USCIS To Issue New Version Of Form I-539 And New I-539A, Effective March 11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on
February 11, 2019, that it has revised Form I-539, Application to
Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, and is introducing a new Form
I-539A. The revised and new forms will be required for filings on
and after March 11, 2019.
Form I-539 is used for a variety of application types,
including:
- Certain nonimmigrant applications foran extension of stay
- Certain nonimmigrant applications fora change of status
- Reinstatement for F-1 and M-1students
Based on prior drafts of the form and its information collection
review, it appears that USCIS has expanded the scope of information
to be gathered and will change the filing and adjudication
requirements significantly. Below are highlights:
Biometrics and personal appearance requirement. The first major
change involves in-person collection of biometrics (fingerprints,
photograph, and signature). Generally, biometrics have only been
collected for permanent status applications, and not for the
temporary status applications processed on Form I-539. As of March
11, 2019, all new I-539 and I-539A (more about the I-539A below)
applicants must be photographed and fingerprinted at the nearest
USCIS Application Support Center (ASC). After filing, every
applicant and co-applicant, regardless of age, will receive a
biometric services appointment notice in the mail.
New Form I-539A created for co-applicants. The second major
change is the procedure to be followed when there are multiple
people filing together, such as a parent (“primary
applicant”) and one or more children
(“co-applicants”). Currently, the primary applicant
completes and signs the I-539 and identifies each co-applicant on
the form’s Supplement A. The form only requires the signature
of the primary applicant and there is one filing fee (currently
$370).
Starting March 11, a newly created form, the I-539A, must be
completed for each individual co-applicant and submitted with the
primary applicant’s I-539. Each co-applicant must sign his or
her respective I-539A. (Parents can continue to sign the forms for
children under 14 years of age.)
Fee increase for biometrics. Because biometrics will be
collected with the application, an additional $85 biometrics fee
will be charged per I-539 and I-539A applicant. A typical family
consisting of an H-4 spouse and two minor H-4 children will have to
pay $625 ($370 filing fee plus three $85 biometrics fees) to extend
nonimmigrant status.
(Certain nonimmigrant applications already require biometrics
and payment of the fee when filing the I-539, i.e., V nonimmigrants
and CNMI applications. Those procedures and costs will remain
unchanged.)
Premium processing. USCIS did not address premium processing
with respect to the agency’s proposed handling of I-539/I-539A
applications accompanying principal applications (such as
H-4 applications filed with a premium-processed H-1B petition). In
the past, the USCIS generally processed such dependent I-539
applications on an expedited basis so the family members’
status would be adjudicated and updated together. The new
biometrics requirement likely will mean that dependent I-539 and
I-539A applications will no longer be moved along in lockstep with
a principal’s premium-processed nonimmigrant petition.
Identifying the form edition. How can you tell which form you
have? The form edition information is in the bottom left corner of
the form. The current edition of the I-539 available on the USCIS
website is the 12/23/16 edition. This is identified by the
following notation in the bottom left corner of each page of the
form: “Form I-539 12/23/16 N.”
The new edition of the I-539, the new I-539A, and their
respective instructions will be identified by “02/04/19”
in the bottom left corner of each page.
Effective date: March 11, 2019. Applicants must use the 02/04/19
edition of the I-539 and must begin using the I-539A for
co-applicants on March 11, 2019, although the agency currently
states that it will not release the form to the public until that
date. It is hoped that USCIS might delay the effective date to
avoid the disruption that would result from such an accelerated
implementation date.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.