Reminder: USCIS Started Expanding In-Person Interviews for Certain Permanent Residency Applicants on October 1st, 2017.

02Oct
2017

Reminder: USCIS Started Expanding In-Person Interviews for Certain Permanent Residency Applicants on October 1st, 2017.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on August 28^th, 2017, that it will begin expanding in-person interviews for certain permanent residency applicants on October 1^st, 2017. USCIS began to phase-in interviews for the following permanent residency applications:

• Adjustment of status applications based on employment (Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status).
• Refugee/asylee relative petitions (Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition) for beneficiaries who are in the United States and are petitioning to join a principal asylee/refugee applicant.

Previously, applicants in these categories did not require an in-person interview with USCIS officers for their application for permanent residency to be adjudicated. Beyond these categories, USCIS is planning an incremental expansion of interviews to other benefit types.

This change complies with Executive Order 13780, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States,” and is part of the agency’s strategy to further improve the detection and prevention of fraud and further enhance the integrity of the immigration system. USCIS views in-person interviews as an opportunity to verify the information provided in an individual’s application, to discover new information that may be relevant to the adjudication process, and to determine the credibility of the individual seeking permanent residence in the United States.

If you have any questions about your immigrant and/or nonimmigrant cases, please do not hesitate to email us at info@songmenglaw.com.