Premium processing will become more expensive starting on February 26, 2024. According to USCIS, it is raising the fees to adjust for inflation.
The newly generated income, estimated to be approximately $185 million, will...more
USCIS has issued new policy guidance explaining how it determines whether a beneficiary has met the two-year home residence requirement applicable to nonimmigrant exchange visitors in J status....more
Diversity Visa (DV) Electronic Registration for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 opens at noon ET on October 4, 2023, and closes at noon ET on November 7, 2023. There will be 55,000 Diversity Visas available for FY 2025....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may require employers to file amended H-1B visa petitions when relocating employees to new locations and did not fail to follow or otherwise circumvent rulemaking requirements...more
The Department of State has delayed the effective date of the increase in consular fees from May 30, 2023, to June 17, 2023 (to provide a 60-day delay after the final rule was received by Congress)....more
On May 30, 2023, fees for nonimmigrant visas at all consulates abroad will increase. The increase can be avoided if the visa fee is paid on or after October 1, 2022, and before May 30, 2023, and an interview is scheduled...more
The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery is open for FY 2024. Applications may be filed online until 12:00 p.m. ET on November 8, 2022.
The DV Lottery program makes 50,000 immigrant visas (“green cards”) available every year to...more
As the cap H-1B registration process for fiscal year (FY) 2023 closes, and the lottery is about to begin, this might be a good time to look back at the results of the cap registrations from past fiscal years....more
USCIS has changed its mission statement again – this time to adopt a more immigration-friendly stance.
In 2018, USCIS, under the Trump Administration, changed its mission statement to align with President Donald Trump’s...more
As 2021 comes to an end, the White House and the Department of State have announced:
1.South African Travel Restrictions Lifted.
The 14-day travel restrictions on southern African countries will be lifted as of...more
12/28/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Electronic Travel Authorization Program (eTA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Travel Restrictions ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports ,
Virus Testing ,
Visas ,
Waivers
Diversity Visa (DV) Electronic Registration for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 opens October 6, 2021, at noon ET and closes on November 9, 2021, at noon ET.
There is no cost to register, but, if selected, applicants must pay the...more
The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (HWRA) has been introduced in the Senate again. The bill would recapture 15,000 immigrant visas for doctors and 25,000 for nurses.
The bill has bipartisan support. Introduced by...more
On December 31, 2020, just as it was about to expire, President Donald Trump extended the ban on immigrant and nonimmigrant visas until March 31, 2020. Initiated in April and June 2020, the bans were intended to block...more
The entry period for the 2022 Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program will open on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and will close at noon EDT on Tuesday, November 10, 2022. There is no cost to...more
On September 15, 2020, Judge Amit P. Mehta filed an amended order in Gomez v. Trump in response to the Department of State’s (DOS) guidance regarding the processing of Diversity Visa applications...more
There have been rumors floating that USCIS might be selecting more H-1B cap registrations for the FY 2021 cap. Those rumors appear to be true. As of August 14, 2020, registrants have received emails with notifications of...more
The reported failure of USCIS to renew its contract with an outside vendor in June, because it planned to bring all printing of Green Cards in-house, may be the reason foreign nationals who have managed to make it through the...more
Premium processing will resume in stages according to USCIS. Cap-subject H-1B petitions will be included only in the last phase.
June 1, 2020: USCIS will accept requests for premium processing for all eligible Form I-140...more
Due to COVID-19, USCIS field offices have been closed for in-person services since March 18, 2020. The closure will continue until on or about June 4, 2020 when USCIS hopes to re-open to the public. In preparation for...more
USCIS has announced that Iranians in the U.S. will not be eligible for extensions of E-1 or E-2 visa status or changes to that status from another visa classification. The announcement comes more than a year after the U.S....more
It is no secret that H-1B visa denial rates have been on the rise over the last two years. Recent reporting sheds light on the litigation ensuing from those denials and the impact of denials on H-1B beneficiaries.
Sanduja...more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced it is implementing an electronic registration process in the next H-1B visa lottery. Employers seeking to file fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap-subject petitions...more
On December 6, 2019, USCIS announced it is implementing the registration process in the next H-1B lottery. H-1B employers have been awaiting confirmation of and details regarding the new registration process for H-1B...more
The Trump Administration would like to institute a “points-based” or “merit-based” immigration system, cut down on family-based immigration and eliminate the Diversity Lottery. To date, Congress has not passed any such...more
Despite litigation that enjoined USCIS from proceeding with the implementation of the Public Charge Rule, Department of State (DOS) seemed ready to proceed with it at Consulates abroad.
But, as of this week, DOS is no...more