Skip to main content

USCIS Expands NTA Categories

By November 8, 2018March 31st, 2021Immigration, Immigration Law Changes &  New Law, News
Courtesy of Pexels, labeled for reuse: https://static.pexels.com/photos/1984/black-and-white-city-man-people.jpg

USCIS announced today that the agency has expanded the types of applications that can be issued a notice to appear if the application is denied, a policy that was originally announced in July 2018. An NTA is a document that is issued to individuals to place them in deportation proceedings and directing them to appear before an immigration judge. To learn more about the original announcement, please click here. Starting on November 19, 2018, USCIS may issues NTAs based on denials of  I-914/I-914A, Applications for T Nonimmigrant Status, and petitions for Forms I-918/I-918A, Petitions for U Nonimmigrant StatusI-360 Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er)I-929, Petition for Qualifying Family Member of a U-1 Nonimmigrant, Special Immigrant (Violence Against Women Act self-petitions and Special Immigrant Juvenile petitions); and I-730 Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, when the beneficiary is present in the US, as well as Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjustment of Status, filed with these underlying form types.

If applicants, beneficiaries, or self-petitioners who are denied are no longer in a period of authorized stay and do not depart the United States, USCIS may issue an NTA. USCIS will continue to send denial letters for these applications and petitions to ensure adequate notice regarding period of authorized stay, checking travel compliance, or validating departure from the United States. USCIS will continue to prioritize cases of individuals with criminal records, fraud, or national security concerns for removal proceedings. USCIS began implementing this policy for denied Forms I-485 and Form I-539 on October 1, 2018 but have not implemented the policy with respects to employment-based petitions at this time. USCIS announced that they will continue to take this incremental approach to implementing this memorandum, some applications at a time.

Foreign nationals should take all possible precautions to ensure that their work visa petitions are filed and adjudicated to completion before their existing status expires, so that if the petition is denied, the person will still be in another status and can avoid an NTA.

FREE Visa Resources

Click on the buttons below in order to claim your free Visa Guide (E-1, E-2, TN, EB-5, H-1B, L-1, PERM, NIW, EB-1, O-1, E-3), sign up for our free Webinar, join our Facebook Group, or watch our videos.

Download FREE Visa Guide
Sign Up For Our Webinar
Join Our Facebook Group
Watch Our Videos

Set up a Visa or Green Card Consultation

For a dedicated one-on-one consultation with one of our lawyers, click on the button below to schedule your consultation.

Schedule a consultation

This website and blog constitutes attorney advertising. Do not consider anything in this website or blog legal advice and nothing in this website constitutes an attorney-client relationship being formed. Set up a one-hour consultation with us before acting on anything you read here. Past results are no guarantee of future results and prior results do not imply or predict future results. Each case is different and must be judged on its own merits.

Leave a Reply

FREE WEBINARS