USCIS Advises on Ebola-Related Relief for Nationals of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in the United States

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is closely monitoring the Ebola disease outbreak in West Africa and is offering relief measures to nationals of those three countries who are currently in the United States.  Immigration relief measures that “may be available if requested” include:

• Change or extension of nonimmigrant status for an individual currently in the United States, even if the request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired; 
• Extension of certain grants of parole made by USCIS; 
• 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 (currently in the United States) of U.S. citizens; 
• Expedited adjudication of employment authorization applications, where appropriate; and 
• Consideration for waiver of fees associated with USCIS benefit applications.

The announcement is available at http://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/ebola-outbreak-related-immigration-relief-measures-nationals-guinea-liberia-and-sierra-leone-currently-united-states.  For more information about similar measures for those affected by unforeseen circumstances in their home countries, see http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/special-situations.