Immigration News Briefs
Looking for a solution on DACA
In September, the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) rescinded the program, Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals, or DACA, and said it would stop accepting applications
from people covered under the act to renew their
two-year DACA permits. The administration said the repeal
of DACA would take effect in March 2018.
However, a Federal Judge temporarily blocked Trump’s decision to end DACA. Partly granting a request from the University of California, U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued a preliminary injunction in San Francisco ordering DHS to resume accepting renewal applications from people who are already protected under DACA while challenges to the September order work their way through the courts. But DHS does not have to accept new applications, he ruled.
After this ruling, USCIS published these instructions for
DACA applicants:
• Until further notice, USCIS has resumed accepting
requests to renew a grant of deferred action under DACA.
To request renewal, individuals must file Form I-821D (PDF),
Form I-765 (PDF), and Form I-765 Worksheet (PDF), with the
appropriate fee. USCIS is not accepting requests from individuals
who have never before been granted deferred action
under DACA. USCIS will not accept or approve advance
parole requests from DACA recipients.
• If you previously received DACA and your DACA expired
on or after Sept. 5, 2016, you may still file your DACA
request as a renewal request.
• However, if your DACA expired before Sept. 5, 2016, or
your DACA was previously terminated, you cannot request
DACA as a renewal (since renewal requests should be submitted
within one year of the expiration date of your last
period of deferred action approved under DACA), but you
may file a new initial DACA request per Form I-821D and
Form I-765 instructions. For this type of new DACA request,
list the date your prior DACA expired or was terminated on
Part 1 of Form I-821D.
H1B extensions unchanged for now
The USCIS has been reported as stating that it is
not considering a change to the H-1B extension rules,
including its interpretation of section 104(c) of the American
Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21),
which provides for H-1B extensions beyond the six-year
limit for workers who have reached certain milestones in
the green card process. USCIS noted that “such a change
would not likely result in these H-1B holders having to leave
the United States because employers could request extensions
in one-year increments under section 106(a)-(b) of
AC21 instead.” USCIS did, however, indicate that the agency
is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes
to carry out the President’s “Buy American, Hire American”
executive order, including conducting a “thorough review”
of employment-based visa programs.
APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES FOR February 2018
|
FAMILY |
India |
Pakistan/Bangladesh |
|
1st |
15Mar11 |
15Mar11 |
|
2A |
01Mar16 |
01Mar16 |
|
2B |
15Jan11 |
15Jan11 |
|
3rd |
15Nov05 |
15Nov05 |
|
4th |
08Jan04 |
22Jul04 |
|
EMPLOYMENT |
India |
Pakistan/Bangladesh |
|
1st |
Current |
Current |
|
2nd |
08Dec08 |
Current |
|
3rd |
01Dec06 |
Current |
|
Other |
01Dec06 |
Current |
|
4th |
Current |
Current |
|
5th |
Current |
Current1B |
DATES FOR FILING VISA APPLICATIONS - February 2018
|
FAMILY |
India |
Pakistan/Bangladesh |
|
1st |
01Jan12 |
01Jan12 |
|
2A |
01Nov16 |
01Nov16 |
|
2B |
01Sep11 |
01Sep11 |
|
3rd |
01Dec05 |
01Dec05 |
|
4th |
22Jun04 |
15Nov04 |
|
EMPLOYMENT |
India |
Pakistan/Bangladesh |
|
1st |
Current |
Current |
|
2nd |
08Feb09 |
Current |
|
3rd |
01Jan08 |
Current |
|
Other |
01Jan08 |
Current |
|
4th |
Current |
Current |
|
5th |
Current |
Current1B |
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