This week, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched a new webpage where non-immigrant visitors can access not only their most recent Form I-94 Arrival/Departure record, but also their last five years of travel history. Until now, visitors had to file requests under the Freedom of Information Act to access their travel histories. These requests would frequently take months to yield results. Now, more recent entry and exit information is available at...

With Congress in a standstill in recent months on comprehensive immigration reform, the White House has asked the Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, to review current enforcement priorities in Washington. Secretary Johnson is reported to be in the midst of a thorough review of immigration law and agency memoranda regarding current practices by the Department of Homeland Security. Many immigration practitioners expect DHS to implement a new discretionary program, similar...

Contributed by Elia Antillon, Administrative Staff USCIS is actively preparing for the DACA renewal process and anticipates announcing a new dual-use Form I-821D in late May 2014, for both original and renewal requests. Recipients must wait until USCIS publishes the new form before submitting their renewal requests.  Recipients should submit DACA renewal applications approximately 120 days before their current expiration date. Requests made 150 days or earlier prior to expiration date...

Earlier this month, while attempting to access the Denver Immigration Court located in the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building, Managing Partner David Kolko was denied entry to the public lobby of the federal building and the Denver Immigration Court when he declined to show photo identification to federal agents guarding the building. Mr. Kolko fully agreed to proceed with regular and necessary security screening, including the use of a metal detector...

U.S. employers of all sizes use the H-1B visa program to employ foreign workers in professional level occupations that require highly specialized knowledge in their field. Several years ago, the U.S. Congress set a limit or “cap” of 65,000 H-1B visas for each fiscal year (FY). An additional 20,000 H-1B visas are available for foreign workers in a specialty occupation who hold a U.S. Master’s Degree in their field. An H-1B...

USCIS released its first quarterly report for Fiscal Year 2014 on statistics for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The numbers demonstrate not only the need for immigration reform laws, but also the need for interim relief for otherwise law-abiding undocumented people currently present in the United States. Through December 31, 2014, a total of 610,694 requests for DACA were accepted by USCIS at their lockbox facility. Of those,...

The Department of State has announced to immigration attorneys, through the liaison efforts of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), that some GLBT immigrants may seek to process their immigrant visas in safer third-countries. Last year, when the Supreme Court struck the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in Windsor v. United States, federal government agencies began recognizing same-sex marriages for federal benefits, including immigration. United States citizens may now seek immigrant...

On March 18, 2014, USCIS announced that, on its own motion, it would reopen and review I-601A waivers that were denied prior to January 24, 2014 and review the reasons for denial. This affects spouses of United States citizens who have had their provisional waivers denied. The I-601A provisional waiver went into effect in early 2013, allowing those who required a waiver for unlawful presence only to have their inadmissibility waiver...

U.S. Supreme Court Declares Section 3 of DOMA Unconstitutional, Provides Important Opportunity for Same-Sex Married Couples to Receive Immigration Benefits. In 1993, the U.S. Congress enacted the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Section 3 of DOMA barred the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), from recognizing any marriage that was not between one man and one woman. Under DOMA, DHS could not approve an immigration petition filed...

Kolko & Associates, P.C. is pleased to announce an important change in the immigration law with regard to the processing of waivers for the Unlawful Presence ground of inadmissibility. This new process is only available for spouses, children and certain parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives). Applicants applying for an Immigrant Visa to the United States are required to demonstrate that they are “admissible” to the United States. The Immigration and...

Kolko & Associates, P.C., is pleased to report the expansion of a critical immigration program to benefit certain people that entered the United States as young children. The program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”), was announced by the Secretary of Homeland Security on June 15, 2012 and the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) began accepting DACA applications on August 15, 2012. DACA is a discretionary determination by the...