Business Immigration Insights

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, US immigration agencies have continued offering minor, but welcome, accommodations to individuals affected by COVID-19 who rely on immigration programs. While there are no groundbreaking changes, here is a roundup of the most notable changes in the last two months.

Beginning on May 6, 2013, anyone attending an interview at a local USCIS field office or seeking to obtain evidence of an immigration benefit — e.g., employment authorization document, temporary I-551 stamp, or advance parole travel document — will be required to submit digital fingerprints and photos, under USCIS’s new “Customer Identification Verification” (CIV) program.

This biometric data will be input into the “US VISIT” database and will be available to USCIS for future benefits adjudications, and to USCBP, during primary, secondary and deferred ...