August 31, 2017
USCIS Expanding In-Person Interview Requirement to Employment-Based Adjustment Applicants
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced recently that they will begin expanding the in-person interview requirement to certain applicants seeking permanent resident status. Specifically, USCIS will now require in-person interviews for the beneficiaries of (1) adjustment of status applications based on employment and (2) refugee or asylee relative petitions for beneficiaries who are in the U.S. petitioning to join a principal refugee or asylee applicant.
Previously, USCIS waived most interviews for beneficiaries in these categories. According to USCIS, the in-person interview will allow officers to verify information provided in the application, discover new and relevant information, and determine the applicant’s credibility.
The new in-person interview policy will be phased-in beginning October 1, 2017. A statement released by USCIS said that “beyond these categories, USCIS is planning an incremental expansion of interviews to other benefit types.” However, at this time, no further information has been provided on the potential expansion to categories other than those listed above.