Last week, we reported that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCSIS) had announced it would release a new I-9 form by November 22. Well, they met and exceeded the goal by releasing the form on Monday of this week… more than a week early. The new form may be used immediately but will not be mandatory until January 22, 2017. You can continue to use the current form dated 2013 until then. The address to download the new form is the same. www.uscis.gov/i-9

The new form, which requires the use of Adobe Reader to open, can be printed blank or filled out in Adobe Reader. There is still a lot that is not known as there is a new set of instructions which is separate from the .pdf and there will be a new M-274 manual for the I-9 yet to be published.

So… here’s what we do know. The form can be used as a blank printed form or electric Continue reading →

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved a new I-9 Form but the new form won’t be released to the public until late November. The current I-9 shows a revision date of 2013 and expiration date of March 2016. That is still the current form. The USCIS has said the old form will be valid until January 21, 2017. What that means is if the form you’ve used for the past couple years will be good for this whole gin season.

There are significant changes expected for the new I-9 most of them surrounding the ability and preferred way to fill them out online via a fillable PDF. There will also be a Continue reading →

For several years, some members of Congress have been trying to pass legislation that would allow the adult children of illegal immigrants to become legal to stay in the US. Last year, President Obama issued an executive order that allowed those adult illegal immigrants who came here as minors to stay by creating a program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals aka DACA. While the program has had opposition and been the subject of court action, USCIS has been issuing Employment Authorization Documents (EAD’s)to the DACA participants. Many of those EAD’s were issued with three year expiration dates. This three year authorization was prohibited by Court Order. The court has said that USCIS could only issue these EAD’s for maximum of 2 years.

Well… that leaves many in a bind. It is unknown how many three-year EAD’s were issued Continue reading →

President Obama has announced a package of executive orders that we discussed earlier this week. As expected, the president’s actions have been met support and opposition. One thing for certain, this will be a lightning rod for both sides over the next several months. The move is expected to provide relief to some 5 million or more people in the US illegally.

The changes that the President announced last night will allow the parents of US citizens (children born here in the US) and parents of legal resident aliens (green card holders) who have been here at least five years to “come out of the shadows” and to Continue reading →