Adjustment of Status

The Council and NIP File FOIA on How USCIS’ Alien Smuggling Determinations Impact Approval of Immigration Benefits
This FOIA request seeks records and data from USCIS about how the agency determines whether a migrant smuggled another person into the United States. Read More

The Biden Administration’s Parole-In-Place Announcement
President Biden announced a new “parole-in-place” program for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens. What does it mean, and who will benefit? Read More

Biden Announces Immigration Protections for Up to 550,000 Spouses and Children of US Citizens
On June 18, the Biden administration announced two major new policies which may help provide streamlined paths to legal status for certain long-time undocumented immigrants. The first policy will allow undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens who have been in the country to apply for “parole in place,” a protection… Read More

Biden Expands Immigration Protections to Undocumented Spouses and Streamlines Employment-Based Visas for DACA Recipients
On June 18, the Biden administration announced policy changes that will provide immigration relief to thousands of deeply-rooted immigrants in the United States. Read More

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
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