On Jan. 9, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will publish a final rule increasing USCIS fees for premium processing.
Premium processing provides expedited processing for certain case types for an additional government filing fee.
In the announcement, USCIS stated that the premium process fee increase
A divided Eleventh Circuit recently ruled against a Jamaican national’s claim to U.S. citizenship, holding that his mother’s naturalization before his 18th birthday did not confer derivative citizenship because his parents had remarried by the time of her naturalization.
Potential Derivative Citizenship Implications
This decision reinforces a strict interpretation of derivative citizenship under the Immigration
Pursuant to President Biden’s directive to review the naturalization process in his Executive Order 14012, Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USICS) has announced plans to conduct a nationwide trial for proposed changes to the current naturalization test for naturalized
Many applicants approaching the end of the lengthy process for naturalization have experienced further delay on the path to U.S. citizenship due to the pandemic’s effect on the requirements for naturalization mandated by law. Kristen T. Burke and Sarah E. Amendola co-authored a Texas Lawyer article explaining the potential effects of these delays.
Click here
In a decision issued March 10, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies against H-1B visa holders. The issue was the sequence of memoranda and policy implementation by USCIS during the last 10 years the court considered unlawful as it has no basis in
On January 25, OMB posted on Reginfo.gov that it has completed review of a USCIS regulation- Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking to File H-1B Petitions (RIN 1615-AB71).
OMB review of this Final Rule is the last step in the regulatory process before final agency action by USCIS.
Please check back as we will continue monitoring
Following the July 20 announcement of the granting of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalian beneficiaries, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice on Aug. 27 with instructions for the 18-month Somalian TPS extension from Sept. 18, 2018 through March 17, 2020. The 60-day re-registration period runs from Aug. 27, 2018 through Oct. 26.
In an apparent change in policy, U.S. immigration authorities are now taking a hard-line approach to individuals who have alcohol-related charges or offenses, marking a significant shift in how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Department of State treat visa holders in this predicament. Employers and employees alike should take note of this
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that its online tools will be down while it conducts system maintenance from 9PM to 11:30PM on Thursday, July 30, 2015. Certain online tools will be affected, including checking the status of a case, changing addresses online, and E-Filing, among others.