Last week, from June 12-15, 2024, Kolko and Casey, P.C. Senior Associate Attorneys Petula McShiras and Andrea Sweeney, attended the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois where they attended various panels on business immigration, family immigration, and humanitarian immigration. They also participated in open forums with the U.S. government agencies, such as U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Department of...

On July 31, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a final rule on the USCIS fee schedule, which includes a major restructuring of the filing fees for processing applications and benefits with the agency.   While the administration has many adjustments to the filing fees for processing cases, the filing fee to become a United States Citizen (Naturalization), will increase more than an 80% increase...

On March 18, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) closed its Field Offices for in-person services due to COVID-19. This has resulted in processing delays for applicants with pending applications for adjustment of status (lawful permanent residency / “green card”) and naturalization (U.S. citizenship) which require in-person interviews. In early June, USCIS Field Offices around the United States began reopening for limited services including “drive-up” naturalization oath ceremonies. The...

Last Friday, on October 25, 2019, the U.S. Attorney General William Barr decided two cases that could have a significant impact on an individual’s eligibility for certain types of immigration relief. Both cases pertain to an individual’s criminal history and its impact on his or her ability to remain in the United States. In Matter of Castillo-Perez, the Attorney General held that an individual with two or more convictions for driving...

If you were issued a two-year lawful permanent resident card, this means that your residency status is conditional and you will need petition to remove the conditions on your residency. This is done by filing Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residency with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during the 90-day window prior to the expiration of your conditional residency card. Lately, USCIS is taking well over 18...

Attorneys and clients alike are experiencing frustration with the processing times of cases at the local USCIS office.  On April 13, 2015, the Denver Field Office issued a processing time report, which is essentially a snapshot of the cases they were working with on February 28, 2015.  On that date, the local office was processing I-485 Applications for Adjustment of Status that were filed on June 8, 2014, which represents a...

On November 20, 2014, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced a new program to promote citizenship and the naturalization process. Beginning in 2015, USCIS will be conducting a program aimed at lawful permanent residents who are eligible to apply for naturalization.  The program will seek to promote citizenship education and raise public awareness. To further encourage eligible permanent residents to apply for naturalization, USCIS will also be accepting...