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USCIS Implements Biometrics and Additional Requirements for Form to Extend/Change Status

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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has instituted a biometric collection requirement and additional requirements for family members (i.e. spouses and children under 21 years of age) and other visa holders who are required to file a Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. Specifically, on March 8, 2019, USCIS published a revised Form I-539, which is the form used to change or extend the stay in the U.S. of family members of non-immigrant visa holders and other visa holders (e.g. individuals changing status from H-1B or L-1 to B-2). USCIS will allow a two-week grace period for applicants to use the older version of the Form I-539, but the new form will become mandatory on March 22, 2019. 

Most pressingly, this change requires spouses or children of beneficiaries of April 2019 H-1B cap lottery petitions who are applying for H-4 status to file with the new Form I-539 and thus provide biometric data, including fingerprints and a digital photo, before their applications will be approved. Specifically, the new Form I-539 includes the following major changes: 

  • Every applicant and co-applicant must pay an $85 biometric services fee (except certain A, G, and NATO non-immigrants). This fee is in addition to the standard USCIS filing fee for a Form I-539, which is currently $370.
  • Every applicant and co-applicant will receive a biometric services appointment notice – regardless of age. The biometric services appointment will be scheduled at the USCIS Application Support Center closest to the primary applicant’s address.
  • Whereas previously co-applicants, such as children, were included on the primary applicant’s Form I-539, USCIS now requires that each co-applicant sign and submit a separate Form I-539A (which will be filed together with the primary applicant’s Form I-539). Parents or guardians may sign the Form I-539A on behalf of children under 14 or any co-applicant who is not mentally competent to sign. 

As a result of these additional requirements, applicants filing a Form I-539 should expect delays with the processing and adjudication of their applications. It is likely that if the Form I-539 application is filed concurrently with a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, the processing and adjudication of the Form I-765 will be delayed as well. 

Foreign nationals who are themselves in a derivative status, such as L-2 or H-4, or have a spouse or child in that status, should review the validity of their immigration documents. If their status will be expiring in the next eight months, we encourage them to contact a Pryor Cashman attorney so an extension of stay can be filed as soon as possible. 

Please feel free to contact your attorney with any additional questions.