When an applicant applies to change their nonimmigrant status to that of F-1 International Student, they must maintain nonimmigrant status until 30 days prior to the start of their educational program. Since many programs have various start dates and the …
USCIS Removed 90-Day Rule Related to Presumption of Misrepresentation and Fraud from Policy Manual
Under the Trump Administration, the Department of State (DOS) adopted a policy guiding its agents to determine when a noncitizen made a misrepresentation. This policy became known as the 90-day rule. Since this guidance stated that the DOS agents can …
USCIS Cannot Approve New DACA Requests Per Texas v. United States
On July 16, 2021, Judge Andrew S. Hanen, from the United States District Court for the District of Southern Texas, issued a ruling in the case of State of Texas v. The United States of America. The State of Texas …
Naturalization for Veterans Living Outside of the United States
On May 28, 2021, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published clarifying guidance for veterans who live outside of the United States seeking to naturalize. The Immigration and Naturalization Act allows for veterans that were honorably discharged to …
Preserving Continuous Residence and Physical Presence for Religious Duties Abroad
On May 25, 2021, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a change pertaining to how it counts continuous residence for certain individuals. To qualify for naturalization a person must have continuously resided in the United States with …
Inadvertently Registering to Vote and Good Moral Character for Naturalization
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) requires the states to offer eligible citizens the possibility of registering to vote when applying for a driver’s license or identification (ID) card at the state’s motor vehicle agency. As a result, …
Interagency Strategy for Promoting Naturalization
On July 2, 2021, the Naturalization Working Group (NWG) released a report on how they will seek to promote and expand citizenship for noncitizens and immigrants. This report is in response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Restoring Faith in …