COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of our lives, and as our country is adjusting to the new normal, immigration services at USCIS and courts have made some announcements to ensure public safety. These new changes have several impacts on immigration proceedings.
Our law office is advising clients to make sure their cases are progressing despite these developments. Law Office of John Rottier is fully operational online and have minimized it onsite in person appointments to adhere to social distancing guidelines. In observance of Easter holiday, our office will be closed until Monday April 13th.
Our team is working and doing the due diligence to keep up to date on any changes and new process. Following are some major immigration updates from USCIS :
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services expanded flexibility for responding to USCIS requests. In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, USCIS announced that it adopted measures to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to certain Requests for Evidence (RFE) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID).
Notice/Request/Decision Issuance Date
This flexibility applies to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, NOIT, or appealable decision within AAO jurisdiction and the issuance date listed on the request, notice or decision is between March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020, inclusive.
Response Due Date
Any response to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, or NOIT received within 60 calendar days after the response due date set in the request or notice will be considered by USCIS before any action is taken. Any Form I-290B received up to 60 calendar days from the date of the decision will be considered by USCIS before it takes any action
Immigration Office Closures Extended to May 4
USCIS offices will begin to reopen on May 4 unless the public closures are extended further. Employees in these offices are continuing to perform essential services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public. USCIS will continue to provide limited emergency services. Please call the contact center for assistance with emergency services. USCIS field offices will send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies impacted by the extended temporary closure. USCIS asylum offices will send interview cancellation notices and automatically reschedule asylum interviews. When USCIS again resumes normal operations, USCIS will automatically reschedule ASC appointments due to the temporary office closure. You will receive a new appointment letter in the mail. Individuals who had InfoPass or other appointments must reschedule through the USCIS Contract Center once field offices are open to the public again.