Visa Bulletin – May 2019
The Department of State posted the visa bulletin for May today. See https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-for-may-2019.html for the visa bulletin for May 2019. USCIS advised that it will accept adjustment of status petitions for employment-based adjustment of status petitions for May based upon…
District Court Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Blocking Termination of TPS for Haiti
District Court Judge William F. Kuntz II issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the Trump administration from terminating TPS for Haiti, pending a final decision on the merits of the case. The preliminary injunction is effective immediately and will remain in…
USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2020 and Reaches the Advanced Degree Exemption Cap
On April 10, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated regular cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption for fiscal year (FY) 2020. After completing the random selection process for the…
USCIS Reaches FY 2020 H-1B Regular Cap
USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions projected as needed to reach the congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap for fiscal year 2020. USCIS will next determine if we have received a sufficient number of petitions to meet the…
Re-Registration Period Now Open for Individuals with Temporary Protected Status under South Sudan’s Designation
USCIS announced today that current beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under South Sudan’s designation who want to maintain their status through the 18-month extension period ending on Nov. 2, 2020, must re-register between April 5, 2019 and June 4,…
Deferred Enforced Departure Deadline Extended for Liberians
Presidential memo issued 3/28/19 extending the wind-down period for Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians for 12 months, through 3/30/20. The memo also includes the continued authorization for employment through 3/30/20 for qualifying beneficiaries. See https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-extension-deferred-enforced-departure-liberians/ for more information.
USCIS Announces H-1B Employer Data Hub
USCIS has launched an H-1B Employer Data Hub to provide information to the public on employers petitioning for H-1B workers. The data hub is part of our continued effort to increase transparency in employment-based visa programs by allowing the public to…
USCIS Announces Premium Processing for Certain Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions Begins on May 20th
On May 20, USCIS will begin premium processing for FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitioners requesting a change of status on their Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Petitioners who do not file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service,…
USCIS Announcement re FY 2020 H-1B Cap Season (including Premium Processing)
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced the start of the fiscal year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap season, start dates for premium processing of cap-subject H-1B petitions, and the launch of its new H-1B data hub, while reminding petitioners…
Visa Bulletin – April 2019
The Department of State posted the visa bulletin for April today. See https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-for-april-2019.html for the visa bulletin for April 2019. USCIS advised that it will accept adjustment of status petitions for employment-based adjustment of status petitions for April based upon…
USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for all H-1B Petitions
USCIS will resume premium processing on Tuesday, March 12, for all H-1B petitions. USCIS has stated that a separate announcement would be made for FY2020 H-1B Cap Cases. Details about the FY 2020 H-1B cap season will be addressed soon.…
USCIS to Publish Revised Form I-539 and new Form I-539A effective March 22nd
USCIS has revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and will publish the revised form on its website on March 8, 2019. The revised Form I-539 must be used for any petition received after March 21st. Please see https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/update-uscis-publish-revised-form-i-539-and-new-form-i-539a-march-8…
U.S. Embassy in Tunis Begins Processing Libyan Immigrant Visas
The U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia has been designated as the primary site to process immigrant visas for Libyan nationals residing in Libya. Due to visa restrictions placed on Libyan nationals by the Government of Morocco, The U.S. Embassy in…
Visa Bulletin Check-In with DOS’s Charlie Oppenheim
In the March 2019 Visa Bulletin, Charlie provides his predictions for monthly forward movement for various categories. FB-3 Mexico moves ahead 3 weeks. FB-3 and FB-4 Philippines advances more than 3 months. EB-1 World is predicted anticipated to move forward…
U.S. Embassy in Bogota Begins Processing Venezuelan Immigrant Visas
The U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia has been designated as the primary site to process immigrant visas for residents of Venezuela. April 2019 marks the first month the National Visa Center will began scheduling Venezuelan immigrant visa interviews at U.S.…
USCIS Updates Fee Payment System for Field Offices
USCIS expanded the fee payment system used in field offices to 16 additional offices. See https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-updates-fee-payment-system-used-field-offices for more information.
Proposed H-4 EAD Rescission Regulation Pending Review at OMB
A proposed rule eliminating the H-4 EAD was sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on February 20, 2019, and is currently pending review. Once OMB completes its review, a notice of proposed rulemaking will be published in…
Practice Pointer regarding Validity of Medical Exams (I-693)
AILA released a practice pointer regarding the validity of Form I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Report. USCIS announced that it was updating its policy guidance in Volume 8, Part B of the USCIS Policy Manual. See https://www.aila.org/infonet/practice-pointer-validity-of-form-i-693-medical for…
Visa Bulletin – March 2019
The Department of State posted the visa bulletin for March today. See https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-for-march-2019.html for the visa bulletin for March 2019. USCIS advised that it will accept adjustment of status petitions for employment-based adjustment of status petitions for February based upon…
USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions Filed On or Before December 21, 2018
USCIS will resume premium processing on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, for all H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018. See https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-resumes-premium-processing-h-1b-petitions-filed-or-dec-21-2018 for more information.
USCIS Published Guidance for Spousal Petitions Involving Minors
USCIS announced that it is publishing guidance for its officers to consider when adjudicating spousal petitions involving minors. See https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-strengthens-guidance-spousal-petitions-involving-minors and https://www.aila.org/infonet/uscis-issues-policy-alert-on-afm-update-related for more information.
USCIS is Publishing a Revised Form I-539 and new Form I-539A
USCIS has revised Form I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) and will publish the revised form on our website on March 11, 2019. Starting on March 11, 2019, USCIS will only accept the revised Form I-539 with an edition date…
USCIS is Accepting Negative P Visa Consultations Directly from Labor Unions
USCIS will begin accepting copies of negative consultation letters directly from labor unions relating to current or future P nonimmigrant visa petitions. See https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-now-accepting-copies-negative-p-visa-consultations-directly-labor-unions for more information.
USCIS Announces Final Rule for Changes to H-1B Visa Program
USCIS has posted for public inspection, a final rule amending regulations governing H-1B cap-subject petitions reversing the order by which USCIS selects H-1B petitions in the lottery. See https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/dhs-announces-final-rule-a-more-effective-and-efficient-h-1b-visa-program for more information.
USCIS Resume Premium Processing for FY 2019 H-1B Cap Cases
USCIS has announced that it will resume premium processing on Monday, January 28, 2019 for all pending fiscal year 2019 H-1B cap petitions. See https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-resumes-premium-processing-fiscal-year-2019-h-1b-cap-petitions for more information.