Hello everybody. In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you the most recent policy updates
from USCIS. We're going to talk about when, and under what criteria, you can expedite your case.
We're going to talk about new changes to their policy with respect to issuing requests for
evidence, and notices to deny cases. Big changes are coming in that area. We're also going to talk
about the new policy to issue work permits, EADs for a period of two years for certain Adjustment
of Status applications. Next, we're going to cover the USCIS LockBox filing flexibilities. A lot has
been changing in that area. And I'm going to make sure to update you in this video. And finally,
I'm going to tell you what I've learned at the American Immigration Lawyers Association Annual
Conference that took place last week. There's a lot of information that was revealed about USCIS.
Some of their upcoming policies, and some of their upcoming changes that you're not going to hear
anywhere else, but on our channel. So, what are you waiting for? I'll see you on the other side.
Hello, everybody. And welcome back to Immigration Channel. This is a place where you get the most
up-to-date immigration information, immigration updates, and everything else that you need
to make your immigration journey less stressful. My name is Jacob Sapochnik. And I'm an immigration
attorney located in San Diego, California. We help clients in all 50 States. And in this video,
I'm going to go over all the changes that are happening right now with USCIS,
lots of interesting things. And we're going to break it down into different sites. So,
let's start. First of all, with the most recent policy updates that are coming from USCIS. So,
let's start first with expedited processing. Under the most recent update, US immigration
officers are given further guidance as to when and under what circumstances they can expedite cases.
Remember that under the Trump Administration, it was very difficult to expedite cases. And in fact,
they narrowed down the criteria as to who can qualify to expedite their case. And now,
under this new policy, it has been extended. So, for example, the criteria of emergency is back,
that was eliminated under Trump. So now, under certain emergency circumstances, you can request
your case to be expedited. Also, what is coming back is the criteria for travel for medical
reasons. So, if you need to travel for medical reasons, that could be also a reason to expedite
your case. In addition, severe financial loss. If you're going to experience severe financial loss,
because your case is going too slow, that can also be a reason now to expedite your case. Again,
all this was eliminated under the Trump Administration. And finally, if your case
is pending, and as a result of that, you may need to lay off employees if you're an employer,
and you're waiting for a petition, and it's taking too long, that also could be a reason
to expedite your case. And it's going to help a lot of employers who are currently waiting
for their work visas to be processed. And if they can show we're waiting for this employee,
it's been almost a year, it's going to cause financial hardship. And we're going to need to
start laying off employees. So these are the kinds of reasons that now we can use to try to
expedite cases, whether it's employment-based or family-based petitions. And finally, nonprofits
that request their expedited requests are in the interest of the social and the cultural benefit
of the United States, they can also request their cases to be expedited. So overall is great news,
more options for us to expedite cases with USCIS. Before we jump to the next section,
remember, if you're here for the first time, don't forget to subscribe to our channel,
click the notification bell so you don't miss any of our videos. And also give us a big like,
so YouTube will be able to show this video to more people just like you. If you need my help with
any of your cases, make sure you send us a text 619-483-4549. Now, let's jump to the next policy
update. Request for evidence and notices of intent to deny. USCIS is now rescinding its 2018 policy
memo that essentially allows them to deny cases if they're missing certain initial evidence. So, for
example, let's say you file your green card case, but you forgot to include the birth certificate or
even a marriage certificate. Under the old policy 2018. Your case could have been denied without
issuing a request for evidence. Well, now, they're canceling all that. They're going back to the 2013
policy memo. And another memo, If you file a case and the Immigration Service is lacking certain
evidence or they have questions about whether you're eligible, they should send you a request
for evidence, a request to clarify what's going on and give you an opportunity to provide that
evidence. Well, all this is coming back right now. It's going to help ensure that our immigration
system is fair and reduce the amount of cases that are being denied for no reason. So, these
are overall great news. We're excited to be able to help our clients even further without getting
unnecessary denials that not only clog the system with motions to appeal and requests to resubmit
but also make the whole process much more fair and reasonable. And the final policy update is
that USCIS is now extending the validity of certain Employment Authorization Documents,
specifically in cases involving Adjustment of Status. Essentially, what they're going to do,
they're going to increase the validity of the work permits that you file with your adjustment
of status application from one year to two years validity, that includes new work permits filed
with Adjustment of Status, including extensions as well. Overall, These are great news that's
going to help reduce the backlog less people are going to need to file applications more frequently
because they're going to be extended for two years. The current backlog is more than 370,000
EAD applications have been filed in 2020, and the backlog keeps increasing. So, by doing this,
they're going to reduce the backlog and allow people not to worry about losing their jobs if
their work permits are now expired. Now, let's move on to the most recent update from USCIS
LockBox filing flexibilities. USCIS is going to offer some relief and guidance to those
applicants impacted by the severe delays with the LockBox filing. As you remember, when you file
cases like DACA, N-400, Adjustment of Status, I-90s, and certain I-360 self-petition cases,
it took the LockBox more than 11 weeks to even issue a receipt notice. In some cases, even more
than that. The problem was that by the time they ended up adjudicating those cases, the filing fees
checks expired, and they had to resend those cases back and rejected the applicants. In many cases,
it resulted in people overstaying, aging out, and many other things. So, this recent guidance
gives us an indication of what's going to happen to people that were impacted by those rejections.
So, this is what the guidelines say. The first one is regarding fee waivers
and rejected applications. So, your adjustment application, your N-400, your I-90, if that
application was rejected, just because your fee expired, but your benefit kept being processing.
So they didn't reject your entire case, they just send you a notice that your payment expired. Under
this guidance, you can resubmit your application with a new fee. And they’re going to penalize you
for late filing, if your application was entirely rejected, because of the delay. So for example,
they rejected your N-400, they rejected your adjustment of status. Because of the delay,
they will consider your application as if it was filed on the original day that you submitted it
and they're also going to waive your fee. And you can just resubmit the application without a fee.
As long as you can prove that that rejection was only because of their delay in processing your
case. And another flexibility with a LockBox is the Child Age Protection. So, for example,
if you submitted your application, and it was pending, and because of their delays,
your check expired, and they had to send this all application back to you whether it's N-400
or an adjustment of status. And by that time, if you were under the age of 21, and then
when the application was rejected, you were over the age of 21. And now you're missing
your benefit. If you can show that this rejection was because of the USCIS fault,
because of the delay, you can now resubmit this application. And they will honor your
age at the time of their original application. And so this way, people that lost their benefit,
because they age out because of USCIS delay, are going to be able to resubmit this
and still keep their benefits because it wasn't their fault. Finally, USCIS encourages applicants
to check their petitions that were rejected in the past year, and see if they're rejected
incorrectly. And if so, contact USCIS and try to figure out a way to refile those applications. So,
you can still maintain your benefits specifically in people that are concerned about their priority
dates. So, it's really important to know that some people when they file that particular
application or a particular date, a date becomes their priority date. And if the case has been
rejected, they have to start over again. Well, if you can prove that it was an error of USCIS,
specifically the LockBox, you're going to be able also to retain that original priority date
before the rejection. So, make sure you look back at your case they were file from October 1, 2020
to April 1, 2021. Any rejections from the LockBox that were done incorrectly, can now be resubmitted
without any penalties, which is amazing. If you need help with any of your rejected applications.
Don't be afraid to send me a text, 619-483-4549. I'm here to help. And finally, I wanted to share
a few nuggets, a few updates that I learned as the last at the American Immigration
Lawyers Association Annual Conference that took place last week. We attended a few open forums
with the USCIS, with many other agencies. And here's a few things that I wanted to share with
you. At the USCIS open forum, representatives of USCIS clearly stated that interview waivers
will continue to happen. These are interviews that are being waived specifically for applications
that are based on Adjustment of Status, both on the employment and on the family side. They
confirmed that such interviews are going to continue to be waived. The thing is, there
are no criteria and no guidance as to what they're looking for when they're waiving those interviews,
that information wasn't disclosed. But the good news is that you're going to be able to see
more and more interviews be waived with their efforts to combat the backlogs. Because the
less interviews they have to do, the more time they can spend to clear those backlogs.
So that's a great update that I can share with you more interview waivers are coming your way
from USCIS. The second thing they mention is we have a big issue with people that are filing for
reentry permits, and other applications that require biometrics. And specifically when you
file for a re-entry permit, sometimes you have to travel back before you get your biometrics
before you actually get your re-entry permit. And it's very difficult for people to go back
and forth. And come back for the biometrics. If you don't show up for your biometrics,
your case can be completely canceled. Right now, if you need to reschedule your biometrics,
if you cannot make it, it's very difficult. You have to stay on the phone, you have to call
USCIS, you have to get an agent, a second-tier agent. It may take hours and most people find it
very difficult to do so. Well, under the new proposal they're implementing, soon they are
going to be able to reschedule biometrics online. There's going to be a way to log into the website
and reschedule biometrics in a few minutes. So, if you're overseas, or if you cannot make it,
all you have to do is log in and reschedule it online. This is going to be a huge help for many,
many applicants that are currently struggling to reschedule their biometric. Such change they
mention is that within the next year or so, almost all USCIS applications are going to move online,
they're going to have no paperwork anymore to be filed physically. It's all going to be online
through a new system that they're developing. Currently, there are only a few applications that
are fully online. But in the next year or so the entire USCIS form system is going to move online.
So, hopefully, it's going to happen. I still find it hard to believe that they can implement
it so fast but that was the idea. And that's the goal for USCIS to move the entire system online,
which is great for all of us. Also, they're going to be expanding premium processing
to many, many more applications. There was already proposed last year,
but now it's actually going to start being implemented. You're going to be able to file
premium processing for many, many applications, including change of status applications
inside the United States. It's going to help a lot of people, it's going to ease the pressure,
it's going to make the system much more efficient. So premium processing is coming to many, many more
applications very, very soon. So overall, these are really great updates from USCIS. Hopefully,
the Department of State can learn something from them, and see how they are trying to improve,
trying to make things more efficient. And they're trying to help the public, even when they make
mistakes. They're really trying to work on a system to make things right. If you enjoyed
this video, please let me know in the comments what other topics you'd like me to make videos
on. And if you have any questions, also drop them in the comments. Once again, If you're here for
the first time, don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Click the notification bell so you don't
miss any of our videos. And also give us a big like so YouTube will be able to share this video
with more people just like you. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in our next video.