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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) recently announced a new policy and procedure that will provide some relief to the surviving spouses of U.S. citizens who died before the second anniversary of their marriage. Surviving spouses qualify for this temporary program if they were married to, but not legally separated from, their U.S. citizen spouse at the time of that spouse's death; did not remarry; and are currently residing in the United States.  Qualifying children are also eligible.  Under the new policy, USCIS will temporarily suspend adjudication of visa petitions and adjustment applications filed for widow(er)s where the sole reason for an adverse decision from US CIS would be the death of a U.S. Citizen spouse prior to the second anniversary of their marriage.

The change in policy is the result of CIS' effort to ameliorate the harsh impact of what has come to be known as the "widow penalty".  The "widow penalty" prevented widows (and widowers) of deceased U.S. citizens, who were married less than two years at the time of the U.S. citizen's death, from becoming permanent residents based on the marriage.  The policy change provides interim administrative relief in the form of deferred action to certain surviving spouses whose U.S. Citizen spouse died before the second anniversary of their marriage. "Deferred Action" is an exercise of prosecutorial discretion not to initiate removal proceedings against a particular foreign national for a specific period of time.  

To benefit from this action, an affirmative application must be made to CIS on Form I-360.  If approved, deferred action will be granted for two years.  Approved applicants are eligible for work authorization upon a showing of economic necessity.

For additional information on eligibility for deferred action and the procedures for applying for deferred action under this change, click here.

Laura Edgerton has been selected for inclusion in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Immigration Law.  Ms. Edgerton has been selected by her peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers® since 2008.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently issued a Fact Sheet as a reminder about the availability of automatic visa revalidation in certain cases.  Specifically, Department of State (DOS) regulations permit certain non-immigrants to re-enter the United States after a visit of 30 days or less to Canada or Mexico without having to obtain a new visa prior to re-entry.

On June 22, 2009, US CIS announced that effective June 29, 2009 it will resume Premium Processing Service for Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.