U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, has changed the way “adjusted age” is calculated for purposes of determining whether a child can take advantage of the Child Status Protection Act, or CSPA. The change advances the date when the child’s age is measured and, as a result, should allow more children to qualify for the law’s protections. But it also affects when the one-year period starts, during which they must take action to immigrate.

CLINIC's policy brief for USCIS outlines the issues that religious workers, and in turn the American communities they serve, are facing due to the agency's backlogs and other policies. The brief offers concrete steps that USCIS can take immediately to reduce the harm to essential religious workers.

The one-page flyer provides information about the upcoming fee increase and changes to fee waiver for the N-400 naturalization application. This resource is intended to assist you as you counsel naturalization applicants and suggest best time to file their applications with USCIS.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, is requesting a $1.2 billion bailout from Congress, saying that without it, they will drastically cut services and furlough 13,400 public servants. USCIS, which processes immigration and naturalization applications, is funded primarily by the fees it charges customers – immigrants, their families and employers. Other federal agencies are funded by taxpayer dollars.

On May 21, USCIS announced that it is incorporating the remaining content from the Adjudicator’s Field Manual, or AFM, into the USCIS Policy Manual. The Policy Manual is still a work in progress, and during this transition period, the AFM text has been moved to the related Policy Manual sections.

This resource is for you and your team and is intended to help raise awareness of the fee changes. It includes CLINIC’s Top 10 Tips for Practitioners as well as an easy-to-print, one-page chart of the top fee increases.

Based on updates to the USCIS Policy Manual, issued on April 24, 2020, you can no longer look to USCIS guidance to support the argument that unintentional false claims do not trigger admissibility.

On November 19, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced changes to its Policy Manual section on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) petitions. The changes are effective immediately and apply to cases pending on, and filed on or after, November 19, 2019. This resource briefly summarizes some of the key changes and contains a chart comparing the current version with the previous Policy Manual section on SIJS.

USCIS’ Acting Director Kenneth Cuccinelli responded to over 150 advocates’ request that the agency provide a 60-day comment period for the public to respond to USCIS’ proposal to change its fee schedule. Acting Director Cuccinelli stated that USCIS will only provide a 30-day comment period to respond to its 300+ page proposal.

On Nov. 12, 2019, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., with over 150 organizations, agencies and local governments, delivered a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Director Kenneth Cuccinelli and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Acting Administrator Paul Ray, urgently requesting a 60-day comment period for the public to respond to USCIS’ proposal to change its fee schedule.

The following are stories of survivors of crimes and abuse who continue to suffer extreme hardships due to USCIS unnecessary delays in processing their applications for protection from future harm.

CLINIC’s policy brief examines extreme processing delays at USCIS under the Trump administration and the particular consequences to TPS holders and their families. The brief questions USCIS’ methods in dealing with the processing delays for TPS holders, pointing out that USCIS elected an unusual, inefficient, and error-prone process. The brief includes recommendations for oversight and holding the administration accountable.

USCIS has issued new guidance on submission of medical examinations (Form I-693), effective November 1, 2018. Under the new guidance, medical examinations submitted on or after November 1, 2018 must have been signed by the civil surgeon within 60 days of submission. Once submitted, they will be valid for two years from the date of civil surgeon signature. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ new policy allows adjudicators to deny an application or petition without issuing a Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny. Read more to see what this could mean for your clients.

Beginning September 12, 2018, applications and petitions filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be subject to the agency’s new policy allowing a denial without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).

In fiscal year 2014, the USCIS Lockbox rejected about 8% of the more than 7.7 million applications it received. CLINIC affiliates have vast expertise and achieve amazing results for their clients every day, but they still report occasional issues with application rejections. Such rejections can be frustrating and cause delays and complications in your clients’ cases. Here are a few tips for resolving issues with application rejections.

Communication is the most important skill in the legal profession, especially when dealing with immigration law. When information is not explained properly, events can quickly escalate to dangerous situations. This is why CLINIC brought in Janna Evans of the Public Engagement Division for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to lead a training on using plain language.

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services redesigned the Permanent Resident Card, also known as a Green Card, and the Employment Authorization Document, or EAD, as part of their Next Generation Secure Identification Document Project. USCIS began issuing these new cards in May 2017.

This one-page flyer raises awareness about the staggering, 95 percent ($580) increase for the N-600 that will go into place. The flyer provides information about what a Certificate of Citizenship is and practical uses, who is eligible and how to apply. Note that this flyer also provides information about alternatives for proving citizenship. When counseling clients, it is important to advise on whether the passport will be accepted as documentation for the intended purpose and if the passport requirements are able to be satisfied (particularly for minors).

This one-page flyer helps raise awareness of the various fee changes that will impact families seeking to reunite through immigration. The flyer provides helpful examples of family-based residency applications and highlights total costs.

This one-page flyer is intended to raise community awareness of the fee changes. It can be printed and posted in your local parishes, schools, community spaces, etc. It can also be used for social media posting. The flyer recommends individuals contact their legal representative to learn more about how the fees apply to them and includes a link to CLINIC’s affiliate directory.

The Ombudsman’s Office was created by Congress in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to help individuals and employers who need to resolve a problem with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and to make recommendations to fix systemic problems and improve the quality of services provided by USCIS.

Calling USCIS’s National Customer Service Center (NCSC) can be time consuming. Here are some tips on making your communications with the NCSC more productive.