Special Programs

Every now and then, there may be a situation in which someone needs to enter the United States for a temporary amount of time because of a humanitarian emergency. In order to accommodate these rare situations, U.S. Immigration Law has established Humanitarian Parole (HP), a program, which, while not a panacea or “go around” of the normal visa application process, is designed to accommodate true emergencies of humanitarian nature. The U.S. Government strictly enforces this policy. Hence, applying for HP is one step, which should be first discussed with an experienced immigration attorney to properly consider all the intricacies of the situation and assess reasonable changes of success on the Humanitarian Parole application.

On July 8, 2016, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson extended Temporary Protect Status (TPS) for nationals of El Salvador, and those without nationality who last habitually resided in El Salvador, for an additional 18 months. El Salvadorians who are currently on TPS and want to extend their TPS must reregister during the 60-day reregistration period that runs from July 8, 2016, through September 6, 2016. The news release advises El Salvadorians who wish to extend their TPS to reregister as soon as possible.

A person with a valid nonimmigrant status may apply for and be granted temporary protected status (TPS). One of the principal benefits of TPS is that a person on TPS may apply for and be granted an employment authorization document (EAD), which allows for employment in the United States. However, certain nonimmigrant statuses that may be held in conjunction with TPS (e.g., F-1, B-2) limit or outright prohibit the employment that a status-holder may engage in and continue to maintain status. This article will explain USCIS’ guidelines for TPS EADs for persons who hold a nonimmigrant status that either limits or prohibits employment.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective March 9, 2017, it is extending the validity of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) El Salvador for 6 months.

On May 21, 2017, designations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone will terminate. TPS benefits for individuals from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone will no longer be in effect starting on May 21, 2017. TPS-beneficiaries from these three countries who hold another lawful immigration status, which they have maintained or acquired while on TPS, may continue to hold such status upon the termination of TPS. However, TPS beneficiaries from the three countries who hold no other lawful immigration status will no longer be protected from removal or eligible for employment authorization based on TPS beginning on May 21, 2017.

On April 22, 2017, the American Immigration Lawyers Association reported that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had recommended not extending Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation.

An alien may be granted parole in order to enter the United States. A parolee is eligible to apply for and be granted adjustment of status so long as he or she remains in the United States as a parolee (and is not otherwise ineligible to adjust status). However, while a person is considered to be lawfully present so long as he or she is on parole, parole does not constitute “admission” to the United States, and it may be revoked at any time. In this article, we will provide a general overview of parole and some of the different situations in which it may be granted.

In order to qualify for temporary protected status (TPS), an alien must be present in the United States when his or her country of nationality (or country of last habitual residence if he or she does not have a country of nationality) is designated for TPS. The Board of Immigration Appeal’s decision in Matter of Ognibene established that for purpose of changing status to E2 treaty investor status, the operative nationality of an alien is the nationality that he or she claimed upon entering the United States as a nonimmigrant. Although the issues are not entirely the same for dual nationals seeking TPS, the principles of Matter of Ognibene have been broadly applied to dual nationals whose operative nationality is determined to be that of the non-TPS designated country.

On August 1, 2016, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, redesignated Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Syria’s existing TPS designation has been extended from October 1, 2016, to March 31, 2018. Accordingly, eligible nationals of Syria and persons of no nationality who last habitually resided in Syria will be eligible to register or reregister for TPS during periods found in the Federal Register notice.

On May 9, 2016, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would begin implementing the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole (FWVP) policy on June 8, 2016. Notice of the new program was also posted in the Federal Register [81 FR 28097]. The program will allow the family members of U.S. citizen or LPR Filipino WWII veterans who are the beneficiaries of approved family-based immigrant visa petitions to be granted parole on a case-by-case basis. In this article, we will review the USCIS news release and the Federal Register update in order to examine the rules of the FWVP.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers certain immigration relief measures to people affected by unforeseen circumstances. The USCIS put out a news release on August 19, 2016, using the recent severe storms and flooding in Louisiana as an example.

When a nonimmigrant, lawful permanent resident (LPR), or naturalized citizen applies for a benefit or license with a federal, state, or local government agency, the government agency must first verify the person’s immigration status to ensure that he or she is eligible for the benefit or license sought. In order to do this, government agencies use the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE Program. The SAVE Program allows government agencies to expeditiously confirm a person’s immigration status. For persons seeking a benefit or license, the USCIS created a tool called “SAVE CaseCheck.” SAVE CaseCheck allows applicants for benefits or licenses with government agencies to view their case status online.

On October 26, 2016, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Federal Register notice extending the designation of Nepal for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eighteen months, effective December 25, 2016, and through June 24, 2018. This article will explain how Nepal TPS beneficiaries may re-register for TPS.

On December 27, 2016, the DHS extended the suspension of certain regulatory requirements for qualifying Nepalese students who were experiencing “severe economic hardship” as a direct result of the earthquake that occurred in Nepal on April 25, 2015. In this article, we will examine who is eligible to apply for benefits under the extension and what the extension means for qualifying F1 students from Nepal.

On January 12, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opted to revoke the “wet-foot/dry-foot” policy for Cuban migrants that has been in effect since 1995. The DHS is also ending the Cuban Medical Professional Parole program. The announcement by the DHS serves to put Cubans who reach the United States without a visa or legal authorization on the same footing as any other individuals who do so. It represents a significant change in how the United States will treat Cuban migrants, and it severely limits the scope of the Cuban Adjustment Act, which does remain in effect despite the new policy. In this article, we will examine what the new policy means and what may happen going forward with the changing administrations.

On January 4, 2017, the Secretary of Homeland Security redesignated Yemen for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and extended the TPS designation for an additional 18 months, from March 4, 2017, through September 3, 2018. We will examine what this means for nationals of Yemen who are seeking to re-register for TPS and for those seeking to apply for TPS for the first time.

On January 19, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum (“the Memo”) titled “Subject: Revision of Adjudicator’s Field Manual Subchapter 10.22 – Change of Gender Designation on Documents Issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.” The Memo revises the Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) to update USCIS’s policies “regarding procedures and requirements to change the gender designation on a USCIS-issued document.” In this article, we will review the new guidance for changing one’s gender designation on a USCIS document.

The USCIS explains that upon payment of the USCIS Immigrant Fee – either by the immigrant or by someone on his or her behalf – an immigrant may open a USCIS online account. In this article, we examine the rules for opening a USCIS online account, the benefits it provides, and what an immigrant may do if he or she decides not to open a USCIS online account.

Under limited circumstances, an applicant or petitioner for a benefit adjudicated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may make a request to expedite the processing of the application or petition at issue. Please note that expedited processing is not the same thing as premium processing. In this article, we will examine the rules for qualifying for expedited processing of an application or petition with the USCIS.

In certain cases, an individual may need to seek a replacement Employment Authorization Document (EAD). An individual will need to apply for a new EAD if his or her EAD is lost, stolen, or destroyed. An individual may need to also seek a new EAD if his or her current EAD contains incorrect information due to an error on the part of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The procedures and requirements for seeking a replacement for a lost, stolen, or destroyed EAD are slightly different than those for seeking a replacement for an EAD issued with incorrect information due to USCIS error.

On January 17, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued Policy Memorandum (PM)-602-0125.1, titled “The Role and Use of Interpreters in Domestic Field Office Interviews.” The PM, which modifies Chapter 15, Part 7, of the USCIS’s Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM), sets forth “guidance regarding the role and use of interpreters in certain interviews conducted in USCIS domestic field offices in the absence of agency-provided interpretation.” The new interpreter policies took effect on May 1, 2017. In this article, we will provide a summary of the new USCIS policy guidance regarding non-USCIS interviewers in certain interviews conducted in USCIS domestic field offices.

On May 22, 2017, the Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, announced a six-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. The extension will be in effect from July 23, 2017 through January 22, 2018. The language of Secretary Kelly’s statement, in conjunction with the recommendation of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to not renew Haiti’s TPS designation, make it clear that TPS for Haiti may be terminated after January 22, 2018. Although it is possible that Haiti may be re-designated for TPS or that Secretary Kelly may choose to extend it again for another short period, beneficiaries of Haitian TPS should prepare as if it will not be extended.

On May 24, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the six-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. The six-month extension period for TPS for Haiti will run from July 23, 2017, through January 22, 2018. To learn about the reasoning behind the six-month extension for TPS for Haiti and what may happen after the extension period terminates, please see the full article we wrote on the subject. In this post, we will use the FR notice to examine the procedures for obtaining a six-month extension of TPS as a qualifying Haitian national.

In this article, we will examine issues related to the non-delivery of a card issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). By this, we mean a situation where USCIS has granted a benefit to an individual but the individual does not receive the associated card documenting that benefit in the mail.

On occasion, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will transfer cases from one USCIS service center to another. The USCIS may transfer cases “to balance [its] workload and promote timely processing.” In this article, we will examine USCIS workload transfers.

On June 15, 2017, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly issued a Memorandum rescinding the November 20, 2014 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Memorandum providing for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). The DHS made clear that the rescission will not affect the terms of the original Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as it was set forth in a June 15, 2012 memorandum. However, the “DACA+” provisions set forth in the DAPA program will be phased out. In this article, we will explain why the DHS made these decisions and what it all means going forward.

On July 3, 2017, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it had expanded Global Entry eligibility to citizens of India. India is the eleventh country whose citizens are eligible to enroll in Global Entry, a CBP Trusted Traveler Program. In this article, we examine the news and how Indian citizens may apply for enrollment in the Global Entry Program.

On July 17, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised version of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers may use either the new 07/17/17 N Form I-9 or the prior edition with the 11/14/16 N date through September 17, 2017. Beginning on September 18, 2017, employers will be required to use the revised Form I-9 with the 07/17/17 N revision date. Employers must follow existing storage and retention rules for previously completed Forms I-9.

On June 29, 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In the letter, Attorney General Paxton, joined by the governors and attorney generals of 10 other states, threatened to sue the Federal government if it does not announce steps to rescind the DACA program. In this article, we will examine Attorney General Paxton’s letter and what it may mean going forward.

On September 21, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) extending the designation of South Sudan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of 18 months. The extension will be effective from November 3, 2017 to May 2, 2019. In this article, we will examine in detail the FR notice on re-registering for South Sudan TPS.

On November 6, 2017, the acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine C. Duke made important announcements regarding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nicaragua and Honduras. Acting Secretary Duke announced that the TPS designation for Nicaragua, which had been first made on January 5, 1999, due to the effects of Hurricane Mitch, will be terminated. However, the TPS designation for Honduras will be automatically extended for six months while the DHS further considers whether it should continue to be designated for TPS. Honduras was also designated for TPS on January 5, 1999, due to the effects of Hurricane Mitch. We will review the memoranda for both countries and discuss what the announcement will mean going forward.

On November 20, 2017, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine C. Duke announced that the DHS will terminate the designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The termination will have a delayed effective date of 18 months, meaning that the TPS designation for Haiti will expire on July 22, 2019.

This article provides an overview of the ongoing litigation regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  It discusses the attempts to rescind DACA, limit DACA, and various court decisions changing the scope of DACA.  We update the article with new information about DACA as it becomes available.

On February 14, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will begin accepting credit card payments for most USCIS forms. The credit card payment option will be available for the 41 fee-based forms processed at USCIS Lockbox facilities In this post, we will briefly examine the new policy.

On March 30, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) titled “Filing Procedures for Employment Authorization and Automatic Extension of Existing Employment Authorization Documents for Eligible Liberians Before Period of Deferred Enforced Departure Ends.” President Trump had previously issued a memorandum to the DHS on March 27, 2018, stating his decision to not renew Liberian Deferred Enforced Departure on March 31, 2018. However, he implemented a one-year “wind-down” period, meaning that the program will not terminate until March 31, 2019. The FR notice thus provides guidance on employment authorization for Liberian beneficiaries of Deferred Enforced Departure during the 12-month wind-down period.

On February 15, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued Policy Memorandum (PM)-602-0134.1, titled “Signatures on Paper Applications, Petitions, Requests, and Other Documents Filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.” The PM-602-0134.1 finalizes the guidance in an interim memorandum released on June 7, 2017, which had the same title. The new PM contains the current USCIS policy regarding “the signature requirement for applications, petitions, requests, and other documents that require a signature prior to filing with the USCIS.” In this article, we will examine and discuss the new PM regarding the USCIS’s guidance for signatures on paper documents.

On April 30, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began phasing in the use of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Signature Confirmation Restricted Delivery Service for the mailing of Green Cards and other secure documents. During initial phase of the transition to the secure delivery method, the USCIS will use the USPS Signature Confirmation Restricted Delivery Service for documents that need to be re-mailed because they had previously been returned as non-deliverable. It will expand its use of the secure delivery method for all secure documents in the future.

On July 13, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published Policy Memorandum (PM)-602-0163, titled “Issuance of Certain RFEs and NOIDs; Revisions to Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) Chapter 10.5(a), Chapter 10.5(b).” The PM deals with cases where an individual submitting an application, petition, or request does not submit sufficient initial evidence to establish eligibility for the benefit sought. It provides binding guidance on USCIS adjudicators for when they may deny such an application, petition, or request without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID). In this article, we will examine the USCIS guidance.

In this article, we will address the issue of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) immigrant fees for individuals who are admitted into the United States after being approved for LPR status abroad. Such individuals must pay the USCIS immigrant fee in order to have their immigrant visa packets processed. The USCIS uses the immigrant fee to produce the Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card (“Green Card”).

On August 31, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is raising the premium processing fee for the Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. The premium processing fee increase will take effect on October 1, 2018. The new premium processing fee will be $1,410, a 14.92-percent increase from the prior fee of $1,225.

On July 13, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued Policy Memorandum (PM)-602-0163, titled “Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny.” The new PM updated the USCIS’s PM and Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) with new policies on when USCIS officers may deny an application, petition, or request without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID). On September 6, 2018, the CIS Ombudsman held a stakeholder teleconference about the new policy. In this post, we will discuss the CIS Ombudsman’s guidance on the new policies.

On December 27, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) terminated all categorical parole programs for certain individuals present in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). This termination affects “USCIS parole programs for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and certain stateless individuals; CNMI permanent residents, immediate relatives of CNMI permanent residences, and immediate relatives of citizens of the Freely Associated States (Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, or Palau); and certain in-home foreign worker caregivers of CNMI residents.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) runs the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP). The DHS website describes the program as “a single point of contact for individuals who have inquiries or seek resolution regarding difficulties they experienced during their travel screening at transportation hubs – like airports – or crossing U.S. borders.” In this article, we will discuss the DHS TRIP with references to the information from the DHS website.

On June 5, 2019, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) published a new interim final rule in the Federal Register (FR) regarding the information that must be provided by alien petitioners for the Diversity Visa Program. The new rule, which takes effect immediately, expands the list of information that must be included in a Diversity Visa petition and provides that petitions lacking such information will be rejected.

On June 30, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will automatically extend parole and, if applicable, employment authorization, for certain residents of the CNMI. This extension of parole will serve as a bridge to the USCIS’s implementing procedures for the new CNMI Resident status.

On July 26, 2019, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) published a precedential decision in the Matter of D-A-C-, 27 I&N Dec. 575 (BIA 2019). The Board held that immigration judges have the authority to deny an application for temporary protected status (TPS) in the exercise of discretion. In so doing, it articulated the factors that immigration judges should consider in determining whether to grant TPS. In this article, we will examine the Matter of D-A-C- decision and what it means going forward.

On August 19, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its Policy Manual (PM) with new guidance on employment authorization for parolees. The USCIS deemed the new guidance necessary in light of President Donald Trump’s declarion of a national emergency at the Southwest border and his direction to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant parole only on a case-by-case basis in accord with the language of section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The guidance supersedes prior guidance for USCIS officers on adjudicating requests for employment authorizations based on parole.

On December 20, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy alert titled “Effect of Travel Abroad by Temporary Protected Status Beneficiaries with Final Orders of Removal.” The alert points readers to changes to the USCIS’s Policy Manual (PM). The new guidance clarifies that when a TPS beneficiary who has an unexecuted, final order of removal or who is in the midst of removal proceedings departs and lawfully returns in accordance with the terms of a grant of advance parole, he or she “remains in the same exact immigration status and circumstances as when he or she left the United States.”

In this article, we examine the current USCIS policies for exercising discretion in adjudicating benefits requests.

On July 15, 2020, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published Policy Alert-2020-10, “Applying Discretion in USCIS Adjudications.” In this article, we will focus on the changes to 10 USCIS-PM A.5, which addresses the exercise of discretion on applications for employment authorization.

On August 21, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio entered a consent order and final judgment requiring the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to produce employment authorization documents expeditiously for a class of noncitizens with approved Form I-765 applications who were facing extremely long delays in obtaining an employment authorization document.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court of the United State’s blocking the Trump Administration’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for the time being, the acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad F. Wolf, published a new memorandum setting forth policies for the implementation of DACA going forward. In this article, we will first examine the Wolf Memorandum before examining how the USCIS plans to implement Acting Secretary’s guidance.

Effective October 2, 2020, the USCIS is implementing a new fee schedule that increases USCIS fees by a weighted average of 20% and restricts the cases in which applicants and petitioners may pursue fee waivers.

We examine the new rules for USCIS fee waivers taking effect on October 2, 2020.

Effective October 19, 2020, the USCIS raised premium processing fees for all Form I-129 and Form I-140 petitions.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a temporary benefit provided to nationals of a country designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security as unable, due to conditions in the country, to safely handle the return of its nationals. If a national of a country designated for TPS is granted TPS, he or she is not removable from the United States, may be granted an employment authorization document (EAD), and may be granted authorization to travel. However, TPS is a temporary benefit and it does not lead to lawful permanent resident status or any other immigration status. However, TPS beneficiaries may apply to change to a nonimmigrant status, adjustment to permanent resident status, or for an immigration benefit for which they are eligible.

Ukraine has been designated for TPS for a period of 18 months. A Ukrainian national must have been continuously present in the United States since March 1, 2022, in order to be eligible.

The USCIS temporarily extended the automatic 180-day EAD extension period for certain renewal applicants to 540 days.

A short guide on requesting assistance from the CIS Ombudsman.

The USCIS ended its COVID flexibility policy which extended the deadlines for numerous forms in recognition of the pandemic.

On January 13, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security “announced that noncitizen works who are victims of, or witnesses to, the violation of labor rights, can now access a streamlined and expedited deferred action request process.”

Updates from August 2023 on the status of the TPS designation for Ukraine. Will Ukraine's TPS designation be extended? What needs to be done to esure that Ukrainians keep their Temporary Protected Status in the USA.