Transcending BordersSM

Contents

In the Headlines:
  • International Entrepreneur Parole Program Returns
  • EB-5 Changes
  • Supreme Court Ruling on Green Cards for TPS Recipients
  • Biden Terminates 'Remain in Mexico'
  • DACA Update

Policy Updates
  • USCIS Updates RFE and NOID Guidance
  • 1-Year Validity for NIEs

Resources for Clients
  • How a Bill becomes a Law
  • The Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Process
  • Immigrant Visa (Green Card) Processing Delays

Firm News - Welcome, new Attorneys!

In the Headlines
International Entrepreneur Parole Program Returns
USCIS recently breathed life back into the International Entrepreneur Parole program, which provides badly needed options to noncitizen entrepreneurs who have demonstrated strong potential to create jobs. In this blog post, Denise Hammond explains this welcome development.
EB-5 Changes
The EB-5 investor visa program saw major events in the past few weeks. On June 30th, the EB-5 Regional Center program expired when Congress failed to reach an agreement on its reauthorization. Despite the lapse, it is anticipated that negotiations to reauthorize the program will continue and that the program will eventually be reauthorized, though the timing remains uncertain and reauthorization is not guaranteed. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers guidance on its website for how it will handle EB-5 Regional Center filings during the lapse. Read more...
Supreme Court Ruling of Green Cards for TPS Recipients
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday, June 7, 2021 in Sanchez v. Mayorkas that recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the United States who entered without inspection must undergo consular processing outside the U.S. if they want to obtain green cards or other adjustments of status. Thousands of people are affected by this ruling. Justice Kagan, writing for the Court, explained that while TPS-holders have been provided humanitarian protection from the government, “[t]he TPS program gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, but does not admit them.” Read more...
Biden Terminates "Remain in Mexico"
On June 1, 2021, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that DHS would end the Trump Administration’s so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP), better known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. Under MPP, it was DHS policy that most non-Mexican applicants for admission who arrived on land at the Southwest Border would be returned to Mexico to await their removal proceedings. In practice, given the length of time required for normal asylum processing magnified by the difficulties imposed by Covid-19, this policy left applicants for admission on the Mexican side of the U.S. border indefinitely. Read more...
DACA Update
The Biden Administration has, from its first days, supported restoration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and expansion of legal protections for DACA recipients. In concert with a series of federal court cases, the Biden Administration has restored the DACA program to its status before the Trump Administration’s changes. Read more...
Policy Updates
USCIS Updates RFE and NOID Guidance

On June 9th, USCIS issued an alert instructing officers to issue Requests for Evidence (RFEs) or Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs) before denying a case for immigration benefits. This was the previous guidance for years, until a 2018 policy instructed officers that they could deny benefit requests for lack of evidence without first issuing an RFE or NOID. This change signifies a shift in thinking at the agency and a return to a more immigration-friendly climate.  
1-Year Validity for NIEs

Nation Interest Exceptions (NIEs) granted in the past year are now extended from single-entry, 30 day validity to multiple-entry, 12-month validity after the original approval date as long as the NIE holder is travelling for the same purpose for which it was granted. The extension applies to travelers from China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, the Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and India who currently have approved NIEs or who were granted NIEs in conjunction with a visa application.
Resources for Clients
AILA’s Client Resources Committee released several useful and informative infographics covering common questions attorneys receive. These resources are provided below for your reference.

Firm News
GYH is thrilled to announce that over the past several months we added three new attorneys to our team.
Amanda Greenwold Wise
Amanda Greenwold Wise, Counsel, focuses her practice on U.S. immigration matters and Interpol defense. She has represented clients appearing before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), United States Circuit Courts, and INTERPOL. Amanda has experience with consular processing abroad. She also works with Congressional representative and legislative agencies to get the best results for her clients.
Before joining Grossman Young & Hammond, Amanda worked for a Prince George’s County-based refugee assistance non-profit, and later had her own legal practice where she worked largely with refugees, asylees, Temporary Protected Status applicants, and Special Immigrant Visa holders.

Before her career as an immigration attorney, Amanda spent almost 20 years as a lawyer in the financial services regulation field, first in the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of the Treasury, then at Debevoise & Plimpton. She lobbied briefly before turning to immigration work. Amanda started her legal career as clerk to United States District Court Judge Louis L. Stanton, Jr. of the Southern District of New York. 

Amanda speaks English, French, and Spanish.
Rochelle Dramesi
Rochelle Dramesi is an Attorney focusing her practice on U.S. immigration matters, representing individuals in all stages of family-based immigration, naturalization, and inadmissibility issues. She has wide-ranging experience in representing clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. consulates abroad. Rochelle is particularly experienced in extraordinary ability petitions and representing individuals requiring Conrad 30 J-1 Physician Waivers, Physician National Interest Waivers, and other National Interest Waivers. Thanks to her background in both family-based and employment-based immigration matters, Rochelle is known for her well-rounded approach to navigating the most complex immigration situations amidst an unpredictable U.S. immigration system.

Rochelle also has extensive experience strategizing with employers to navigate a wide variety of complex employment-based non-immigrant and immigrant visa petitions before USCIS, the Department of State (DOS), and Department of Labor (DOL).
Rochelle speaks English and Sinhalese.
Nikki Whetstone
Nikki Whetstone is an Attorney at Grossman Young & Hammond where she represents corporate and individual clients on a broad variety of employment-based and family-based immigration matters, including nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, consular processing, PERM applications, Adjustment of Status, and citizenship. She specializes in researching, analyzing, and developing case strategy for complex business immigration cases.
Before joining the firm, Nikki served as a business immigration attorney at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP representing some of the world’s largest firms within the financial services and technology industries.

During law school, Nikki served as an editor of the International Law Society Digest and Program Coordinator of the Courtroom Advocates Project where she trained and supervised law students advocating for survivors of domestic violence in Family Court.
info@grossmanyoung.com | 301.917.6900
Grossman Young & Hammond | Website