Adjustment of Status
USCIS Updates Key CSPA Interpretation to Protect Some Immigrant Youth, But Backlogs Continue to Cause Hardships
On August 24, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new update to its policy manual clarifying a previous policy change aimed at expanding green card eligibility under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) for children who lost eligibility, or “aged out,” due to the years-long visa… Read More
USCIS Policy Change Will Reduce Number of People Who ‘Age Out’ From Green Card Eligibility
A recent policy change by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) should reduce the number of children who age out of green card eligibility. For immigration purposes, a “child” means someone who is under 21 years old and unmarried. Because of backlogs, noncitizens whose only path to a green… Read More
USCIS Faces New Class Action Lawsuit for its Extreme Delays in Processing Waivers
Many families in the United States live in a frightening limbo when processing delays prevent one family member from becoming a lawful permanent resident. A lawsuit was recently filed against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of 248 people, and a class of tens of thousands more,… Read More
USCIS’ Funding Crisis Might Be Too Big for the Agency to Fix by Itself
On January 3, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finally published a new proposed fee schedule for immigration benefits—which is to say, it took an important step to becoming a solvent, functional federal agency that can adjudicate applications in a timely manner again. The fee rule (which will be… Read More
A New Bill Would Allow Millions of Immigrants to Apply for Green Cards
On September 28, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced a bill in Congress that would allow millions of immigrants who have lived in the United States for many years to become Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs). This pathway to LPR status (also known as a green card) would benefit both long-term… Read More
Biden Administration Close to Reaching Increased Cap on Employment-Based Green Cards
The Biden administration is close to using all of the employment-based immigrant visas (green cards) allotted for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that as of August 31, a total of 263,510 employment-based immigrant visas had been used this fiscal year (FY)—close to… Read More
What you need to know about the new proposal to update The Registry
Democrats in the House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least seven years to legalize their status. The bill would change a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act known as “Registry,” which allows… Read More
USCIS Restores Pathway to a Green Card for TPS Holders
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a new policy memorandum on July 1 that eliminated a barrier for many Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients and restored a pathway many have used to obtain a green card. It also provides beneficiaries with a process for traveling outside of the… Read More
Lawsuit Challenges Delays in U.S. Citizenship Application Processing Due to Cave-Stored Files
Thirteen U.S. lawful permanent residents filed a lawsuit to end the delay by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in processing their applications to become U.S. citizens. The excessive delays are now threatening their ability to vote in the November 2022 elections. The plaintiffs each filed their applications in… Read More
U.S. Residents Sue USCIS and NARA for Delays in U.S. Citizenship Applications
Thirteen people waiting to become U.S. citizens filed a lawsuit challenging U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ unreasonable delays and failure to process U.S. naturalization applications filed in 2020. Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.