Major restrictions to traveling into the United States are being implemented rapidly this week as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, Homeland Security confirmed yesterday (Friday) that the U.S. and Canada are temporarily restricting all non-essential travel across their borders. The U.S. and Mexico also are restricting non-essential travel across the southern border. These restrictions took effect today, March 21, 2020, and will be in place for 30 days, at which point they will be reviewed by each country.
USCIS announced this morning, March 20, 2020, that it will no longer accept premium processing services for all nonimmigrant (I-129) and immigrant (I-140) petitions until further notice due to COVID-19. USCIS will honor premium processing requests for petitions that have been received by USCIS and are pending on March 20.
As of March 18, USCIS is suspending all routine face-to-face services with applicants nationwide until at least April 1. This includes services provided at all USCIS field offices, asylum offices and Application Support Centers (ASCs), such as interviews, naturalization ceremonies, and biometric collection appointments.
USCIS announced last night that premium processing will not be available for most H-1B petitions selected in this year’s lottery until June 29, 2020 (at the earliest). However, H-1B petitions filed on behalf of international students (F-1) seeking a change of status to H-1B may request premium processing by May 27, 2020.
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its April 2020 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement, although the employment-based category 3 for most nationals has no movement after the significant retrogression of 18 months in March.
The US government has now added the UK and Ireland to the countries from which travel to the United States will be restricted. These travel restrictions will take effect tonight (Monday), March 17, at midnight.
US Citizens and green card holders will continue to be exempt from the travel restrictions, but those arriving from affected areas will have to fly into one of 13 designated airports for health screenings, followed by a 14-day self-quarantine.
In light of the rapidly changing circumstances around COVID-19, better known as Coronavirus, President Trump has issued a new proclamation this week, which restricts travel to the U.S. from 26 European countries (Schengen states) and which takes effect tonight, Friday, March 13 at midnight.
The Department of Homeland Security has decided to extend Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for nationals of Yemen for a period of eighteen months. TPS designation for Yemen was scheduled to end on March 3, 2020. The DHS decision will extend it through September 3, 2021.
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its March 2020 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement, although the employment-based category 3, will have a significant 37-month retrogression for most nationals.
Following the recent U.S. Supreme Court order (5-4), USCIS has updated certain forms to incorporate the new rules for determining whether an individual is at risk of becoming a “public charge.” These new forms take effect on February 24, 2020. Prior versions of the relevant forms will be rejected on or after February 24, 2020.
