With the Philippines suffering the
devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
announced that Filipino nationals in the U.S. may be eligible for certain immigration
measures. In a news release issued last week, USCIS noted that a natural
disaster may affect an individual's ability to establish or maintain
lawful immigration status in the U.S. Therefore, USCIS reminded the public
that Filipino nationals impacted by Typhoon Haiyan may be eligible to
benefit from the following immigration relief measures:
- Change or extension of nonimmigrant status for an individual currently in the U.S., even when the request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired;
- Extension of certain grants of parole made by USCIS;
- Extension of certain grants of advance parole, and expedited processing of advance parole requests;
- Expedited adjudication and approval, where possible, of requests for off-campus employment authorization for F-1 students experiencing severe economic hardship;
- Expedited processing of immigrant petitions for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs);
- Expedited adjudication of employment authorization applications, where appropriate; and
- Assistance to LPRs stranded overseas without immigration or travel documents, such as permanent resident cards (green cards). USCIS and the Department of State will coordinate on these matters when the LPR is stranded in a place that has no local USCIS office.
*If you have questions about the above benefits or other immigration-related questions, you should contact an experienced immigration attorney.