Overview
- USCIS will end remote participation at asylum interviews on May 18, requiring attorneys and interpreters to attend in person or risk a decision based only on the written file and possible administrative denial.
- A new interim final rule taking effect July 10 allows USCIS to reject or deny cases with invalid signatures, undo prior approvals, and keep fees when problems surface during adjudication, with copied, stamped, or unauthorized e‑signatures cited as invalid.
- The June Visa Bulletin directs applicants to use the stricter Final Action Dates chart, delaying many employment‑based filings, with EB‑1 India set to December 15, 2022, EB‑2 India to September 1, 2013, and some family categories like F2A moving forward by about five months.
- Following an April 30 preliminary order by Judge Julia Kobick in a class action over paused cases, DHS said it would resume processing for certain foreign doctors already in the U.S., and USCIS was ordered to lift suspensions for some plaintiffs.
- DHS proposed raising the ICE Form I‑246 stay‑of‑removal fee from $155 to $755, a change now open for public comment until July 6, 2026, which advocates warn could price out immigrants seeking to pause deportation while they pursue legal relief.