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USCIS Filing Fees to Rise on October 2, 2020

USCIS filing fees are scheduled to go up dramatically on October 2, 2020. For persons who are applying for naturalization to become U.S. citizens, the filing fee will be raised over 80% from $640 to $1,170. This will, no doubt, make it too expensive for many lawful permanent residents to become U.S. citizens. For the […]

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May Visa Bulletin
Good News or Bad News for Immigrants?

The May Visa Bulletin was issued on April 24, 2020, the day after the President’s Executive Order greatly restricted family-based immigration and some employment-based immigration to the United States. Employment Categories in the May Visa Bulletin In the May Visa Bulletin, the forward movement in the worldwide employment categories varies widely. The worldwide EB-1 category, […]

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Executive Order Suspends US Immigration for 60+ Days
Who is Exempt?

An Executive Order suspending US immigration was issued by the White House on April 22, 2020.  The order would reduce immigration to the United States by approximately one-third. The stated rationale for the executive order is that since the COVID-19 pandemic has so far resulted in over 22 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits, reducing […]

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Adios Ann Coulter

Given all the recent immigrant-bashing by politicians hungry for votes, I could not stop myself from reading a new book entitled “Adios America” by Ann Coulter in which she sets out to convince us that immigration is destroying our country. A more apt title for her book would be “Keep America White!” To her, immigration […]

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President Signs LIFE Amendments Into Law

On December 21, 2000, President Clinton, unable to get his LIFA amendments through Congress, signed the Republican-sponsored LIFE amendments into law. AILA has an excellent summary of the LIFE Amendments. The LIFA amendments would have been a boon to immigrants, advancing the registry date to 1986, permanently restoring section 245(I) to the law, and granting […]

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New Immigration Regulations are Coming
8 Things You Need to Know!

Last week, DHS and DOS announced plans to propose a large number of new immigration regulations during the next few months.  The rules would apply to B-1 business visitors, F-1 students, H-1B professionals and their H-4 spouses, L-1 visa holders.  They would also change the EB-5 program, filings for adjustment of status, asylum and DOS […]

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USCIS Proposes Huge Filing Fee Increases

On November 14, 2019, the USCIS issued a proposed regulation which would substantially increase filing fees for many types of immigration benefits. “USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures, just like a business, and make adjustments based on that analysis. This proposed adjustment in fees would ensure more applicants cover the true cost […]

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New Health Insurance Requirement –
Blocked by Federal Appeals Court

The new health insurance requirement for persons applying for green cards abroad was scheduled to go into effect on November 3, 2019.  It could prevent hundreds of thousands of persons from getting green cards. On November 26, U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon issued a preliminary injunction temporarily halting the government’s ability to impose […]

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Asylum Case – How to Increase Your Chances of Winning

 It would seem logical that an immigrant fleeing persecution in his country of origin would have as good a chance to have his asylum case granted in one part of the U.S. as in another. The law and regulations governing asylum are do not vary from state to state.  However, this is far from […]

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Relief Act – The Right Way to Fix Immigration Backlogs

One of the most serious problems in our broken immigration system is that there are not nearly enough immigrant visas – also known as green cards – available each year. As a result, immigrants are stuck in crippling backlogs for many years.  The Relief Act introduced by Senators Durbin, Leahy and Hirono on October 16 […]

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