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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a policy memorandum (PDF, 113 KB) (PM) that provides guidance to USCIS adjudicators regarding their discretion to deny an application, petition, or request without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) when required initial evidence was not submitted or the evidence of record fails to establish eligibility. 

USCIS recently updated the following form(s):

If you are an attorney or accredited representative, you can now file Form N-565, Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document for your clients using your myUSCIS online account. There are no substantive changes to the content of the form.

USCIS will no longer provide paper copies of Form N-565. You can file this form online or download a copy from the website.

USCIS is introducing the second phase of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Immigration Records SysTem (FIRST), which will allow all FOIA requestors to track their requests through a USCIS online account and receive their documents digitally. During the first phase, requestors reported that they could easily login to their account and download their documents.

Phase two now allows all FOIA requestors to create a USCIS online account, track their cases, and receive their responses electronically.

Fee-funded grants will support citizenship preparation services for lawful permanent residents

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it is now accepting applications for two funding opportunities under the Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program that will provide up to $10 million in grants for citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country.

On July 24, 2018, President Trump signed the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018 (the Workforce Act), extending the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker program (the CW-1 program) through 2029 and increasing the CW-1 cap for fiscal year (FY) 2019.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced Tuesday the results of a two-phase nationwide operation in which I-9 audit notices were served to more than 5,200 businesses around the country since January. A notice of inspection (NOI) informs business owners that ICE is going to audit their hiring records to determine whether they are complying with existing law.

USCIS announced on July 30, 2018, that it has returned all fiscal year 2019 H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected in the computer-generated random selection process.

USCIS previously announced on May 15, that it had completed data entry of all selected cap-subject petitions.

Policy Memorandum 602-0050.1, Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuances of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens, was issued on June 28, 2018 and instructed USCIS components to create or update operational guidance on NTAs and Referrals to ICE (RTIs), to be issued within 30 days of the Policy Memorandum.  Issuance of the operational guidance is pending; therefore the implementation of PM 602-0050.1 is postponed until the operational guidance is issued.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued updated guidance (PDF, 139 KB) today that aligns its policy for issuing Form I-862, Notice to Appear, with the immigration enforcement priorities of the Department of Homeland Security.

USCIS announced on July 8, 2016, that it has returned all fiscal year 2017 H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected in our computer-generated random selection process.

USCIS previously announced on May 2, 2016, that it completed data entry of all selected cap-subject petitions.

This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers duringNovember for: “Application Final Action Dates” (consistent with prior Visa Bulletins) and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center. 

Visa Bulletin content has changed.  Learn more by reading Updated Instruction for Using the DOS Visa Bulletin.

The congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered annually by the Department of State. Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For Fiscal Year 2017, 50,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available. There is no cost to register for the DV program. Applicants who are selected in the program (“selectees”) must meet simple, but strict, eligibility requirements in order to qualify for a diversity visa.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is creating a parole program to allow certain family members of Filipino and Filipino-American World War II veterans to receive parole to come to the United States.  This parole program was announced in November 2014 by President Obama and Secretary Johnson as part of the executive actions on immigration and is detailed in the White House report, Modernizing and Streamlining Our Legal Immi

H-1B and L-1 petitions filed on or after Oct. 1, 2015, should not include the additional fee that was previously required by Section 402 of Public Law 111-230, as amended by Public Law 111-347, for certain H-1B and L-1 petitions. The additional fee required by Public Law 111-230, as amended, expired on Sept. 30, 2015.

On Oct. 5, 2015, USCIS began applying secure laminates to certain secure forms that authorize travel to the United States. The affected forms are:

• Form I-797F, Transportation Letter, and
• Form I-512L, Parole Authorization Letter.  

The secure, transparent laminates provide an extra layer of fraud protection and authenticity. They contain state-of-the-art technology to deter counterfeiting, prevent tampering and allow for quick and accurate authentication by frontline inspectors in the field.