USCIS has announced that it has received sufficient H-1B quota registrations for the fiscal year 2022, 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, 2021 and lasting through at least June 30, 2021.
With the recent publication of the April 2021 Visa Bulletin by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has followed suit and announced that it will continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications for the April 2021 Visa Bulletin.
USCIS has announced that it is no longer applying the August 2019 Public Charge Final Rule. Instead, the USCIS will reverting to its previous year 2019 Interim Field Guidance and it is no longer considering an applicant’s receipt of Medicaid (with limited exceptions), public housing, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as part of its public charge inadmissibility determination factors
USCIS has announced filing flexibilities for certain F-1 foreign students who are affected by the delays in issuance of receipt notices for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. In particular, USCIS has extended flexibilities to the 14-month OPT (Optional Practical Training) period; option to refile after rejection by USCIS; and responses to Request for Further Evidence (RFEs) for missing or deficient signatures. But these flexibilities only apply to applications received on or after October 1, 2020 through May 1, 2021, inclusive.
Beginning on February 24, 2021, U.S. employers who are filing for change of status or extension of status to E-3 Australian nonimmigrant worker classification can file Form I-129, and also request premium processing service for their petitions by paying the required $2,500.00 premium processing fee in addition the regular Form I-129 filing fee.
President Biden has issued the latest proclamation revoking the previous administration’s ban on immigrant visa issuances pursuant to Proclamation 10014 that was initially issued on April 22, 2020 by then-president Trump.
After the U.S. Department of State published the March 2021 visa bulletin, the USCIS has followed up and announced that it will continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications for the March 2021 Visa Bulletin.
USCIS has announced that the registration period for the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 H-1B quota will start at 12 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 and run through 12 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 25, 2021.
On January 7, 2021, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service had announced new H-1B selection final rule which would have replaced the random lottery selection process with a system that allocated H-1B visa numbers based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) four-level wage system. The end result would have given priority in the H-1B selection process to H-1B applicants whose offered wage falls within the highest wage level for their occupation and geographic area. It would have allowed U.S. companies who could afford high salaries to take up most of the slots in the H-1B quota system, and it would have prevented small and medium sized U.S. companies from being able to participate in the H-1B quota selection process on a level playing field.
After the U.S. Department of State published the February 2021 visa bulletin, the USCIS has followed up and announced that it will continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications for the February 2021 Visa Bulletin.
Newly sworn-in President Biden has taken steps to unwind various Trump-era Executive Orders that impact immigration issues, while also promising to introduce an ambitious and comprehensive immigration legislation in the coming days.
Starting on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) will require all air passengers entering the United States to show proof of negative COVID-19 test. The CDC is imposing this requirement in order to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 virus in the United States.
USCIS has announced that beginning in January 2021, it will no longer issue the sticker that is usually affixed to the back of the lawful permanent resident (LPRs) expiring I-551 card (‘green cards’) to extend the validity of the card, after the filing of the Form I-90 application to replace permanent resident card.
The USCIS has announced that it is publishing a final rule that would change the previous H-1B cap lottery selection process by replacing the previous random drawing of H-1B cap petitions and instead assign H-1B visa numbers based on the Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) wage-tier level system.
Citing the need to continue to protect the U.S. labor workforce during the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, the Trump Administration has announced that it has extended the suspension of visa issuances for various immigrant and nonimmigrant visas at least through March 31, 2021.
With the publication of the January 2021 visa bulletin by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has announced that it will continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications for the January 2021 Visa Bulletin.
Following the court order issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on December 4, 2020, the USCIS has posted formal notice on its website that it will start accepting first-time requests for consideration of Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in accordance with the DACA policy that was in effect before September 5, 2017.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has ruled that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security must post public notice no later than Monday, December 7, 2020 that DHS will begin to accept first-time Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications, renewal requests, and advanced parole travel documents on the terms that existed before September 5, 2017, which is when the current administration tried to end the DACA program.
