Home > Magazine > Immigration > Immigration News Briefs: FAQs

Immigration News Briefs: FAQs

Provided by Humera Subhani

July 2017

• What’s the latest on DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents)?
On June 15, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would rescind the November 20, 2014 memorandum that created the program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Mr. Obama’s DAPA could have shielded as many as five million people from deportation and provided work permits to them as well. However, that program was never implemented because a Texas court blocked it at the request of a coalition of 26 state attorneys general. The Supreme Court deadlocked, 4-4, on a challenge to that ruling, but the decision by the Trump administration officially ends the litigation. President Trump had made a campaign pledge to eliminate DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), Mr. Obama’s program intended to protect those 800,000 Dreamers from deportation and to provide them work permits so they can find legal employment and enroll in school and colleges. The recent memorandum on DAPA does not affect DACA. There is no word yet if this will change.

• A follow-up question from our last article about F1 change of status petitions: I know that the law changed in April regarding filing a “bridge petition” if I changed status from B2 to F1. However, I had filed my case before then. Does this still apply to me?
It was unclear how USCIS would apply this retroactively, but now we have been learning that USCIS will be issuing requests for evidence (RFE) for cases filed before the change occurred. Such applicants must file a bridge petition and submit the receipt notice from the bridge petition in response to the RFE.

• I am an applicant for a green card and have filed for my work permit renewal, but since they are taking so long these days, my current work permit is expiring. Can I continue working while it is pending?
Since January 17, 2017, USCIS has made some welcome changes to the way it treats employment authorization document (EAD) renewals. The new rule provides for an automatic authorization to work based on a timely-filed and pending EAD renewal application in the same EAD eligibility category. This authorization period is up to 180 days past the underlying EAD expiration date and for as long as the renewal EAD application is pending and not denied.

APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES FOR July 2017

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	22Dec10	22Dec10
2A	08Sep15	08Sep15
2B	01Nov10	01Nov10
3rd	08Jul05	08Jul05
4th	22Sep03	08May04

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	01Jan12	Current
2nd	22Jul08	Current
3rd	15Feb06	08Jun17
Other	15Feb06	08Jun17
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current1B

DATES FOR FILING VISA APPLICATIONS - July 2017

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	22Jul11	22Jul11
2A	08Apr16	08Apr16
2B	01Sep11	01Sep11
3rd	01Dec05	01Dec05
4th	22Jun04	15Nov04

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	Current	Current
2nd	01Feb09	Current
3rd	01Oct06	Current
Other	01Oct06	Current
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current1B