Immigration News Update (Newsletter) — October 2021

Continuing Resolution to Fund Government Until December 3 Includes Provisions to Aid Afghans at Risk – The continuing resolution to keep the federal government open until December 3, 2021, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden.

USCIS Releases Information for Afghans at Risk, Including Parolees Departing Military Installations and Others – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released information sheets for Afghans at risk, including Afghan parolees departing military installations, in English, Dari, and Pashto.

Federal Judge Orders Biden Administration to Hold Thousands of Diversity Visas Past Expiration – A U.S. district judge ordered the Biden administration to hold 7,395 diversity visas for lottery winners who were still awaiting processing when the fiscal year 2021 ended and the visas were set to expire. Days earlier, another U.S. district judge had ordered the Department of State to hold 966 diversity visas.

DHS Publishes Proposed DACA Rule – The new rule includes the same eligibility requirements as in the past. Changes include modifications to the application process and filing fees, the establishment of a specific category for DACA employment authorization documents, and clarification that DACA beneficiaries are “lawfully present” in the United States for purposes of Social Security.

EADs for Syria TPS Automatically Extended Through March 28, 2022 – DHS has automatically extended the validity of certain employment authorization documents with a Category Code of A12 or C19 issued under temporary protected status for Syria through March 28, 2022.

Most CW-1 Employers Must File Semiannual Report, USCIS Says – USCIS reminded employers of transitional workers (CW-1) in the Northern Mariana Islands that those with currently approved CW-1 petitions with a validity period of six months or more must file Form I-129CWR, Semiannual Report for CW-1 Employers, with USCIS every six months after the petition validity start date.

Croatia Designated for Visa Waiver Program – There are now 40 countries on the VWP list.

ABIL Global: United Kingdom – The video call COVID-19 temporary adjusted right-to-work process was due to end. However, the UK Home Office announced that the process is extended again to April 5, 2022.

For details on these news briefs,click here!

New E-Verify feature. A new E-Verify feature, myUploads, allows employees to upload required documents in JPEG, PNG, or PDF formats to help resolve Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs). Employees can access their myE-Verify accounts by logging into their USCIS online accounts and uploading the requested documents. They can still use fax or mail to submit documents if they prefer. The employer should provide the Further Action Notice (FAN) to the affected employee, discuss the TNC privately with the employee, and allow the employee to decide whether he or she will contest the TNC. The FAN includes the steps for using myUploads to help resolve a DHS TNC. Once uploaded, the employee must call the number on the FAN to resolve the case.https://myeverify.uscis.gov/

New SAVE features. Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) is enhancing its case search capabilities, including improved usability through a search bar and other features, and a more robust case search engine. SAVE will notify users by email at least three weeks before the go-live date for enhancements. https://save.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/SAVESearchCasesTipSheet.pdf

Helpful Links:

Department of Homeland Security:DHS.gov/coronavirus

USCIS: USCIS.gov/coronavirus

ICE:

CBP:

Department of Labor:

State Department:https://www.state.gov/coronavirus/

Justice Department

Agency Twitter Accounts

Immigrant and employee rights webinars. The Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), of the Civil Rights Division, is offering a number of free webinars for workers, employers, and advocates. For more information, see https://www.justice.gov/crt/webinars.

E-Verify webinar schedule. E-Verify has released its calendar of webinars at https://www.e-verify.gov/calendar-field_date_and_time/month

NFor Details on these and other topics, click www.immigration.net!

Follow these links to access current processing times of the USCIS Service Centers and the Department of Labor, and the Department of State’s latest Visa Bulletin with the most recent cut-off dates for visa numbers:

USCIS Service Center processing times online: https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

Department of State Visa Bulletin:

Visa application wait times for any post:https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/wait-times.html/

Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC announced that 5 KBI Attorneys were selected by their peers for inclusion in 2022 The Best Lawyers in America ® list with Charles Kuck, Dustin Baxter, Danielle Claffey, and Jorge Gavilanes in Atlanta, Georgia, and Elizabeth Matherne in Adel, Georgia.

Charles Kuck of Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC, Jeff Joseph of Joseph & Hall PC, and Greg Siskind of Siskind Susser PC are representing nearly 200 green card applicants in Chakrabarti v. USCIS in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Regarding U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ argument that the suit was a backdoor tactic to change the employment-based visa program, Mr. Kuck said, “This is not about changing the program. The program is obviously poorly run, but … our suit does nothing more than maintain the status quo.” https://www.law360.com/articles/1426002/feds-say-workers-green-card-suit-is-congress-problem(registration required)

Charles Kuck was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle in “Indians Waiting for Green Cards Hoped That a Decades-Long Backlog Might End This Year. Instead, Thousands of Slots May Disappear.” In response to a statement that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “is reviewing all policies, operational procedures and options under the law that would allow for available green cards to either be issued before the end of the fiscal year or carried over into FY 2022,” Mr. Kuck said that was not true. Commenting on the queue of applicants who are at risk of losing their chance for a green card, he said, “It’s a psychological nightmare for the people waiting in line. It’s like walking up to a kiosk and the guy in front of you gets his doughnut and coffee and you get up to the kiosk and they pull the shade down and wheel the cart away.” He said the situation is “an affront by the immigration agency to its customers that paid extraordinary amounts of money for a timely service that they are apparently incapable of providing. The cavalier manner [in which] the acting deputy director dismissed the [concerns] in federal court on this issue is shocking. … There appears to have been no effort made to prioritize the use of this maybe once-in-a-generation number of visas to dig into a pressing backlog.” https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Indians-waiting-for-green-cards-hoped-that-a-16491324.php#photo-21517475 (subscription required)

Charles Kuck was quoted in the Atlanta Journal and Consitution in relation to his client Grammy-winning Atlanta-based rapper, 21 Savage, “These manufactured charges are yet another example of how our justice system, from ICE down to the local level, unjustly targets young Black men who seek to exercise their rights,” he said in a statement. “There is no legitimate basis for these charges nor for ICE’s continued antics, and we will fight until Mr. Joseph is justly vindicated.” https://www.ajc.com/news/rapper-21-savage-briefly-jailed-on-drug-weapons-charges-in-dekalb/KFDU3VLNGNGR3HRNYYWTCUJ7YQ/

Charles Kuck was quoted by CNN in “Labor Shortages Expected to Continue as Employers Struggle With Visa Bureaucracy and Covid.” Mr. Kuck said, “Our immigration system is so outdated and so unresponsive to the needs of the 21st century, it’s literally doing economic damage to our country. I think employers are realizing, ‘I’m not going to get these people back.’ ” The article also discusses the H-2B visa, for which the fiscal year cap stands at 66,000, with 33,000 for workers starting employment October 1 to March 31, and 33,000 for those employed April 1 to September 30. https://www.cbs58.com/news/labor-shortages-expected-to-continue-as-employers-struggle-with-visa-bureaucracy-and-covid

Charles Kuck was quoted by Bloomberg Law in “Their Papers Mired in Pandemic Backlog, Visa Seekers Go to Court.” Mr. Kuck said that delays abroad have prompted EB-5 immigrant investors to join a third class-action lawsuit that was filed last month. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/their-papers-mired-in-pandemic-backlog-visa-seekers-go-to-court

Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC published its US legal guide for Corporate Immigration. It can be found at https://iclg.com/practice-areas/corporate-immigration-laws-and-regulations/usa

Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC has an office in Adel, Georgia, near the Irwin, Folkston, and Stewart Detention Centers, which hold more than 6,000 detained immigrants. The new office is managed by our Partner Elizabeth Matherne, the former Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Irwin Detention Project.

We have changed the location of our podcast–The Immigration Hour— to Stitcher. We are entering our 13th year of continuous broadcasts. Listen each week for our latest take on immigration and immigration law!

You can follow us on Twitter @KuckBaxter or @CKuck

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Feel free to reach out with any questions or for help in your immigration case at 404-816-8611 or immigration@immigration.net.