A federal judge granted a motion to temporarily block the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) new fee rule that was originally scheduled to go into effect on October 2, 2020. The published new fee rule has an average 20% increase over 72 immigration benefit applications. USCIS filing fee for Naturalization would increase 83%, from […]

The USCIS has updated to a new version of form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. However, up until the time of this post, they are still accepting the old version of the form. Starting September 23, 2019, the USCIS will only accept the 07/15/19 edition. Until then, you can use the old […]

The White House recently issued a memorandum on the enforcement of legal responsibilities of immigrant sponsors & joint sponsors. The memo directs relevant federal agencies to update procedures, guidance, and regulations to comply with current law and ensure that ineligible immigrants do not receive federal means-tested benefits. So, what this means is, when you sponsor an […]

On July 5th, 2019, USCIS will permanently close its field office in Manila, Philippines, as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to reduce legal immigration. After this date, there will be no USCIS international field office located in the Philippines. The office began redirecting Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to the USCIS Lockbox on […]

When a visitor enters the US as a nonimmigrant, and does not exit the US before the terms of the visa allow, this is referred to as an “overstay“. Overall, the rate of overstays is low. In fact, in 2018, only 0.41% of visitors on ESTA overstayed, and only 2% of B1/B2 visitor visa holders […]

We wanted to alert all of our customers to be prepared to receive potential RFEs, or requests for evidence, even when everything in your petition is perfect. We have had numerous reports of customers receiving RFEs for items that were confirmed to have been included in their petitions, but the USCIS is requesting them anyways. […]

In a disturbing memo issued by USCIS (PM-602-0163) on July 13, 2018, we were made aware of a new policy which will make it much easier for the Trump Administration to issue denials for legal immigration cases across the board (with the exception of DACA), including fiance visas, spousal visas, green card applications and more. According to […]

On June 12, 2018, USCIS announced that as of June 11, removal of conditions applicants can use their receipt notice along with the old green card as evidence of continued status for up to 18 months past the expiration date. This was formerly 12 months. The fact they’re extending it from 12 to 18 months is further evidence […]

We want to update our audience on what we’re seeing in relation to President Trump’s Executive Order 13769, the “Travel Ban”. We have seen our first customer officially turned away for an embassy interview by terms cited in this executive order. The customer was from Iran. The customer was approved through the USCIS months before, […]

This post is regarding President Trump’s January 27, 2017 Executive Order: “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry in the United States“ In order to proactively address inquiries regarding President Trump’s travel ban, RapidVisa offers the following: What It Is The travel ban bars entry to the United States for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim […]