DHS Removes Roadblocks to Save Time for Some Refugees Who Want to Come to the U.S.; U.S. to Allow Waiving of In-Person Interviews for H-1B, Other Visas Through 2022

DHS removes roadblocks to save time for some refugees who want to come to the U.S. :

Homeland Security has ditched an interview requirement for spouses and children of refugees who want to come to the U.S. as a package deal, saying it was taking too long to complete the cases without much benefit from the extra work.

The move is the latest deletion of a Trump-era security policy. The Biden team said requiring interviews was “inconsistent” with President Biden’s executive orders calling for a more inclusive immigration system.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the government’s legal immigration agency, said it can still do interviews on a case-by-case basis, but only when “there is a need to do so.”

“USCIS can perform robust fraud and security screenings and maintain strong program integrity without this blanket interview policy,” the agency said in a statement announcing the move last week.

The new policy applies to refugees, defined as those seeking humanitarian protection from outside the U.S., and asylees, who are seeking protection from within the country.

Actual refugees and asylees will still be interviewed as a matter of course. But spouses and children under age 21, who can come to the U.S. on what’s known as “derivative” status based on their relationship to the main refugee, will no longer be required to have an interview. —>READ MORE HERE

U.S. to Allow Waiving of In-Person Interviews for H-1B, Other Visas Through 2022

The United States will allow its consular officers to waive in-person interviews for H-1B and other certain non-immigrant visa applicants through next year to help reduce visa wait times, the State Department said on Thursday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in profound reductions in the department’s visa processing capacity,” it said in a statement. “As global travel rebounds, we are taking these temporary steps to further our commitment to safely and efficiently reduce visa wait times while maintaining national security as our priority.”

The consular officers will now be temporarily authorized to waive in-person interviews for nearly a dozen visa categories, including Persons in Specialty Occupations (H-1B visas), visas for students, temporary agricultural and non-agricultural workers, student exchange visitors, as well as athletes, artists and entertainers. —>READ MORE HERE

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State Department to waive interview requirement for many immigrant visa applicants

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