Palmer Polaski Blog

On June 23, 2023, the U.S Supreme Court denied a challenge to President Biden’s immigration enforcement guidelines, declaring that the Executive Branch is entitled to set its priorities for arresting and removing immigrants. The vote was 8-1, with Justice Samuel Alito being the lone dissenter. The Court reasoned that the state challenges for more arrests […]

Many EB-2 applicants who went through the PERM process may already have an approved I-140 but, because of the visa backlogs in the EB-2 category, are ineligible for adjustment of status because their priority date is not yet current. An NIW petition may offer some limited relief to these individuals. While NIW will not expedite […]

DHS Announces Extension and Redesignation of TPS for Several Countries: On June 21, 2023, DHS announced the rescission of the 2017 and 2018 terminations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. DHS will extend the designation as follows: El Salvador – for 18 months, from September 10, 2023 through […]

Highly skilled foreign nationals seeking employment-based green cards in the United States can consider applying under the first preference category extraordinary ability (EB-1A for purposes of this article), or second preference category National Interest Waiver (NIW). These are coveted visa categories because they allow the applicant to self-petition, do not require a bona fide job […]

On February 14, 2023, USCIS updated their policy manual, effectively expanding age-out protections under the CSPA. Under the new guidance, USCIS will now use the Dates for Filing Chart to calculate noncitizens ages for CSPA purposes, which provides noncitizens more certainty about their eligibility to adjust status. If these noncitizens are eligible to adjust status […]

While adjudication times for immigration benefits can take several months to several years to decide, an applicant or petitioner can request that USCIS expedite the processing of an application or petition. These expedite requests will be considered by USCIS on a case-by-case basis and is entirely up to the discretion of USCIS. USCIS can grant […]

In late February, the Biden Administration announced new asylum policies that seek to disqualify migrants from asylee status if they entered the United States between official ports of entry after failing to seek refugee status in other countries that they may have crossed along the way. This proposed policy change can be detrimental to many […]

An ADIT stamp (also known as an I-551 stamp) can be used by lawful permanent residents (LPRs) as evidence of their permanent residence when the permanent residence card has not yet been received, has expired, or has been lost. The ADIT stamp provides evidence of status so that LPRs are able to work and travel […]

Effective January 30, 2023, USCIS began accepting premium processing requests for all pending and initial EB-1 multinational executive and manager I-140 petitions and all pending and initial EB-2 (National Interest Waiver) I-140 petitions. Unlike typical premium processing applications that require 15 days to adjudicate, USCIS has 45 days to take action on these specific employment-based […]

On February 2, 2023, USCIS updated its guidance to clarify that both asylees and refugees must have been physically present in the United States for one year at the time of adjudicating their Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. Previously, asylees were required to be present in the United States for […]