There's a lot going on in immigration, and
today I have an immigration update with some
good news.
In today's video, I'm going to cover two big
topics, some good news for K1 visa applicants
and an update on the EAD card backlog and
lawsuit, all from the last 10 days of immigration
activity.
Let's dive right in.
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Let's start with the good news.
The State Department released the following
statement on August 31st. As consulates and
embassies around the world start to resume
operations, they've been authorized to give
K1 visa cases high priority.
Now, the services being offered by a consulate
will vary and depends on the state of the
pandemic in different countries, so you should
check the website of the local consulate or
embassy that is relevant to you and see what
services they are offering.
Sometimes they're slow to update the website,
so if it were me, I would find the contact
email address for visa services for that consulate
and shoot them an email.
The worst that can happen is that they won't
respond.
And in that email, I would simply ask if the
consulate has resumed K1 visa services.
That's really all you're trying to figure
out so that you can move on to next steps.
The other thing to note in this statement
is the sentence about the validity of the
I-129F petition, which is typically four months.
If you're past the four months because of
the pandemic, a consular officer should be
able to revalidate this I-129F petition for
you instead of you having to resubmit everything
all over again.
I would reach out to the consulate via email
or phone call if they have a number listed
and ask for their help in revalidating your
petition.
Hopefully you only have to do this once, and
you'll have your visa interview in the next
four months and be on your way.
Next, I want to talk about EAD cards.
This is the employment authorization document
that international students, refugees, and
other eligible immigrants are issued that
allows them to work in the US temporarily.
The physical EAD card is required by employers
as proof of work authorization.
A little while ago, I talked about a printing
backlog of 75,000 EAD cards, which put people
in a difficult position because employers
need to see the EAD cards and people still
don't have them.
If you want to learn more about why there
is a backlog, check out this video.
But the good news is that the USCIS announced
on August 20th that while they're dealing
with these printing issues, they will allow
employers to accept Form I-797, the approval
notice, as proof of work authorization, and
they will allow this through December 1st,
2020.
So if you filed for employment authorization
through Form I-765 and haven't received your
EAD card, but have an approval notice with
a date between December 1, 2019 and August
20th, 2020, you can show your approval notice
to the employer and they have to accept it
as proof of work authorization.
If you're wondering when the EAD card will
get to you, here's the latest.
Recently, a class action lawsuit was filed
against the USCIS challenging these EAD card
delays, and on August 21st, the district court
issued a consent order.
A consent order is basically a legal agreement,
which outlines how the issue will be resolved.
And here's what it said.
There are roughly 30,000 people who have an
approval notice and their EAD card production
has been ordered but not completed.
According to this agreement, all EAD cards
in this group have to be produced and mailed
by August 28th, 2020, which was a few days
ago.
So, many of you in this group should be getting
your EAD card soon, if you haven't already.
The next group of people, about 20,000 people,
has an approval notice, but their EAD card
production has not been ordered.
This is mainly due to missing biometrics.
So according to what we hear, the biometrics
appointments for this group of people have
now been scheduled, and as soon as they happen,
their cards will be ordered.
It is also believed that 30,000 EAD cards
were produced and mailed between the end of
July and August 20th.
So, quick recap.
Consulates abroad have been authorized to
make K1 visa cases high priority as they start
to resume operations, so if you fall in this
category, check the local consulate website
and/or email them to see if they've resumed
these services.
Second, if you don't have an EAD card, but
have an approval notice dated between December
1, 2019 and August 20th of 2020, you can use
your approval notice as proof of work authorization
until December 1st, 2020.
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I'll see you in the next video.
