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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS clarifies its guidelines that (a) the age requirements for a petitioner filing an Affidavit of Support for a spouse in conjunction with a concurrently filed I-485 is 18 years old [note: there is no formal age requirement for petitioner filing a spousal form I-130]; and (b) adds factors that the adjudicators should consider when adjudicating form I-130 spousal petition involving minors.
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https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-publish-revised-form-i-539-and-new-form-i-539a
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has just announced that starting on March 11, 2019, they will not only publish a revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, but they will also add a new form I-539A, Supplemental Information for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status.
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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has announced that it will start to accept negative consultation letters that are issued by labor unions which are related to P nonimmigrant visa petitions. Consultation letters issued by U.S. labor organization are normally required for P visa petitions. P petitions are related to sponsorship of athletes, artists, entertainers, and their essential support personnel.
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SANTA ANA, Calif. – Following the arrests this morning of three defendants who allegedly operated “birth tourism” outfits that catered to Chinese clients, federal authorities today unsealed indictments that charge a total of 19 people linked to three schemes that operated across Southern California and charged clients tens of thousands of dollars to help them give birth in the United States.
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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
The Department of Homeland Security set up an undercover operation in which it set up a fake university called the University of Farmington based out of an office in Farmington Hills, Michigan to entice F-1 students who wanted to remain in the U.S. and obtain work authorization via Curricular Practical Training (CPT) program. The federal indictment was unsealed on January 31, 2019 by the Department of Justice to reveal that there are six (6) individuals who were charged with conspiracy to assist with more than 600 foreign nationals to remain illegally in the U.S. as F-1 students and work in the U.S., while those same foreign students were allegedly informed upfront by the undercover DHS agents who were posing as university officials that they would not be attending any classes or earning any academic credits, and that they can simply pay fees to the university and then be eligible for CPT and work in the U.S.
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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has just issued the final H-1B quota registration rule in which it will proceed to set up the previously announced online pre-registration of H-1B quota petition filing system. However, it will temporarily suspend this registration system until the year 2020 H-1B quota filing season, in order to allow the USCIS sufficient time to conduct user testing and make sure the registration system is working properly before implementing it in the year 2020 H-1B filing period.
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https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-makes-two-more-applications-available-online-filing
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has added two (2) new forms – the N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship, and the N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322 – to the list of immigration forms that applicants can file online.
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https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-announces-countries-eligible-h-2a-and-h-2b-visa-programs-0
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State have published its updated H-2A (temporary agricultural worker) and H-2B (temporary non-agricultural worker) countries list. The nationals from the list of countries are eligible to participate in the H-2A (temporary agricultural workers) and the H-2B (temporary non-agricultural workers) visa programs.
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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has announced that it is resuming premium processing (expedited 15-day processing time) for those H-1B petitions that were filed in April 2018 and for which the USCIS has not yet finished adjudicating those petitions.
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Link : https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Bulletins/visabulletin_february2019.pdf
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
U.S. Department of State’s February 2019 visa bulletin shows some encouraging movements in the employment-based preference categories. In particular, the employment-based 3rd visa preference category numbers for Indian nationals have even moved past the 2nd visa preference category numbers. And the bulletin also made some projections about visa availability in the next few months, with potential movement for EB-3 India for up to 3 months, while EB-2 India moving more slowly at one week.
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For all those looking to work or live in the United States, it is mandatory to be aware of the new trends, rules, and consequences before submitting an immigration application. The rigid policies and guidelines introduced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have made it even more difficult for foreign nationals to obtain legal status in the U.S.
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Link:https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Bulletins/visabulletin_january2019.pdf
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
The just-published January 2019 Visa Bulletin shows only slight movement in the employment-based preference categories. The initial prediction made by the U.S. Department of State’s Charlie Oppenheim (he is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State) back in the summer of 2018 that the EB-1 preference category (extraordinary ability; researcher & professor; and multi-national executive/manager) would see the retrogressed dates revert back to ‘Current’ has not come to fruition.
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https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-revises-interview-waiver-guidance-form-i-751
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has published new guidance to clarify to the USCIS officers who are adjudicating the form I-751, petition to remove conditions on residence on when to consider waiving the interview requirement. Generally, the USCIS is supposed to interview a conditional permanent resident who is the principal petitioner on the form I-751, unless the interview is waived by the USCIS.
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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has announced that it is proposing a new rule that would require H-1B petitioner/employers to pre-register online before submitting an H-1B cap petition. This proposal also calls for the switching of the order of the regular and master’s cap lotteries, in order to increase the odds of U.S. advanced degree holders being picked in the annual H-1B lottery.
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https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-clarifies-l-1-one-year-foreign-employment-requirement
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has published a Policy Memorandum to clarify and explain the “one-year foreign employment requirement” for a qualifying U.S. organization that wishes to file for L-1 intracompany transfer petition to transfer an executive or manager (L-1) or a specialized knowledge worker (L-1B) from one of its qualifying foreign offices to one of its offices in the U.S.
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More than ever, immigrating to the U.S, is a challenging process. When it comes to obtaining a visa there are many questions people have but often find answers difficult to come by. To help you understand what to look for and which aspects to keep in mind, Pasricha & Patel has answered some of the most frequently asked questions about U.S.A. immigration.
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https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Bulletins/visabulletin_november2018.pdf
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
U.S. Department of State has published the November 2018 visa bulletin. When compared with the October 2018 visa bulletin, there is some movement in the family-based visa preference category priority dates, but there is hardly any movement in the employment-based visa preference category dates. But this was to be expected, as based on previous observations made by the U.S. Department of State in earlier visa bulletins this year.
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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
Beginning on Oct. 1, 2018, USCIS has started relying on electronic tablets to administer the English reading and writing test portion of the naturalization interview. Please do note that the civic test portion of the naturalization interview will still be administered orally.
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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has issued a reminder that those affected F-1 students who still have pending H-1B change of status petitions with the USCIS and who have been under ‘cap-gap protection’ may not continue to work on or after October 1, 2018, UNLESS they are otherwise authorized to continue employment (via their still-valid EAD cards).
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