The Rogers Firm, P.C.

01/16/2026

As a heads up to families and employees involved in the immigrant visa process (DS-260 Form), the U.S. State Department will pause immigrant visa issuance at U.S. consulates. The visa issuance pause negatively impacts citizens from multiple nations listed in the news announcement attached below. The pause will begin on 21 January 2026. Despite the pause on issuing immigrant visas, U.S. consulates will continue to interview DS-260 visa applicants.

Suspension of Visa Issuance to Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and other National Security and Public Safety Threats

11/14/2025

I am grateful to AILA'S African Diaspora Interest Group ("ADIG") for the opportunity to give a presentation on APA unreasonable delay and mandamus litigation against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. My presentation motivated excellent questions from my colleagues. I look forward to hearing my colleagues' success stories 🔥 as they begin to challenge delayed adjudication in their USCIS and consular processing cases.

09/08/2025

Unfortunately, the Department of Homeland Security announced that the Agency terminated temporary protected status ("TPS") for Venezuelan nationals. The agency terminated the 2021 designation. Considering the frequent litigation against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security, legal practitioners and pro se applicants should keep an eye on legal news for future updates.

The Department of Homeland Security today posted a Federal Register notice on the termination of the 2021 designation of Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status.

12/28/2022

As a reminder, in November 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services extended exemptions from filing fees and expedited processing for certain nationals. The filing fee exemptions and expedited processing apply to some Afghan applicants until 30 September 2023.

Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it is extending and expanding previously announced filing fee exemptions and expedited application processing for certain Afghan nationals.

12/22/2022

The American Immigration Lawyers Association urges voters to contact their senators to support passing the Afghan Adjustment Act (FY 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill). Here is the weblink: https://aila.quorum.us/campaign/43927/ If Congress passes the Afghan Adjustment Act, the law will ease the path to permanent residency for admitted as parolees.

American Immigration Lawyers Association

12/08/2022

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security extended temporary protection status ("TPS") eligibility for nationals. TPS will extend from 4 February 2023 until 3 August 2024. The TPS extension will make Haitian nationals, who resided in the U.S. since 6 November 2022, eligible for temporary protected status.

08/24/2022

For paroled into the U.S. pursuant to Operation Allies Welcome ("OAW"), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the agency will issue new I-797C Forms regarding employment authorization ("EAD" cards). The new I-797C Forms will extend work authorization to match the parole period on the I-94 Form.

08/24/2022

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services expanded citizenship eligibility for permanent residents, who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Effective 2 August 2022, USCIS will consider an "uncharacterized discharge" as satisfying the separation under honorable conditions criteria. This policy change affects military service personnel applying for citizenship pursuant to INA sections 328 and 329.

08/22/2022

The U.S Department of Homeland Security extended Syria's designation for temporary protected status ("TPS") purposes. For nationals, the TPS re-designation applies from 1 October 2022 through 31 March 2024.

WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Federal Register notice extending for an additional 18 months Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible Syrians already in the United States, from Oct. 1, 2022, to March 31, 2024, due to ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary a...

08/17/2022

On 20 July 2022, Representative Lofgren sponsored a bill titled "Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929," H.R. 8433. This bill seeks to change Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") section 249. INA 249 provides a path to permanent residency ("green card") for foreign nationals, who entered the U.S. before 1 January 1972. The bill proposes changing INA 249(a)'s date restriction from 1 January 1972 to persons who "'entered the United States at least 7 years before the application date.'" From a practical perspective, if the H.R. 8433 becomes law, foreign nationals ineligible for other green card options may become eligible for permanent residency pursuant to INA 249. Let us wait and see how this bill moves through Congress.

U.S. Congress legislation, Congressional Record debates, Members of Congress, legislative process educational resources presented by the Library of Congress

08/05/2022

This Firm joins American Immigration Lawyers Association ("AILA") in calling on the U.S. Senate to consider the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 based on its original goals and without any anti-immigrant amendments. Here is AILA's full statement from AILA here: https://bit.ly/3bpLb8G

AILA urges senators to keep the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” focused on deficit reduction, the climate crisis, and prescription drug prices, and to vote no on any amendments that would exclude or harm immigrant communities and that would function as “poison pills” killing the entire bil...

07/21/2022

The Department of Homeland Security issued a policy alert impacting Afghan special immigrant visa ("SIV") applicants. Effective 20 July 2022, SIV applicants should file a DS-157 petition with the application for chief of mission approval. Rather than filing the I-360 petition, the DS-157 Form will function as the petition. Under limited circumstances an Afghan SIV applicant may file an I-360 petition after 20 July 2022.