On March 9, 2021, the DHS announced that it will no longer seek judicial review of any court decisions invalidating the 2019 Public Charge Final Rule, noting that the government will no longer defend the 2019 public charge rule as doing so is neither in the public interest nor an efficient use of limited government resources. The USCIS website was updated on March 10, 2021 to state that Form I-944 (Declaration of Self-Sufficiency) is no longer required for applicants for perm

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced flexibilities for certain foreign students applying for Optional Practical Training (OPT) whose receipt notices for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, are delayed. The flexibilities apply only to applications received on or after October 1, 2020, through May 1, 2021. To allow F-1 students to complete their full periods of requested OPT (up to 12 months), the 14-month period within which they must c

The U.S. Department of State released its Visa Bulletin for March 2021. The US State Department’s March 2021 Visa Bulletin features significant advancement in many employment-based green card categories. Following the trend of the last two months, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will honor the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based cases. Final Action cutoff dates advance for many employment-based green card preference categories in the Visa