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Consular Services Fees Increasing
Schedule of Fees for Consular Services – Nonimmigrant and Special Visa Fees The Department of State (Department) proposes adjustments to the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services (Schedule of Fees) of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) for several nonimmigrant visa (NIV) application processing fees, the Border Crossing Card (BCC) for Mexican citizens age 15 […]
Navigating the U.S. Immigration Labyrinth Right Now
Photo by Susan Yin on Unsplash Two summers ago, before my sons entered high school, we took a family trip to Italy. It seemed like the perfect time – my sons were old enough to appreciate the trip but not so busy they could not go. I could never have imagined then how grateful I’d […]
The Waiting Is the Hardest Part
Last year I had to develop new and deeper wells of patience. My twin sons were applying to college. We had visited some schools and learned about others remotely. The autumn involved coaching my sons to put their applications together in a timely manner. But it was the months of waiting over the winter for […]
USCIS Budget Crisis
In May, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) notified Congress that the agency predicted a budget shortfall for the remainder of 2020, reportedly due to a lower volume of filings received during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency requested a $1.2 billion bailout from Congress and noted that, if it did not receive the money, it […]
Visa Articles to Review
Two articles from 2020 discuss some issues for which you need to be aware. Following are the articles and the bullet points for each: Article: USCIS Informs 13,000 Federal Employees of Potential Furloughs Without Emergency Funding The potential furloughing of 13,000+ workers with USCIS will adversely affect processing times for applications for various immigration benefits. […]
Why are there Visa processing delays?
Why is your case taking so long? USCIS processing delays remain at crisis levels. Why hasn’t your case been decided yet? Millions of families, businesses and individuals are applying for immigration benefits through the USCIS – U.S, Citizenship and Immigration Services to process and approve applications and petitions. In just six years the processing time […]
Credit Card Pilot Program Expansion
USCIS Expands Credit Card Payment Pilot Program to Form I-140 When Requesting Premium Processing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that it has expanded a previously announced pilot program at the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) for accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, for certain applicants applying for […]