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Immigration News Briefs

Provided by Humera Subhani

November 2022

Green card validity time for renewals

Effective Sept. 26, USCIS is automatically extending the validity of Permanent Resident Cards to 24 months for lawful permanent residents who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card. Lawful permanent residents who properly file Form I-90 to renew an expiring or expired Green Card may receive this extension. Form I-90 receipt notices had previously provided a 12-month extension of the validity of a Green Card. USCIS has updated the language on Form I-90 receipt notices to extend the validity of a Green Card for 24 months for individuals with a newly filed Form I-90. On Sept. 26, USCIS began printing amended receipt notices for individuals with a pending Form I-90. These receipt notices can be presented with an expired Green Card as evidence of continued status. This extension is expected to help applicants who experience longer processing times because they will receive proof of lawful permanent resident status as they await their renewed Green Card.

Waiver of 60-day rule for medical forms

USCIS is extending the temporary waiver of the requirement that civil surgeons must sign Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, no more than 60 days before an individual applies for the underlying immigration benefit (including Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status). The waiver was originally effective until Sept. 30, 2022, but it has been extended to March 31, 2023. This waiver applies to all Forms I-693 associated with applications for underlying immigration benefits that have not been adjudicated, regardless of when the application was submitted to USCIS or when a civil surgeon signed the Form I-693.

Next phase of premium processing

On Sept. 15, USCIS announced it is implementing the next 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.

Similar to the first phase and second phase of the expansion, this phase only applies to certain previously filed Form I-140 petitions under an E13 multinational executive and manager classification or E21 classification as a member of professions with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest waiver (NIW). Petitioners who wish to request a premium processing upgrade must file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service.

Beginning Sept. 15, 2022, USCIS will accept Form I-907 requests for:

E13 multinational executive and manager petitions received on or before Jan. 1, 2022; and

E21 NIW petitions received on or before Feb. 1, 2022. It will reject premium processing requests for these Form I-140 classifications if the receipt date is after these dates. 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.

Expansion of premium processing

USCIS announced that it implements the expansion of premium processing in a phased approach. It will continue working toward premium processing availability of additional Form I-140 petitions, Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, and Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. It will also adhere to the legislative requirement that the expansion of premium processing must not cause an increase in processing times for regular immigration benefit requests.

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	01Apr12	Current
3rd	01Apr12	Current
Other	01Apr12	01Jun20
4th	Current	Current
5th	08Nov19	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	01May12	Current
3rd	01Jul12	Current
Other	01Jul12	08Sep22
4th	Current	Current
5th	08Dec19	Current1B