Release Date 11/10/2022 Agency Committed to Removing Barriers to Naturalization WASHINGTON— U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will host several Veterans Day-themed naturalization ceremonies across the country, welcoming veterans, service members, and military spouses as America’s newest citizens. More than 3,900 naturalization candidates, including members of the U.S military, veterans, and their families will take the

Release Date 11/09/2022 WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today that Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, is available to file online for certain affirmative asylum applicants. USCIS continues to accept the latest paper version of this form by mail. “The expansion of online filing is a priority for USCIS as

Release Date 11/03/2022 WASHINGTON— On Monday, October 31, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security’s final rule (PDF) to preserve and fortify Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) went into effect. The final rule’s implementation means that DACA is now based on a formal regulation, thereby preserving and fortifying the program while the program remains the

Release Date 11/02/2022 Starting in mid-November, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will change how we calculate processing times for orphan and Hague cases. These changes provide stakeholders better information about the total time it may take to receive a decision on their application or petition and are consistent with an agency-wide shift in how

Release Date 11/09/2022 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State (DOS), has announced the lists of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs in the next year. The notice listing the eligible countries will be published in the Federal Register on Nov.

Release Date 11/01/2022 On Aug. 19, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it no longer recognizes the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an accrediting agency. This determination immediately affects two immigration-related student programs: English language study programs, as the programs are required to be accredited under the Accreditation of English Language Training

Release Date 10/27/2022 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is clarifying its Aug. 25, 2020, policy on implementing the requirement that workers leave the United States for at least 30 days after two renewals of their CNMI-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) visa classification. Effective immediately, the only CW-1 petitions we will classify as consecutive petitions for purposes

Release Date 10/21/2022 WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the designation of Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. Only individuals who are already residing in the United States as of October 20, 2022 will be eligible for TPS. “The United States recognizes the ongoing armed conflict and the

Release Date 10/19/2022 WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced updated policy guidance to clarify and conform with the revision of Form N-648, Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions. Consistent with this administration’s goal of removing barriers to legal immigration under President Biden’s Executive Order 14012, Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for

Release Date 05/07/2024 Effective April 1, 2024, we centralized the intake process of Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, and related filings under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) for self-petitioning abused spouses, children, and parents at the Nebraska Service Center. Previously, after we received and receipted VAWA Form I-360 filings at the Nebraska Service Center,