On April 24, 2020, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a targeted reopening date of June 4, 2020 for offices that are currently closed in response to COVID-19.
What Is Impacted By This Reopening Announcement?
This impacts offices that provide in-person services, including field offices, asylum offices and application support centers (ASCs). On March 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services temporarily suspended in-person services at these offices to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Based on the targeted reopening date of June 4, 2020, applicants and petitioners will automatically receive notices rescheduling appointments that may have been cancelled previously due to office closures. When USCIS resumes operations for in-person services, USCIS will automatically issue notices through the mail to reschedule appointments and interviews for the following:
- Applicants and Petitioners with scheduled appointments.
- Applicants with Naturalization ceremonies.
- USCIS asylum interviews. When the interview is rescheduled, asylum applicants will receive a new interview notice with the new time, date and location of the interview.
- ASC appointments for biometrics.
Individuals who previously scheduled InfoPass or other appointments must reschedule through the USCIS Contact Center once field offices are open to the public again.
What Is Not Impacted By This Notice?
As of the date of this posting, operations at USCIS Service Centers where most immigration benefit petitions are adjudicated are not impacted by the closures. The Service Centers were not closed and have continued case processing without interruption.
What About USCIS Premium Processing?
The suspension on Premium Processing that took effect on March 20, 2020 continues. USCIS is not accepting premium processing request for any filings.
Seyfarth Shaw is closely monitoring ongoing developments impacting USCIS, DOL and DOS operations as COVID-19 developments continue and will continue providing relevant updates.
Article orignally published on 24 April 2020
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