USCIS will publish revised form I-539 and new form I-539A and add a biometric requirement effective March 11, 2019
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https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-publish-revised-form-i-539-and-new-form-i-539a
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has just announced that starting on March 11, 2019, they will not only publish a revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, but they will also add a new form I-539A, Supplemental Information for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status.
In addition, for each I-539 applicant and co-applicant, they will each pay an $85.00 biometric service fee (except in certain A, G, and NATO nonimmigrants), which will result in the issuance of biometric services appointment notice for all these applicants, regardless of age. This means that biometric services appointments will be scheduled at the Application Support Center (ASC) that is closed to the primary applicant’s address.
This means, for example, the USCIS will be conducting security background checks on any and all B-1 business visitor/B-2 family/tourist visitor extension applicants, as well as H-4 and L-2 dependent family members as well. Unfortunately, this added procedure will very likely result in delays for the B-1/B-2 and H-4/L-2 extension filing processing times.
As this new procedure has not yet taken effect, we will continue to monitor the situation and update the readers regarding any further changes that may impact applicants in the coming weeks and months. We encourage readers to check back with our website for any new developments.
And should any reader wish to find out more about this process, please feel free to contact our office to schedule legal consultation.