A Federal District Court in Texas granted the request for a preliminary injunction on Texas Senate Bill 4 (“SB4”), which means the law will not take effect September 1, 2017. SB4 is a ban on Sanctuary Cities and also uses local and state law enforcement to question the immigration status of residents, among other provisions. The […]
On August 23, 2017, nonimmigrant visa (“NIV”) operations were suspended throughout Russia for eight days. Starting September 1, NIV operations will resume “on a greatly reduced scale” and applicant interviews will be conducted solely at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. NIV interviews at the U.S. consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok are “suspended […]
Officials announced Friday that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) will begin requiring in-person interviews for all employment-based applicants seeking permanent resident status, or, a green card. This announcement is a continuation of President Trump’s “extreme vetting” initiative, and is to take effect starting October 1, 2017.
In-person interviews are a part of the […]
The U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) has made several revisions to the Foreign Affairs Manual (“FAM”) directly reflecting the “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order (“EO”) 13788 that was signed by President Trump in April 2017. The FAM is the authoritative source containing policies and procedures to guide DOS consular officers to effectively carry out […]
Recently, USCIS has been inconsistently denying Advance Parole requests in instances when the applicant leaves the U.S. before USCIS approves the Advance Parole document. If USCIS denies the request, applicants can refile to USCIS the request for Advance Parole. If you have questions about how this policy will impact your situation, please contact SPS Immigration.