EAH Immigration Blog

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, USCIS advised that those affected by the storm may avail themselves of certain U.S. immigration benefits or relief; specifically, eligible individuals may request or apply for:

• Change or extension of nonimmigrant status even when the individual request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired;
• Extension or re-parole of individuals previously granted parole by USCIS;
• Expedited adjudication of off-campus employment authorization applications for F-1 students experiencing severe economic hardship;
• Expedited adjudication of employment authorization applications; and
• Assistance to legal permanent residents (LPRs) stranded overseas without their green cards or travel documents.

Applicants are advised to explain their specific circumstances with the late filing.

USCIS also announced that it may allow for delays in filing or submitting required forms of evidence, and it has extended for 30 days the deadline for individuals who received an RFE or NOID with a deadline of October 26 through November 26, 2012.

For quite some time, USCIS has desired to implement a fully paperless, electronic case filing system to be used by attorneys as well as non-represented foreign nationals. Well, in May, USCIS launched its new system, ELIS (the Electronic Immigration System), for receiving and processing limited applications and petitions. For now, certain actions to change or extend status used on Form I-539 for nonimmigrants in B, F, J or M status can be directly or through counsel applied for – complete with document uploading and payment processing – online. New form types are expected to be released in four-to-six month cycles. Initial reports are that the new system contains features that are friendly to attorneys and their clients.

Because the platform does not yet have an interface with popular, commercial immigration forms processing and case management systems – USCIS has not yet released its code to software vendors while it works out the kinks of this initial release – it is unlikely that attorneys will use the system now.  But, once the system is fully vetted and if it works, it can lead to costs savings and efficiencies, such as those seen at other agencies.  Think IRS.  Stay tuned.

In mid-September, USCIS began sending original I-797 receipt and approval notices directly to applicants and petitioners, while sending copies of the notices to their G-28 attorney of record. Previously, the original notice had been sent to the attorney listed on the G-28, while a copy was sent to the address provided by the applicant or petitioner in the applicable application or petition form. According to USCIS, it implemented the change to ensure that documents are mailed directly to the address specified by the applicant or petitioner. A formal regulation will be promulgated governing the change in late November. However, the sending of original notices, especially those approval notices that contain an I-94, can cause problems for the foreign national if the document is lost or otherwise not timely received.

In a terse letter to USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, the immigration bar association, AILA, requested that USCIS resume its prior practice of sending the original I-797 approval notice to the attorney of record. Not only does the change violates current regulations governing the representation of parties in immigration benefits proceedings, AILA expressed deep concern that the change could impair the ability of petitioners and beneficiaries to comply with obligations to verify employment authorization, to maintain status, and to comply with alien registration obligations. Serious harm could result from a misrouted, mishandled, or lost document. For example, when an I-797 notice is sent to an employer in a large operation, the document can easily be misrouted internally, resulting in delays in its reaching the proper unit and to the foreign national. In the worst case, it can be lost. Moreover, in large-scale operations, employers rely on immigration counsel to properly handle immigration-related documents. Finally, sending the original documents to attorneys of record allows for immediate review of key data, and, in the event there are errors (spellings, validity dates, etc.), immediate action to correct the errors can be taken.

During this transition, USCIS will permit petitioners for nonimmigrant workers to use the attorney’s address as the mailing address on the petition but the petitioner will not receive any I-797 notices. Special accommodations also are being made for cases that are premium processed.

For now, employers and human resource officers should pay close attention to the I-797 Notice of Action Approval Notices received on behalf of their foreign national workers, share copies with their immigration counsel, and make sure that original documents are distributed to their workers in a timely fashion.