The nation’s immigration apparatus, including the Department of State (DOS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the immigration court system (EOIR) has taken dozens of measures in response to the growing reach and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Changes happen virtually daily. Please follow the links below to learn more about just some of the current actions most relevant to Maine that impact not only immigrants, nonimmigrants, and U.S. citizens, but also public health, and business and economic activity.
DOS changes:
- Routine visa services are suspended at all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad as of March 20, 2020. All routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa interviews are cancelled until further notice.
- H-2 visas are deemed “essential to the economy and food security” and as a result, as of March 26, 2020, normally required interviews will be waived for most beneficiaries of H-2A or H-2B visa petitions.
- J-1 International Exchange visa programs that involve travel to or from countries subject to heightened CDC or DOS alert levels are temporarily suspended as of March 17, 2020.
- However, certain J-1 physicians and medical professionals received additional guidance on March 26, 2020.
- DOS advises U.S. citizens and residents to avoid all international travel as of March 19, 2020. Country specific warnings are here.
USCIS changes:
- USCIS offices temporarily closed to the public from March 18th to at least April 7, 2020. This includes USCIS local field offices, asylum offices, application support centers (ASCs) and the few remaining international USCIS offices that serve U.S. citizens living abroad. Updates on office closings in the U.S. and at USCIS offices abroad can be found here.
- USCIS will reuse previously submitted biometrics to process work permit extension applications, for those with biometrics appointments on or after March 18th who cannot comply with biometrics requests due to ASC office closures , as of March 30, 2020.
- USCIS extends response deadlines by 60 days for replies to certain requests for evidence or notices of intent to deny or revoke or terminate, or certain appeals of decisions issued between March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020.
- USCIS states testing, preventive care and treatment for COVID-19 will not trigger “public charge” problems for immigrants (in an effort to ensure that immigrants will not be afraid to seek appropriate COVID-19 healthcare). This statement is as of March 13, 2020.
- E-Verify extends timeframes for employers to act on tentative nonconfirmations.
- USCIS relaxes “wet signature” requirements on certain applications, accepting electronically reproduced signatures on submissions dated March 21, 2020 or later, although the documents with original signatures will eventually need to be supplied.
- Premium processing is suspended of all new employment-based nonimmigrant (E-1, E-2, H-1B, H-2B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, R-1, TN-1 and TN-2) form I-129 visa petitions or immigrant form I-140 visa petitions as of March 20, 2020.
ICE changes:
- Form I-9 requirement of in-person review of work authorization documents is being temporarily relaxed for new employees being on-boarded who will be working remotely due to COVID-19. Read the notice for the specifics of which employers ICE will allow to take advantage of this temporary flexibility.
- ICE states enforcement actions will not take place at medical facilities (in an effort to ensure that immigrants will not be afraid to seek COVID-19 related preventive care or treatment). This statement is as of March 15, 2020.
- ICE issues FAQs for management of international student issues by SEVP-certified educational institutions were updated as of March 27, 2020 and are available here.
CBP changes:
- CBP announces arrival or entry restrictions into the U.S. for those coming through:
- land ports of entry along the Canadian-US border from March 20—April 20, 202.;
- land ports of entry along the Mexican-US border from March 20—April 20, 2020.
- all but specified airports who have traveled from or had recent presence in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, as of March 17, 2020.
- all but specified airports who have traveled from or had recent presence in the Schengen Area countries, as of March 14, 2020.
- all but specified airports who have traveled from or had recent presence in China or Iran, as of February 2, 2020 and March 2, 2020, respectively.
- CBP temporarily suspends operations at Trusted Traveller enrollment centers nationwide, affecting enrollment by U.S. travelers in Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST programs, effective on March 18, 2020 until at least May 1, 2020.
DOL changes:
- DOL and USDA to share information, to assist H-2A employers whose workforce arrivals have been delayed due to travel restrictions, of nearly 20,000 H-2A and H-2B workers with expiring contracts who might be available to transfer to different employers’ labor certification applications, as of March 19, 2020.
- The Office of Foreign Labor Certification advised about processing changes related to labor certification applications that will be in effect from March 25th to at least June 30, 2020.
EOIR changes:
- All immigration court hearings scheduled through May 1, 2020 are suspended for non-detained immigrants (such as many asylum seekers in Maine).