Canada to Re-Open to International Travelers on September 7, 2021
On September 7, 2021, the Canadian Government intends to open Canada’s borders to any fully vaccinated travelers who are fully vaccinated with a Government of Canada-accepted vaccine at least 14 days prior to entry and who meet immigration and other entry requirements. Will this signal the beginning of a major shift in North American travel restrictions?
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Immigration Reform to be Included in Infrastructure Bill
Having gained the support of key Democratic Senators, it appears likely that certain provisions of the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 will be incorporated into the trillion dollar infrastructure bill proposed by the Democrats. The inclusion of policy related legislation appears to be in contradiction of the parliamentary rules of reconciliation that should focus on the U.S. budget. However, if the proposed legislation were to allow 3-11 million eligible applicants to apply for permanent residency, the budget would increase as would tax income. More information to follow as the infrastructure bill gains momentum in congress.
USCIS Expand Credit Card Payment Program at the Nebraska Service Center for I-140s
In what will hopefully become a nationwide change, the USCIS pilot program to expand credit card processing will now allow eligible applicants to pay the filing fees for their Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker forms with the Nebraska Service Center. The stated goal of the program is to allow digital payments for all Service Center applications and petitions.
TPS Applicants from Burma, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen may Now File Online
The USCIS has announced that certain Temporary Protected Status applicants from Burma, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen may now file their I-821 online for initial filings. The increase in avenues for online filing shows the slow progression of USCIS to complete online filings. Regarding the TPS process for 2020 USCIS released the following statement:
During fiscal year (FY) 2020, USCIS received more than 7.4 million requests for immigration benefits, including 13,611 Forms I-821. Improvements to USCIS technology have enabled applicants to submit forms online. Since launching online filing in 2017, the overall number of forms filed online has increased significantly. In FY 2018, 553,728 forms were filed online, compared to FY 2020 when we saw over one million filings, and we are now on track to surpass the one million filings for FY 2021.
Tully Rinckey is able to assist people and organizations world-wide with domestic and international immigration matters. Attorney Michael Freestone is well versed in representing large corporations and is able to navigate complex immigration issues and analyze the facts and recommend the best course of action.
