Blogs

On Trump’s last day in office he published a Memoranda, deferring the removal of any Venezuelan in the United States, while also re-stating the U.S.’s recognition of Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela. This designation also allows Venezuelan nationals who have continuously resided in the U.S. since January 20, 2021 to apply for employment authorization. A few days later, on January 25, 2021, a bi-partisan group of Senators introduced legislation to give Venezuelans Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which would replace Trump’s Executive Order. Read our latest blog to learn more about the new designation and proposed legislation.

President Biden has hit the ground running with regard to immigration policy. On his first day in office, newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden signed multiple executive orders on issues he felt of paramount importance to protect. Out of the 17 orders he signed on January 20, 2021, six of them had to do with immigration. Read our latest blog for our explanation of each of the orders that were signed and their impact on immigration.

Are you needing to renew your Green Card (lawful permanent resident card) soon? On January 12, 2021, USCIS released an Alert notifying LPRs that their Form I-797 receipt notice, together with the expired card, will serve as an extension of one’s lawful permanent residence. Read our latest blog to learn more about this new process.

USCIS offices all over the country are struggling with the backlog that was created by nearly four months of the agency closure. Biometrics appointments are usually held at application support centers (ASCs), which are located all over the country. Between March and June nearly 300,000 ASC appointments were canceled, and today there are 1.3 million people who are waiting for their biometric appointments. Even now, approximately six months after re-opening its centers, ASC operations are only functioning at 65% of their pre-COVID levels. Read our latest blog to see our answers to some common questions about the wait in biometrics appointments.

Under the new bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill signed into law, U.S. citizens and green-card holders will be able to receive the latest stimulus check, even if they jointly filed taxes last year with their undocumented spouse.

Christmas has come early for TPS holders from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal. The TPS designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal were set to expire on January 4, 2021. Instead, TPS for those designations is now extended through October 4, 2021. Read our latest blog to learn what this means for TPS holders from those countries.

What if your immigration status was dependent on a justice system that made inconsistent decisions every couple months? For many in our country, that is the case. Even though the government began to accept new DACA applications due to a recent court order, the future of DACA at this point in time remains uncertain and largely in the hands of the courts. Read our latest blog to learn more about this situation.

We are overjoyed to announce to you that USCIS is now accepting new DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) applications after years of uncertainty and waiting. Read our latest blog to learn more about the announcement.

In early October the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued two new rules regarding H1-B visas, both of which were issued without the public notice and comment typically required when new rules like that are put in place. That effort will now be blocked, as U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White informed the government it was mistaken and misleading in its attempts to issue these rules without following the proper procedure. Read our latest blog to learn more about this ruling regarding H1-B Visas.

Read our latest blog to learn about the steps USCIS is taking to comply with a federal court order regarding employment authorization for asylum applicants.

The path to citizenship in the United States appears to be getting a bit more difficult. On December 1, 2020, an updated civics test will be implemented - meaning those who want to naturalize as citizens will have even more information to study about the U.S. than before. Read our latest blog to learn about the new naturalization exam.

President-Elect Joe Biden has publicly promised that he will immediately reinstate DACA upon his inauguration. We hope so. The last four years have been stressful for Dreamers - the issue of DACA has repeatedly been in courts across the country, and the future of the DACA program has seemed to sit in limbo for months, or even years, at a time. On November 2, Biden tweeted, “Dreamers are Americans - and it’s time we make it official.” We will be waiting in expectation Mr. Biden.

Being located in the Virginia Beach area surrounded by several military installations, many veterans now call our area home. On November 11th our nation celebrates Veterans Day - a day to honor all those who have served in the branches of the United States military. We want to say to all our veterans, “Thank you for your service.” Today we want to shine a light on deported veterans and the struggles they are facing because they are often overlooked. Read our latest blog to find out how to reach out to your senators to tell them you care about these veterans being able to return home to the United States.

In a move that is disappointing but not surprising, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced it has proposed a rule change that would prioritize H1B petitions based on wage level.  The eventual fate of this proposed change may be affected by the pending outcome of the 2020 p...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has reported that the parents of 545 children separated at the border from their families have not been found. We believe that when history looks back at this moment it will recognize that this was not one of our nation’s prouder moments.

A question we often get asked is, if I am a U.S. citizen living abroad married to a foreign-born spouse will our child have U.S. citizenship? A federal court recently answered this question in the affirmative for a same-sex couple. That definition of “child” in the Immigration and Nationality Act has expanded over the years, as new methods of conceiving a child have arisen, challenging the traditional ways our current U.S. citizenship laws have been interpreted.

Two rules announced from the Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security - aimed at protecting the wages of American employees and making it more difficult for foreign workers to obtain H1-B visas - have just been implemented. Read our latest blog to learn what this means.

On October 2, 2020 USCIS was set to increase its application fees by an average of 20%. We previously reported in our Fee Increase Blog that the application fee for naturalization (among other applications) was increasing by over 80%, to a cost of $1,100. Well, for now, all of that is halted. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in California granted a preliminary injunction to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and other plaintiffs in a case against the federal government, blocking the fee increases across the country pending the outcome of the lawsuit because of the arguments made by eight different non-profit organizations providing services to immigrants.

Americans everywhere are unsure when or whether a second round of stimulus checks will be coming out. But as Congress attempts to converge on some sort of compromise for the good of the public, there is still a lot of confusion as to who will be getting more relief if it comes. On June 5, 2020 we reported on a class- action lawsuit filed by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) on behalf of six plaintiffs who argue that the CARES Act discriminates against mixed-status couples because it treats them differently than other married couples, in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment guarantees of equal protection and due process. The case is moving forward and we are committed to keeping you informed regarding this issue.

In a federal case appearing before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California on September 14, 2020, a three judge panel ruled 2-1 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary “possesses full and unreviewable discretion as to whether to consider intervening events in making a TPS determination.” Read our latest blog to learn what this means and how it affects current TPS recipients.

At Valverde Law, we have helped many families with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) obtain green cards or permanent residence after they traveled abroad and returned with a permit known as advance parole. USCIS has now eliminated this option.

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network and others are suing the Trump Administration on behalf of Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) and seven TPS holders to block a policy issued in December 2019 by embroiled USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli. The December Policy ended the practice of USCIS allowing TPS recipients with deportation/removal orders a path to lawful permanent residence and eventual citizenship.

A few weeks ago we posted a blog about the Trump Administration defying the Supreme Court's Orders on DACA. In a continued follow up to the July 28, 2020 Memo from Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf regarding the Administration's approach to DACA at this time, USCIS just released Impl...

Former Virginia Attorney General, Ken Cucinelli, was serving as an acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and took several significant actions affecting immigration law.  A federal court has found that his appointment was illegal and the Trump Administration had appealed t...