USCIS is starting to take major steps towards addressing the global refugee crisis by announcing two new field offices. These offices will be opening in Ankara, Turkey and Doha, Qatar. These offices will serve the goal of USCIS’s mission of allowing lawful, safe, and orderly migration by streamlining the way they process refugee applications.

Russia’s devastating invasion in February 2022 displaced millions upon millions of refugees throughout Europe, with most of them being women and children. Many consider this to be the largest refugee exodus in EU since World War II. President Joe Biden promised to welcome more than 100,000 Ukrainians into the US, following the footstep of other European countries.

In order to reduce illegal border crossings, the democratic party and advocacies have been pressuring President Joe Biden to take steps toward protecting illegal immigrants in the country. The White House are considering different ways to provide temporary legal status along with work permits to illegal immigrants in the U.S. with an American spouse.

Nylssa Portillo Morena, a young El Salvadorian child was brought to the United States illegally by her mother. Fortunately, in 2001, the Bush Administration granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to undocumented Salvadoran nationals who were in the U.S. before a series of earthquake in the Central American nation during January and February of that year.

SB4 is a bill in Texas that effectively bans sanctuary cities. This means that local governments are banned from preventing law enforcement from arresting illegal migrants in the country.

Texas’ leaders state that SB4 is a reactionary bill caused by inaction from the federal government to control migration in recent years.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that, starting April 1, applicants using Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, will have the option to request an original or replacement Social Security number (SSN) or card and update their immigration status with the Social Security Administration (SSA) without needing to visit an SSA office.

In accordance with the Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements Final Rule, published in the Federal Register on Jan. 31, 2024, and effective on April 1, 2024, we are revising our guidance (PDF, 364.37 KB) in the USCIS Policy Manual.

USCIS has updated Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, to include a third gender option, denoted as “X” and defined as “Another Gender Identity.” Concurrently, USCIS is revising the USCIS Policy Manual to accommodate this form update and forthcoming revisions that will incorporate a third gender option.

WASHINGTON— In a continued effort to modernize and enhance access to work permits for eligible noncitizens, USCIS has introduced a temporary final rule (TFR) aimed at extending the automatic extension period for specific employment authorization documents (EADs) from up to 180 days to a maximum of 540 days.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released new guidelines (PDF, 317.28 KB) regarding the validity period of Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. Effective November 1, 2023, any Form I-693 that has been appropriately completed and signed by a civil surgeon will no longer have an expiration date and can be utilized indefinitely as evidence to demonstrate the applicant's non-inadmissibility on health-related grounds.