Additional 32 Immigration Judges Across 16 Courts Added by DOJ
The U.S. Department of Justice welcomes additional immigration judges to immigration courts in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. In total, 32 incremental judges were added. The new judges have backgrounds in immigration law, advising clients on their legal status, as well as work experience with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The new judges were named in October 2022. In total, for the year, DOJ has added 81 immigration judges.
Second EAD and AP in the Same Category Getting Denied by USCIS
Due to processing backlogs and fluctuations in visa availability, many employment-based Adjustment of Status (AOS) applicants have resorted to filing a second AOS application in a different eligibility category with the hope of more quickly securing a Green Card. Applicants have also been filing a second I-765 for employment authorization (EAD) and I-131 for travel authorization (AP) concurrently with their second AOS application.
How to Read the Visa Bulletin for Employment-Based Cases
The U.S. immigration law provides foreign nationals with a variety of ways to become lawful permanent residents (green card holders) through employment in the United States. These Employment-Based (EB) “preference immigrant” categories have three broad categories. Learn more about each and how you may be eligible.
FY2024 Diversity Visa Lottery Registration Open Until November 8
The U.S. Department of State is accepting online applications for the FY2024 Diversity Visa lottery. The registration period opened on October 5 and will close at noon EDT on November 8. The Diversity Visa is an opportunity for foreign nationals from a list of qualifying countries that are under-represented in U.S. immigration to apply for a green card. A total of 55,000 green cards, or legal permanent resident status, are available each year, as outlined by U.S. Congress.
USCIS Extends Select COVID-19 Flexibilities
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the extension of select COVID-19 flexibilities for some requests, continuations, notices, and motions. The selected flexibilities extend to January 24, 2023.
DHS Designates Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months
The Department of Homeland Security announced that Ethiopia has been designated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. Only Ethiopian citizens already in the U.S. as of October 20, 2022, qualify.
DHS Extends Form I-9 Requirement Flexibility Through July 2023
The Department of Homeland Security announced the extension of Form I-9 flexibility through July 2023. The current flexibilities were scheduled to end on October 31, 2022.
Basis of Asylum-Seeker Work Permit Lawsuit Challenged
A lawsuit filed to challenge Trump administration policies that delayed asylum-seekers work permit access should be eliminated, per the Biden administration. The basis of the claim is the policies enacted under President Trump are no longer in effect. Therefore, the very basis of the lawsuit no longer exists. And as such, the lawsuit should be dropped.
DHS Errors Stopped 63K Immigration Cases
Over 63,000 immigration cases were stopped in FY2022 due to alleged errors by border patrol agents. The claim states the agents did not file Notice to Appear (NTA) papers with the immigration court, as required. The finding, from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), found 63,586 pending immigration cases were tossed as some Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents failed to file the appropriate paperwork. TRAC states the information was gathered through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests.
Embassies in India Open the Additional 100,000 Visa Appointments
As previously noted, U.S. Embassies in India added an additional 100,000 appointments for H and L visas for first-time applicants. These appointments are now open. This is the first time since prior to the global pandemic that these appointments have been made available.