Coronavirus News

On July 9th, 2021, there was a meeting between AILA and the Department of State (DOS) Liaison Committee about visa backlogs and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the takeaways from the AILA meeting about the DOS backlog and delays. The Immigration and Nationality Lawyers at the NPZ Law Group Continue to monitor the backlogs and delays and work closely with their colleagues at AILA to seek resolutions for their clients concerning same.

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The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has a long-standing reputation of suffering from delays, backlogs, and revenue cuts. Once COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, numerous countries, including the US, faced several structural and institutional challenges with regard to immigration. Before the pandemic, US immigration offices were already facing difficulty processing applications in a timely manner. However, once COVID-19 took over, the situation of this government agency went from bad to worse.
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On June 29, 2021, the Department of State extended the validity of National Interest Exceptions (NIE) for travelers subject to restrictions under Presidential Proclamations (PPs) 9984, 9992, 10143, 10199, and similar subsequent PPs related to the spread of COVID-19. Unless otherwise indicated, existing NIEs will be valid for 12 months from the date of approval and for multiple entries, as long as they are used for the purpose under which they were granted.
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In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending the flexibilities it announced on March 30, 2020, to assist applicants, petitioners and requestors who are responding to certain:

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The Proclamations do not apply to:

• U.S. citizens;
• lawful permanent residents;
• spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents;
• parents or legal guardians of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident unmarried minor child;
• siblings of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident child, provided both are unmarried and under the age of 21;
• air and sea crewmembers;

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As of July 5th, 2021 at 11:59 PM EDT, Canadian citizens, permanent residents and other eligible travellers who are entitled to enter Canada will be able to do so without quarantining, provided they have received all required doses of their COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before their travel.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will offer limited time filing flexibilities to provide relief to certain applicants and petitioners impacted by delays at a USCIS lockbox. These flexibilities only apply to benefit requests submitted to a USCIS lockbox and not to a USCIS service center or field office.

Background
As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, an increase in filings, current postal service volume, and other external factors, some applicants and petitioners experienced a delay in receiving receipt or rejection notices after filing a benefit request with a USCIS lockbox.
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On May 27, 2021, the Secretary of State made a national interest determination regarding categories of travelers eligible for exceptions under Presidential Proclamations related to the spread of COVID-19. As a result of this determination, together with national interest determinations already in place, travelers subject to these proclamations due to their presence in China, Iran, India, Brazil, South Africa, the Schengen area, the United Kingdom, and Ireland


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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced an extension of the flexibility in complying with requirements related to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, due to COVID-19.
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DOS Secretary made a national interest determination regarding categories of travelers eligible for exceptions under regional COVID proclamations, including the April 30, 2021, proclamation restricting the entry of nonimmigrant travelers who have been physically present in India:
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On April 30, 2021, DOS announced U.S. embassies and consulates are using a tiered approach to triage immigrant visa applications and to address the backlog in the processing of immigrant visas. DOS identified four priority tiers listing the main categories of immigrant visas in each:
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