Press Release / News / Updates

Governor Hochul signed Bill A6328A into law in the New York State Assembly on December 23, 2022. The Bill would amend the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)), i.e., the New York Executive Law § 292, to ban discrimination, harassment, or retaliation against employees and job applicants by employers based on their citizenship and immigration status. According to this law, “citizenship or immigration status” is “citizenship of any person or the immigration status of any person who is not a citizen of the United States.”
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On Oct. 12, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new process for Venezuelans.

This new process will provide a lawful and streamlined way for nationals of Venezuela who are outside the United States and lacking U.S. entry documents to come to the United States.
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The Ombudsman’s report of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shows extensive backlogs of processing millions of immigration cases, which are credited to the effects of the pandemic and some of the policies of the Agency. Thus, the NPZ Law Group explains what was learned through the Ombudsman’s report.
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Managing Attorneys at the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group - VISASERVE - Ludka Zimovcak, Esq. and Snehal Batra, Esq. will be receiving an Enterprising Women in Commerce Award in the Legal category from CIANJ.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced changes to simplify and improve how the agency communicates case processing time data to the public. As part of an agency-wide commitment to improve transparency, efficiency, and customer service, the changes also make it easier for individuals to get an immediate answer on when they can make an inquiry into their case.
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U.S. citizens in Ukraine should complete this online form so that the State Department can communicate with you. U.S. citizens seeking to depart Ukraine can also call 1-833-741-2777 (in the United States) or 1-606-260-4379 (from overseas) for immediate assistance.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur M. Jaddou announced the agency’s new mission statement. Last year, USCIS leadership empowered employees to submit words that they felt best illustrated the agency’s work. The new mission statement is a reflection of this feedback from the workforce, the priorities of the Biden Administration, and Director Jaddou’s vision for an inclusive and accessible agency.
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Immigration Attorneys

 

Immigration policy is often the source of new headlines and October was filled with them. The Biden Administration is looking to make some significant departures from Trump Era immigration policy and one major departure was announced on October 12^th. The announcement made clear that U.S. immigration authorities would be stopping mass arrests of unauthorized immigrants at worksites.
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USCIS is releasing preliminary fiscal year (FY) 2021 agency statistics and accomplishments. These preliminary statistics highlight important immigration trends and illustrate the work accomplished by USCIS in FY 2021. The agency will publish final, verified FY 2021 statistics in January 2022.
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Today the President announced that the United States will be putting in place strict protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from passengers flying internationally into the United States, by requiring that adult foreign nationals traveling to the United States be fully vaccinated. This policy means that we will no longer be implementing the current 212(f) travel policies for individual countries as of early November, and will be moving to a consistent, stringent requirement for all international air travelers coming to the United States.

Specifically:

Starting in early November, foreign nationals traveling to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated and to show proof of vaccination prior to boarding an airplane;

The current requirement for everyone to show proof of a negative test taken within 3 days of boarding a flight will remain in place for all fully vaccinated travelers.

CDC will continue to strongly recommend against air travel by Americans who are not fully vaccinated; however, all unvaccinated travelers who return to the United States and are not fully vaccinated will be required to, prior to boarding an airplane: Provide proof of a negative test result taken within one day of their departure;

Provide proof that they have purchased a viral test to be taken after arrival.

CDC will also issue a Contact Tracing Order that will require airlines to collect comprehensive contact information for every passenger coming to the United States and to provide that information promptly to CDC upon request, to follow up with travelers who have been exposed to COVID-19 variants or other pathogens.

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As part of our credit card payment pilot program, the Texas Service Center is now accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, for petitioners filing Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, with Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, or when filing Form I-907 to upgrade a pending Form I-140 to premium processing.
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