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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways
USCIS has announced that on April 10, 2019, it has completed the random drawing and selection process for the Fiscal Year 2020 H-1B quota petitions, and it determined that it has selected enough petitions to fill both the H-1B regular cap of 60,000 cases, as well as the 25,000 U.S. advanced degree exemption cases (Master’s cap).
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Link: https://www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
U.S. Department of State’s April 2019 visa bulletin continues to show robust movements in the employment-based 3rd preference category, in particular for Indian nationals, advancing by one (1) full month.
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Link: https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-resumes-premium-processing-all-h-1b-petitions
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has announced that it is resuming premium processing for all H-1B cases starting on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. This means that when the H-1B petitioner is requesting premium processing with payment of additional filing fee, the USCIS guarantees a 15-day processing time. And if the USCIS does not take action on the case (either approval, or issue request for further evidence (RFE)) within the 15-calendar day processing time, the USCIS will refund the petitioner’s premium processing service fee and continue with expedited processing of the petition.
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Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
USCIS has announced that it is publishing a new version of the form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, as well as adding a new Form I-539A, Supplemental Information for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, to replace the previous version of the Form I-539 supplement A.
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Link: https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-updates-fee-payment-system-used-field-offices
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
As part of the USCIS’s continuing efforts to modernize and update its operations, USCIS has been updating its applicants’ payment systems in selected field offices throughout the U.S. The aim is to eventually have all USCIS field offices accept payments only in the following forms: personal check; attorney check; business check; debit card; credit card, or reloadable prepaid credit or debit card by the end of fiscal year 2019.
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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
U.S. Department of State’s March 2019 visa bulletin continues to show meaningful movements in the employment-based preference categories. In particular, the employment-based 3rd visa preference category numbers for Indian nationals continues to move faster than the 2nd visa preference category numbers. And the visa preference category for EB-1 continues to move at slow pace across all nationalities as demand for those visa numbers continue to be quite vibrant.
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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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 on or before December 21, 2018 and for which the USCIS has not yet finished adjudicating those petitions.
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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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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Categories: Attorneys , Business Immigration , Business Law , Citizenship , Commercial Litigation , Commercial Transactions , Corporate Law , Green Cards , Immigration Law , International Law , Investment Visas , Law Firm , Lawyers , Legal Services , Real Estate , Software Agreements , Technology Law , Trusts And Estates
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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