For this week, here are a few latest USCIS issuances and rules that have a positive impact on the immigrant communities.
On March 29, 2022, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced three actions that are aimed to increase efficiency and reduce backlog to the overall legal immigration system. USCIS has set new agency-wide backlog reduction goals, expand premium processing to additional form types, and work to improve timely access to employment authorization documents. In its press release, USCIS attributed the increased number of pending cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resource constraints resulting from the prior administration. With the Biden administration, USCIS is acting to reduce these caseloads and processing times, while also ensuring that fair and efficient services are available to applicants and petitioners.
Addressing the pending backlog, USCIS is establishing internal time goals that evaluates and guide the backlog reduction efforts of the USCIS workforce and affect how long it takes the agency to process cases. It is hoped that cases will be decided more quickly by improving technology, expand staffing, and increasing capacity. As cycle times improve, processing times will follow, and applicants and petitioners will receive decisions on their cases more quickly.
Premium processing, an expedited adjudication service presently available only to petitioners filing a Form I-129, and to certain employment-based immigrant visa petitioners filing Form-140, has been expanded to include those filing I-539 or those applying to extend or change non-immigrant status, those applying for work permits and other classifications under I-140. Though premium processing is more expensive, the application can also be decided within 15 calendar days.
USCIS continues to streamline the process for Employment Authorization Documents otherwise known as work permits. This includes extending validity periods for certain EADs and providing expedited work authorization renewals for healthcare and childcare workers. This rule also aims to ensure certain individuals will not lose work authorization status while their applications are pending.
* * *
Similar to previous issuances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, US Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending certain flexibilities through July 25, 2022, to assist applicants, petitioners, and requestors in their responses to requests for evidence, intent to deny, filing motion to reopen/reconsideration or appeal, etc. USCIS anticipates that this may be the final extension of these flexibilities.
* * *
USCIS service centers are now accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450 for all forms. The goal of this pilot is to bring USCIS one step closer to accepting digital payments using a credit card at all service centers.
This is very important since cases are filed immediately after a credit card payment goes through, rather than waiting for a check payment to be cleared.