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Immigration Update

Feb 6, 2023 | Immigration Updates

In this edition, find the latest news about U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS’s) clarification of physical presence guidance for asylees and refugees applying for adjustment of status, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) proposal to require additional passenger air travel documents, and certain asylum becoming eligible to apply for work authorization online.

USCIS Clarifies Physical Presence Guidance for Asylees and Refugees Applying for Adjustment of Status

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has clarified that an asylee or refugee must have been physically present in the United States for one year when USCIS adjudicates the Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, rather than when the adjustment of status application is filed. This applies to all Form I-485 and Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, applications that were pending on February 2, 2023, and those filed on or after that date.

The guidance update also clarifies that asylee and refugee adjustment of status applicants previously admitted in J-1 or J-2 nonimmigrant status and otherwise subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 212(e) do not need to meet that two-year requirement (or obtain a waiver) to adjust their status under INA § 209.

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CBP Proposes Additional Passenger Travel Document Requirements for Air Carriers

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposes to amend its regulations to incorporate additional commercial air carrier requirements that would enable CBP to determine, before an aircraft’s departure from the United States or from a foreign port or place, whether each passenger is traveling with valid, authentic travel documents before the passenger boards the aircraft. The proposed regulations would also require commercial air carriers to transmit additional data elements through CBP’s Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) for all commercial aircraft passengers arriving, or intending to arrive, in the United States, “to support border operations and national security and safety.”

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Certain Asylum Applicants Can Now Apply for Work Authorization Online

Applicants for employment authorization under category (c)(8), Pending Asylum and Withholding of Removal Applicants and Applicants for Pending Asylum under the ABC Settlement Agreement, can now file Form I-765, Application for Work Authorization, online.

To apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) based on a pending asylum application under the (c)(8) eligibility category, the applicant may file Form I-765 150 days after filing the asylum application. The filing date is the date U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives a properly filed Form I-589, Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal. The date can be found on the receipt notice.

To file the Form I-765 online, an applicant must first create a USCIS online account. There is no cost to create an account.

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USCIS Announces Results of FY 2024 H-1B Initial Registration Period Amid Fraud Concerns

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the results of the fiscal year (FY) 2024 H-1B initial registration period and expressed concerns about fraud.  During the registration period for the FY 2024 H-1B cap, USCIS saw a significant increase in the number of registrations submitted compared to prior years. For FY 2024, total registrations were 780,884, with 110,791 registrations selected. By comparison, for FY 2023, there were 483,927 total registrations, with 127,600 selected. The total number of H-1B visas that can be issued each year is 85,000, of which, 20,000 are reserved for candidates holding advanced degrees from U.S. universities.  USCIS said that the large number of eligible registrations for beneficiaries with multiple eligible registrations, which was much larger than in previous years, “has raised serious concerns that some may have tried to gain an unfair advantage by working together to submit multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary. This may have unfairly increased their chances of selection.” USCIS said that each petitioner signs an attestation under penalty of perjury, and that if the agency finds that the attestation was not true and correct, it may deny the petition or revoke approval, and may refer the petitioner for investigation […]

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Immigration Update

In this edition, find the latest news on the USCIS follow-up on international student issues, HHS poverty guidelines, DOS’s ‘’Welcome Corps’ and more! USCIS Provides Follow-Up Q&A on International Student Issues U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided questions and answers following a webinar presented by the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman in August 2022 on international student issues. Topics include maintaining F-1 status and Optional Practical Training (OPT), applications for employment authorization, Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, changes of address, and COVID-19-related issues. Details: Back to Top HHS Issues Poverty Guidelines for 2023 The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued updated poverty income guidelines for 2023 to account for 2022’s increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Several federal programs use the poverty guidelines as an eligibility criterion. As in prior years, the 2023 guidelines “are roughly equal to the poverty thresholds for calendar year 2022 which the Census Bureau expects to publish in final form in September 2023,” HHS said. As an example, the 2023 poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia (DC) are $14,580 annually for a […]

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