USCIS has announced that it will be able to avoid furloughing more than 130,000 of its employees, which is almost 70% of its workforce, after originally planning to begin the furlough on August 30, 2020. USCIS explained that they are able to avoid the furlough due to unprecedented spending cuts and a steady increase in daily incoming revenue and receipts.
For the September 2020 Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has decided to continue to follow the previous months’ filing procedure and set that for family-sponsored filings, filers should once again follow the Dates for Filing Chart for the September 2020 Visa Bulletin.
On April 22, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order to suspend the entry of foreign nationals for a period of 60 days, citing the need to protect the U.S. domestic workforce during COVID 19 crisis.
Starting on August 17, 2020 the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, along with the U.S. Consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata will begin processing student (F-1) and academic exchange visitor (J-1) visa applications only and on a limited basis.
During this COVID-19 pandemic, many employers have unfortunately been forced to reduce their staff. There are many employees throughout the country who have been laid off or placed in furlough by their employers. The result has been devastating for individuals throughout the country. However, what happens when the employee is an individual in H-1B status? What kind of options available for the H-1B holder to continue to maintain non-immigrant status? What obligations does the employer hold when facing this situation for an H-1B employee? There are many new scenarios and situations that are arising in this difficult time and it is important for H-1B employers and employees to be aware of the current rules as well as their responsibilities and rights.
The U.S. Department of State has just added new categories to the National Interest Exceptions to the Presidential Proclamations (10014 & 10052) banning certain nonimmigrant visa applicants (H1B and L-1 workers) from entering the U.S.
On August 3, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing various federal agencies and departments to review their federal contractors and subcontractors’ hiring practices of foreign workers who work on federal contracts, with the goal of making sure that they do not negatively impact the U.S. workforce in general.
The Department of Homeland Security and the USCIS have announced that it is implementing changes to the USCIS fee schedule. More specifically, DHS is adjusting USCIS fees by a weighted increase of 20 percent; and adding new fees; and also making other changes, such as revising some forms, and also changing the premium processing time from 15 calendar days to 15 business days.
For the August 2020 Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has decided to continue to follow the previous months’ filing procedure and set that for family-sponsored filings, filers should once again follow the Dates for Filing Chart for the August 2020 Visa Bulletin.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today (July 14, 2020), that it has decided to rescind its July 6, 2020 policy that would have prohibited F-1 and M-1 students from entering, or remaining in the U.S. if their U.S. universities or colleges did not provide in-person instruction during the upcoming Fall 2020 semester. Instead, ICE will continue to apply the initial March 13, 2020 policy guidance, which did allow for the F-1/M-1 students to take online courses.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) that is administered by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has announced modifications to the temporary exemption measures that were originally put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic for the upcoming fall 2020 semester.
The Trump administration has signed a new presidential proclamation that not only extends the temporary suspension of entry of certain types of immigrants to the U.S. until December 31, 2020, but this latest executive order expands on the previous immigrant visa issuance restrictions that were announced on April 22, 2020.
In the aftermath of the May 2020 legal settlement that was reached between the USCIS and IT Serve Alliance, which represents a collection of IT consulting firms who had filed lawsuit against the USCIS to contest the enforcement of certain USCIS policy practices governing the H-1B nonimmigrant temporary worker petition filings, the USCIS has formally rescinded both its previously published year 2010 Determining Employer-Employee Relationship (including Third-Party Site Placements) for H-1B petitions Memorandum, as well as the subsequently issued year 2018 Contracts and Itineraries Requirement for H-1B Petitions Involving Third-Party Worksite.
For the July 2020 Visa Bulletin just published by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has decided to continue to follow the previous months’ filing procedure and set that for family-sponsored filings, filers should once again follow the Dates for Filing Chart for the July 2020 Visa Bulletin.
President Trump has announced the U.S. will block certain Chinese nationals associated with entities in China that are part of China’s military-civil fusion strategy from coming to the U.S. by using
F-1 student or J-1 exchange visitor visas.
USCIS will begin to resume premium processing requests for certain immigrant and non-immigrant petitions based on a multi-phase time table. The dates in the latter part of June 2020 are still tentative though.
Previously, in late March 2020, USCIS had suspended all premium processing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is preparing some domestic offices to reopen and resume non-emergency public services on or after June 4. On March 18, USCIS temporarily suspended routine in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices and application support centers (ASCs) to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). USCIS is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines to protect our workforce and the public. For the latest information on the status of individual offices, check our office closures page.
For the June 2020 Visa Bulletin just published by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has decided to continue to follow the previous months’ filing procedure and set that for family-sponsored filings, filers should once again follow the Dates for Filing Chart for the June 2020 Visa Bulletin.
USCIS has announced that it is further extending the temporary suspension of all in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASCs), and it preparing to re-open its offices on or after June 4 2020, unless the public closures are further extended. Previously, the suspension of services was through May 3, 2020.
Following the much-delayed release of the May 2020 Visa Bulletin by the U.S. Department of State, the USCIS has decided to continue following the previous months’ filing procedure and set that for family-sponsored filings, filers should once again follow the Dates for Filing Chart for the May 2020 Visa Bulletin.