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Immigration News Briefs

Provided by Humera Subhani

August 2022

Website updates for noncitizen public benefits

USCIS has updated its public charge resources webpage with more information to help reduce undue fear and confusion among immigrants and their families, including U.S. citizens and their children, that may prevent them from obtaining critical government services available to them.

USCIS question-and-answer section addresses common concerns and misconceptions about the public charge ground of inadmissibility. For example, it does not consider vaccines or public benefits specifically related to the Covid-19 pandemic when making public charge determinations. USCIS encourages everyone, including noncitizens, to seek necessary medical care, including treatment or preventive services for Covid-19.

Noncitizens may seek pandemic-related benefits and services (including food assistance, housing programs, and others) for which they are eligible—without fear of negative consequences to their immigration status. The update clarifies that relatively few noncitizens in the United States are both subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility and eligible for the public benefits considered under the 1999 Interim Field Guidance, including Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and programs (including Medicaid) supporting noncitizens who are institutionalized for long-term care at government expense.

The webpage can be found at: https://www.uscis. gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/ public-charge/public-charge-resources

Implementing phase two of premium processing

On July 15, USCIS announced it is implementing the second phase of the premium processing expansion for certain petitioners who have a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications.

Beginning August 1, 2022, USCIS will accept Form I-907 requests for:

E13 multinational executive and manager petitions received on or before July 1, 2021; and
E21 NIW petitions received on or before August 1, 2021.

USCIS will reject premium processing requests for these Form I-140 classifications if the receipt date is after the dates listed above. USCIS has 45 days to take an adjudicative action on cases that request premium processing for these newly included Form I-140 classifications. It will not accept new (initial) Forms I-140 with a premium processing request at this time.

Eligibility for employment-based adjustments

USCIS wants to ensure the center uses as many available visas as possible in fiscal year (FY) 2022, which ends on September 30, 2022. Therefore, USCIS urges anyone within the United States who may be eligible for an employment-based adjustment of status to note these important reminders regarding Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record:

If you are planning to file an adjustment of status application, be sure to include a valid Form I-693.
If you have a pending Form I-485, Adjustment of Status Application, please do not send an unsolicited Form I-693 to USCIS.
A Form I-693 is valid for two years from the date that the civil surgeon signs the form.

APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES FOR AUGUST 2022

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	01Dec14	01Dec14
2A	Current	Current
2B	22Sep15	22Sep15
3rd	22Nov08	22Nov08
4th	15Sep05	22Mar07

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	Current	Current
2nd	01Dec14	Current
3rd	15Feb12	Current
Other	15Feb12	08May19
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current1B

DATES FOR FILING VISA APPLICATIONS - AUGUST 2022

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	08Aug16	08Aug16
2A	Current	Current
2B	01Jan17	01Jan17
3rd	08Nov09	08Nov09
4th	22Feb06	15Dec07

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	Current	Current
2nd	01Jan15	Current
3rd	22Feb12	Current
Other	22Feb12	Current
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current1B