The State Department’s Domestic Visa Renewal Pilot – What Employers and Foreign Nationals Need to Know – UPDATED
Under a highly anticipated State Department pilot program, up to 20,000 eligible applicants will be permitted to renew their H-1B visas from within the United States. The pilot program opened at noon ET on January 29, 2024 and will be…
First Phase of Final H-1B Modernization Rule Introduces Changes to H-1B Cap Registration; FY 2025 Registration Period and H-1B Organizational Account “Live” Date Announced
A final DHS regulation that will change the H-1B cap registration system to a beneficiary-centric system will be in effect for the FY 2025 H-1B cap registration period, which will run from noon ET on March 6 to noon ET…
USCIS Fee Rule Takes Effect April 1 with Significant Increases for Employment-Based Filings
Effective April 1, 2024, USCIS will increase and create separate filing fees for H-1B, L-1, and other nonimmigrant case types. The H-1B petition fee will rise to $780, from $460, a 70% increase. The L-1 petition fee will increase to…
DHS Extends and Re-designates Syria for Temporary Protected Status; Extends Relaxed Employment Options for Syrian F-1 Students
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended and re-designated Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), from April 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025. The registration period for new TPS applicants will run from January 29, 2024 to September 30,…
Final Rule on H-1B Modernization Clears Federal Review; Cap Registration Changes Anticipated
A final DHS regulation that would revise some aspects of the H-1B program has been cleared by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Contents of the final rule will not be known until publication in the Federal Register. However,…
December 2023 DOL PERM and PWD Processing Times
As of December 31, 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL) was conducting analyst review for PERM applications filed in January 2023 or earlier, and processing audited cases with priority dates of December 2022 or earlier. DOL is working on standard…
The State Department’s Domestic Visa Renewal Pilot – What Employers and Foreign Nationals Need to Know Ahead of the January 29 Launch
Under a highly anticipated State Department pilot program, up to 20,000 eligible applicants will be permitted to renew their H-1B visas from within the United States. Prospective applicants can begin drafting and pre-loading their online DS-160 visa application in advance…
USCIS Final Fee Rule Clears Federal Review
A final DHS fee regulation that would increase the filing fees for many USCIS immigration benefit filings has cleared the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) federal review process, putting the regulation closer to implementation. The new fee regulation is…
Congress Passes Stopgap Spending Bill; Immigration Operations Funded Through Early March
Congress has passed another short-term spending bill that will fund some federal agencies – including immigration operations – through March 8, 2024, while other federal agencies will be funded through March 1. President Biden is expected to sign the bill,…
State Department Posts Guidance on New Domestic Visa Renewal Pilot Program Ahead of January 29 Launch; Online Self-Assessment Tool Available
The U.S. Department of State’s guidance primarily confirms details already released to the public about the H-1B domestic visa renewal pilot program, with some additional explanations. The agency’s online self-assessment tool is available for potential applicants to determine whether they…
Final Rule on H-1B Modernization Under Federal Review; Cap Registration Changes Anticipated
A final DHS regulation that would revise some aspects of the H-1B program has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Contents of the rule now under OMB review will not be known until publication…
February 2024 Visa Bulletin – Modest Advancement in Worldwide EB-2 and EB-3, EB-3 India, and EB-5 China; USCIS to Honor Dates for Filing for Employment-Based Categories
In February, USCIS will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that is earlier than the Dates for Filing listed in the State Department’s February 2024 Visa Bulletin. The Dates for Filing remain unchanged…
USCIS Organizational Accounts and Online Filing for H-1B Petitions Coming Next Month
In February, USCIS plans to launch online organizational accounts for H-1B filings – including for FY 2025 H-1B cap registrations – and make Form I-129 H-1B petitions and any associated Form I-907 premium processing requests available for online filing. Employers…
DHS Fee Rule Under Federal Review – Steep Increases Anticipated for Employment-Based Petitioners
A final DHS fee regulation that would increase the filing fees for many immigration benefit filings has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The new fee regulation is expected to increase and create separate…
Premium Processing Fees Will Increase Effective February 26
The premium processing fee for I-140 immigrant worker petitions and most Form I-129 nonimmigrant worker petitions will increase to $2805, from $2500. Fees for premium processing of certain other petitions and applications will also increase. The new fees will take…
State Department Announces Extension and Expansion of the Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Waiver Program
The U.S. State Department’s visa interview waiver program has been extended effective January 1, 2024. The program will remain in effect indefinitely and will be reviewed annually. The classes of applicants eligible for the program have been expanded and now…
Labor Department Solicits Input on Occupations Eligible for Streamlined Green Card Processing
The U.S. Department of Labor has set a February 20, 2024 deadline for submission of public comments on expanding the list of “Schedule A” occupations exempt from the PERM labor certification process. The DOL notice presents a rare opportunity for…
Domestic Visa Renewal Pilot Program Opens January 29 to Limited Group of H-1B Visa Applicants
The pilot program will be limited to eligible foreign nationals who received an H-1B visa from (1) a U.S. consulate in India between February 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021, or (2) a U.S. consulate in Canada between January 1,…
Stateside Visa Renewal Pilot Clears Federal Review
A State Department pilot program that will permit certain H-1B nonimmigrants to apply for visa renewal within the United States has cleared the Office of Management and Budget federal review process, putting the pilot closer to implementation. The next step…
Proposal to Request Public Comment on Expanding List of Occupations Eligible for Streamlined Green Card Processing Clears OMB
A U.S. Department of Labor proposal to solicit public input on possible expansion of the “Schedule A” list of occupations exempt from the PERM labor certification process has cleared Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review and is expected to…
DHS Publishes FR Notice Extending TPS Re-registration Periods for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan
Consistent with its September announcement, the Department of Homeland Security has published a Federal Register (FR) notice, reiterating the extensions of the periods to re-register for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under the existing designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and…
H-1B Cap Is Reached for FY 2024
USCIS today announced that it has received enough cap petitions to fill the 85,000 slots available for H-1B employment in the current fiscal year. Earlier this year, USCIS conducted two separate lottery selections, in March and in July, to select…
January 2024 Visa Bulletin Update – USCIS to Honor Dates for Filing for Employment-Based Categories
Next month, USCIS will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that is earlier than the Dates for Filing listed in the State Department’s January 2024 Visa Bulletin. Employment-Based Priority Date Cutoffs for January…
January 2024 Visa Bulletin – Significant Movement for EB-1 India and EB-5 India, Strong Movement Across Most Other Employment-Based Categories
The EB-1 India Final Action Date will advance by three years and eight months, to September 1, 2020, and the Date for Filing will advance by a year and a half, to January 1, 2021. The EB-1 China Final Action…
Immigration Agencies Announce Their Fall 2023 Regulatory Plans
The Department of State plans to implement the limited H-1B domestic visa renewal pilot program in February 2024. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has delayed to April 2024 the publication of a final rule that would increase filing fees for…