Effective immediately, USCIS is increasing the maximum validity period of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) in several work authorization categories to five years, from a maximum of one or two years under its prior policy. The new five-year maximum validity will…
Starting November 30, 2023, Israeli nationals will be able to apply for travel to the United States as B-1/B-2 visitors under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). If deemed eligible, they will not need a visa from a U.S. consulate for…
Form I-539 applications to change or extend nonimmigrant status that are postmarked on or after October 1, 2023 will not require a biometrics fee and in most cases, will not be scheduled for a biometrics appointment. USCIS is following through…
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended and redesignated Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), from November 21, 2023 to May 20, 2025. The registration period for new TPS applicants will run from September 25, 2023 to May 20,…
A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services proposed rule that would amend several aspects of the H-1B program has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The rule is expected to amend the definition of the employer-employee…
As of August 31, 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL) was conducting analyst review for PERM applications filed in October 2022 or earlier, and processing audited cases with priority dates of June 2022 or earlier. DOL is working on standard…
In October, the EB-1 Final Action Date will advance by five years for India, to January 1, 2017, and by just two weeks for China, to February 15, 2022, while the EB-1 category for all other countries will become current…
A federal district judge has ruled that the Biden Administration’s 2022 DACA regulation is unlawful on the grounds that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act — the same basis for an earlier ruling striking down the Obama Administration memorandum that…
If appropriations legislation or a stopgap spending bill is not passed by Congress by September 30, 2023, the federal government will enter a partial shutdown on October 1. A shutdown would mean that fee-based immigration processing – including USCIS benefit…
The Department of Homeland Security has announced an extension of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) re-registration periods for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan to 18 months. The re-registration periods were initially 60 days. Details on the TPS…