COVID-19 US immigration – latest updates from USCIS
3 April 2020
Temporary USCIS Office Closures Extended
Effective March 18, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) temporarily suspended all in-person services and closed its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASCs) to the public. These temporary closures have recently been extended until at least May 3, with in-person services set to resume on May 4, 2020 barring any further developments on public closures. USCIS has stated that its field offices will send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies that are affected by the extended temporary closure. Please note that ASC appointments will be automatically rescheduled once USCIS resumes normal operations.
Temporary Suspension of Premium Processing Services
Effective March 20, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) temporarily suspended premium processing service for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions until further notice due to Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). This means that petitions filed after March 20, 2020 USCIS will be regular processed and decisions will not be made within 15 calendar days on any immigrant and non-immigrant cases. Petitions filed with premium processing before the announcement but received after March 20 will have checks returned and the cases will be processed with regular processing.
Although premium processing is suspended, petitioners can file applications through regular processing and, once the temporary suspension is lifted, can upgrade their petitions to premium processing at a later day. Petitioners may also submit a request to expedite their petition if it meets the criteria on the Expedite Criteria webpage.
Flexibility in Signature Submission
For submissions dated March 21, 2020, and beyond, USCIS will temporarily accept all benefit forms and documents with reproduced original signatures. This means that original documents containing handwritten signature may be scanned, faxed, photocopied, or similarly reproduced for submission with USCIS, eliminating the need for petitioners, attorneys and beneficiaries mailing hard copies of original documents. Electronic signatures are not being accepted at USCIS. This is a temporary change that only applies to signatures and other form instructions should continue to be followed.
The US Embassy in London has confirmed that electronic signatures, such as those signed with Docusign, will be accepted for E-2 Registration applications, however these cases are not currently being issued receipts or being processed due to a reduction in staff. We anticipate that cases will be receipted in the order received once the Embassy resumes operations.
Flexibility for Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Deny
USCIS adopted a measure to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to requests for evidence (RFEs) and notices of intent to deny (NOIDs). For RFEs and NOIDs dated between March 1 and May 1, 2020, a response to USCIS may be submitted within 60 calendar days after the response deadline set forth by the document. Please contact your immigration attorney to receive further guidance on how to effectively respond to your RFE or NOID.
Reusing Previously Submitted Biometrics for I-765 Extension Requests
USCIS announced that it will reuse previously submitted biometrics to process Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, extension requests due to the temporary closure of Application Support Centers (ASC) to the public, preventing the capture of new biometrics. Applicants who had an appointment scheduled with an ASC on or after the March 18 closure or has filed an I-765 extension will have their application processed using previously submitted biometrics. This procedure will remain in effect until ASCs are re-opened to the public.
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