Substantial USCIS Fee Increases on the Horizon

Posted November 9, 2019

The Department of Homeland Security, as set forth in a proposed rule to be published November 14, 2019 in the Federal Register, is on course to increase application and petition fees across the board for most U.S. immigration benefits.  The increases are not insignificant.  For example, a bundled application for Adjustment of Status including biometrics and the interim benefits of employment authorization and advance parole (travel during pendency of the application), is set to increase from $1,225 presently to $2,195, an increase of 79%.  Applications for naturalization to U.S. citizenship are set to increase from $640 presently to $1,170, an 83% increase.  Employment petitions on form I-129 are set to rise $200 for H-1B Specialty Occupation petitions and $355 for R-1 Religious Worker petitions, however DHS lack the statutory authority to increase Fraud Detection & Prevention fees, so by comparison, employment-based petition fee increases are marginal compared to family-based benefit and citizenship application increases.

We’re in a decidedly different immigration environment under the Trump Admimsitration.  If you seek family-based immigration assistance or U.S. citizenship, the time to act is now.

 

 

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Nepal Designated for Temporary Protected Status

Posted June 24, 2015

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that eligible citizens and nationals of Nepal may apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) with USCIS for a 180-day period between June 24, 2015 and December 21, 2015.  This temporary TPS designation is due to the devastating effects within the country of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on April 25, and subsequent aftershocks.

TPS status allows eligible Nepalese (and those without Nepalese nationality but who last habitually resided in Nepal) to stay in the United States for 18 months without fear of removal for immigration violations, and provides employment authorization.  Further information about TPS status can be found here.

Contact us today if you are a citizen or national of Nepal and wish to apply for, or better understand, Temporary Protected Status in the United States.

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Significant Drop Seen in Illegal Migration

Posted December 5, 2011

By implication from the volume of arrests, the number of illegal border-crossers entering the United States through the southwestern border has plummeted to levels not seen for nearly forty years.  According to figures released last week by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 327,577 persons were arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border during fiscal year 2011, a drop in 25% from the prior year and a pittance of the 1.6 million persons arrested in 2000.  This trend, coupled with Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) removal of nearly 400,000 individuals from the country in fiscal year 2011 – the largest number of removals in the agency’s history – bodes favorably for the immigration reform debate, given the frequent caveat by tepid proponents of immigration reform that the border must be secured before comprehensive changes to immigration laws are implemented.  Since 2004, the number of Border Patrol agents has been doubled and physical barriers improved, along with technological advances in security measures, such as the use of cameras, sensors and Predator drones (yes, Predator drones).  Will a precipitous drop in illegal migration change the political environment for comprehensive immigration reform? Stay tuned.

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DHS Stepping Up Security Checks on Visa Overstays.

Posted September 19, 2011

The Department of Homeland Security has increased national security reviews of travelers who overstay their visas, including cross-checking individuals with interagency databases. Announcing a program that effectively started this past spring, DHS deputy counterterrorism coordinator John Cohen revealed that a recent check of 1.6 million overstay records resulted in follow up investigations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of almost 2,000 individuals deemed possible threats to national security or public safety. The program, initially recommended by the 9/11 Commission in response to the terrorist hijackers who overstayed their visas, is expected to continue for the indefinite future. From the New York Daily News.

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