USCIS has announced that it has received sufficient H-1B quota registrations for the fiscal year 2021, and it has also conducted the random selection/lottery drawing of those registrations. The USCIS also confirmed that it has notified the H-1B petitioners with selected registrations regarding the next steps to take, including the submission of H-1B quota petitions, starting on April 1, 2020 and lasting through at least June 30, 2020.
USCIS has announced that it will reuse the previously submitted biometrics so that it can continue to process and adjudicate the validly filed Form I-765 Employment Authorization Document (EAD) extension requests, even in light of the temporary closure of the USCIS Application Support Centers (ASCs) to the public due to the current COVID-19 crisis.
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the USCIS has announced that it is adopting a more flexible approach to those applicants and petitioners who have to respond to Requests for Further Evidence (RFEs), and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID) that are issued between March 1, 2020 through May 1, 2020.
USCIS has announced that it is extending the temporary suspension of all in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASCs), and it will re-open its offices on April 7, 2020, unless the public closures are further extended. Previously, the suspension of services was through April 1, 2020.
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that effective Friday, March 20, 2020, it will exercise discretion and defer the physical presence requirements related to Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification of the INA. This means that employers with employees that take physical proximity/social distancing precautions due to the COVID-19 emergency will not be required to review the employee’s identity and employment authorization documents in the employee’s physical presence.
USCIS has announced that it will start accepting all forms that request immigration benefits with the USCIS with reproduced (copy) of original signatures. This includes the form I-129 petition, which is used to file for various non-immigrant employment-based petitions (such as E/H/L/O/P status categories), for submissions dated Saturday, March 21, 2020 and beyond.
USCIS has announced that effective immediately (Friday, March 20, 2020), it will suspend premium processing services for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. This suspension means that USCIS will not accept premium/expedited requests for all the employment-based immigrant and non-immigrant petitions. This suspension will last until further notice and for the immediate future.
Starting on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the USCIS is temporarily suspending all in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices and application support centers (ASCs). This is an effort by the USCIS to stop the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
There are some changes between the March 2020 visa bulletin and the April 2020 visa bulletin.
Based on the April 2020 Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has determined that for family-sponsored filings, filers should continue to follow the Dates for Filing Chart for the April 2020 Visa Bulletin.
USCIS has announced that H-1B petitioners will not be able to request for premium processing service for the FY2021 H-1B quota petitions, at least not initially.
Just like last year (2019), the USCIS will be allowing premium processing service for H-1B quota petitions this year in stages:
We would like you to know that Pasricha & Patel is taking the COVID-19 Virus very seriously. We are also concerned about the health and wellbeing of our clients and team members.
In the March 2020 Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has determined that for family-sponsored filings, filers should continue to follow the Dates for Filing Chart for the March 2020 Visa Bulletin.
But note once again that in the F2A category, there is a cutoff date on the Dates for Filing Chart. However, because the same F2A category is “Current” on the Final Action Dates chart, this does mean that applicants in the F2A category may use the Final Action Dates chart for February 2020).
USCIS has announced that as of February 1, 2020, the Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative will be processed exclusively by the USCIS in the United States, and by the U.S. Department of State (U.S. embassies and consulates abroad) only in special circumstances.
This means that for U.S. expatriates who reside outside the U.S. and who were previously able to submit Form I-130 petitions with their nearest USCIS international offices are now required to either file their I-130 petitions online, or via mail through the USCIS Dallas lockbox for U.S. domestic processing.
USCIS has announced that the expanded Final Public Charge rules will take effect as of Monday, February 24, 2020, with the exception of the State of Illinois, where the rule remains enjoined by federal court. The new Public Charge rules expand the USCIS’s authority to review factors regarding whether certain foreign nationals will become a public charge by taking into consideration the foreign national’s age, health, income, education and skills, and other factors. And the new rule will define a public charge as a person who is likely to receive any number of public benefits for more than an aggregate of 12 months over any 36-month period of time.
USCIS has announced that starting on March 31, 2020, it will change the way it processes the Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor, from a first-in, first-out basis, to a visa availability approach. USCIS explains that this new approach is to prioritize petitions filed by individuals from countries where immigrant visas are currently available (or soon become available), which would increase fairness, and allow those qualified EB-5 petitioners from traditionally underrepresented countries to have their petitions approved more quickly in order to receive consideration for an immigrant visa. This process change does not create any legally binding rights, nor does it change any substantive requirements for the EB-5 petition.
The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted a temporary injunction that had previously prevented the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing a previously-announced Public Charge Rule that greatly expands the definition of public benefits. The expanded rule gives DHS officials greater authority to deny visas and immigrant petitions filed by future immigrants whom the U.S. government would determine to rely, or may rely on, certain public benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); and any federal, state, or local cash benefits programs for income maintenance purposes; as well as government housing programs, such as Section 8 Housing Assistance.
In the February 2020 Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has determined that for family-sponsored filings, filers should continue to follow the Dates for Filing Chart for February 2020 Visa Bulletin.
But note that in the F2A category, there is a cutoff date on the Dates for Filing Chart. However, because the same F2A category is “Current” on the Final Action Dates chart, this does mean that applicants in the F2A the category may use the Final Action Dates chart for February 2020).
The U.S. Department of State has published the February 2020 visa bulletin, and once again, there is not much movement, if only slightly, in the employment-based immigrant visa categories across the countries. Of interest is the Department of State has indicated that due to the high level of employment-based visa demands since October 2019, with primary demand for adjustment of status cases that are being filed with the USCIS, that the most affected categories – which are the EB-2, and EB-3 Other Workers preference categories – that the Department of State expects to set ‘Rest of the World” final action date starting in the month of March. This action will be needed in order to hold the visa numbers usage within the Fiscal Year 2020 annual limits.
Issues to Consider when Contemplating Changing Nonimmigrant Visa Status to F-1 (Academic Student) or M-1 (Vocational Student) Status
With the start of the New Year, some nonimmigrant visa holders (i.e. H-1B specialized workers, L-1 intracompany transferees, E treaty traders and investors, or B-1/B-2 temporary visitors) may be considering applying for F-1 (academic student) or M-1 (vocational student) visa to pursue academic or vocational courses in 2020 and beyond.
