers, described as voluntary or mandatory, require only an active law license and not prior denaturalization experience. Officials say the burden is high, with 385 people shortlisted and 2,500 potential cases identified previously; 35 cases have been filed since the second term began, including 12 this month. A June 2025 DOJ memo calls denaturalizations a top priority as part of public-safety efforts; critics warn proving fraud is difficult and decentralizing the process could complicate oversight.
DHS released an interim final rule under H.R.1 to fund immigration services, introducing an Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) due while an asylum case is pending and new filing and work-authority consequences. If the AAF isn’t paid within 30 days, USCIS will reject the pending Form I-589, deny related Form I-765 employment authorization, and, for those without status, initiate removal. The rule also clarifies that the I-589 filing fee may be retained if rejected as improperly filed, tightens TPS employment authorization to at most one year, adds a minimum $24 fee for Form I-102, and becomes effective May 29, 2026, with public comments due by June 29, 2026.
DHS confirms Olaolukitan Adon Abel, a 26-year-old UK-born man naturalized in 2022, allegedly murdered DHS employee Lauren Bullis; the piece ties the case to debates over citizenship screening and notes USCIS’s plans for a 2025 vetting center and renewed neighborhood investigations to verify naturalization eligibility.
USCIS has referred allegations that Rep. Eric Swalwell illegally hired a Brazilian nanny without valid work authorization to DHS law enforcement for investigation, widening tensions with the Trump administration amid Swalwell’s broader troubles including sexual-misconduct allegations and a separate mortgage-fraud probe; the nanny reportedly worked for Swalwell after her permit expired in 2022, received a 2024 Department of Labor approval, and Swalwell’s campaign paid tens of thousands of dollars in 2021–22, according to the New York Post. Swalwell and his attorney did not comment.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing whether to overturn a Maryland district court order that bars immigration officials from arresting people during green-card interviews with their U.S. citizen spouses, a tactic used by the Trump administration in immigration enforcement; the case centers on the provisional waiver pathway for marriage-based immigrants seeking legal status.
USCIS announced the FY2027 H-1B cap initial registration will run noon ET March 4 to noon ET March 19, 2026. Employers and their representatives must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically and pay a $215 fee per registration; organizations without an online account must create one, and both representatives and employers must wait until March 4 to enter beneficiary information and submit registrations. Selections will be communicated by March 31, 2026, and a cap-subject petition may be filed only if a beneficiary’s registration was selected. The FY2027 season introduces a weighted selection under a DHS rule to prioritize higher-skilled/higher-paid workers when registrations exceed the cap; if enough unique registrations are submitted, all properly submitted registrations may be selected. Additionally, a Sept. 19, 2025 Presidential Proclamation may require an extra $100,000 fee before filing an H-1B petition as a condition of eligibility.
USCIS issued an interim final rule removing the one-year foreign residency requirement for R-1 religious workers, enabling thousands of clergy to resume service in the United States sooner and reducing disruptions for faith communities; the change also aims to address EB-4 visa backlogs and is effective immediately, with a 60-day public-comment window.
The DHS issued an interim final rule that eliminates the one-year foreign residency requirement for R-1 religious workers who have reached the maximum five-year stay, allowing thousands of clergy to seek readmission sooner and resume their services. While these workers must still depart the U.S., there is no longer a minimum outside period before readmission. The move, effective immediately, aims to reduce disruptions for faith communities amid long EB-4 visa wait times and follows EO 14205; USCIS invites public comments within 60 days.