On July 30th, USCIS determined that not enough H-1B petition filings in the regular cap were submitted during the initial filing period from April 1, 2024 through June 30, 2024. USCIS will select additional registrations to...more
On January 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) will begin accepting online H-1B visa stamp applications at this web address for a limited number of qualifying applicants to receive H-1B visa stamps from within the...more
The U.S. State Department (U.S. DOS) has taken a step toward resuming issuance of H-1B visa stamps from within the United States. It is anticipated that this could begin in early 2024 with a limited pilot program to test the...more
Yesterday afternoon USCIS announced that the second round of the H-1B cap-subject lottery just recently announced is now complete.
All prospective petitioners from this round of selection have been notified of the selected...more
In an announcement on July 27th, USCIS determined that not enough H-1B petition filings were submitted during the initial filing period from April 1, 2023 through June 30, 2023. USCIS will select additional registrations to...more
On July 21, 2023, DHS announced a new edition of Form I-9 along with a new rule permitting certain employers to conduct remote inspection of the documents used in the Form I-9 employment eligibility verification process. The...more
Today, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the number of FY2024 Cap H-1B Registrations received, with approximately 781,000 total. Of those registrations, 758,994 were found to be eligible and...more
Yesterday marked another occurrence of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) placing a bandage on processing backlogs with the announcement of a temporary rule that increases the automatic extension period to up...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced the temporary waiver of the requirement that the civil surgeon sign Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, within a 60 day period...more
USCIS recently announced that the Form I-944, Declaration of Self-Sufficiency and any information and documentation required as part of the form are no longer required in response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision not...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced revisions to the naturalization civics test. The changes will affect those applicants who apply after December 1, 2020. These applicants will need to take...more
USCIS recently announced that it will not furlough employees as was previously scheduled to begin on August 30, 2020. USCIS had previously pushed back the anticipated furlough from earlier in August and now has ultimately...more
On May 29, 2020, President Trump issued yet another immigration-related Executive Order. This one is entitled, “Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the People’s...more
As some U.S. states are starting to re-open parts of their state, this alert is a reminder that the U.S. border with both Mexico and Canada remains closed for non-essential travel and will remain so until at least May 21st...more
On March 16, 2020, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking guidance regarding employer I-9 Employment Eligibility...more
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all FY 2021 cap-subject petitions. USCIS expects this suspension to last until no later than May 27, 2020...more
The recent wave of public and private university and college closings due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is only going to increase throughout the United States. Many colleges and universities have already moved to remote...more
A recent federal district court decision from the Middle District of North Carolina has blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from enforcing its 2018 Memorandum on F, J, and M Nonimmigrant Unlawful Presence...more
As of February 24, 2020, all applications for Adjustment of Status will be subject to the enhanced Public Charge Rule after a rule by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 27, 2020. This rule, originally scheduled to take effect...more
To update my September 5, 2019 post, USCIS has announced a final rule that requires a $10 non-refundable registration fee for each cap-subject H-1B submitted by petitioning employers. USCIS announced that this registration...more
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced changes to student’s access to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Instead of allowing students access to their portal accounts indefinitely, in the...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a notice in the Federal Register of a proposed rule to amend its regulations to allow for USCIS to require a $10 registration fee for each petitioner seeking to file...more
USCIS’ previous practice of adjudicating the I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, filed with a qualifying I-129 petition under Premium Processing has ended. USCIS now requires every I-539 applicant pay a...more
Yesterday, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the agency has completed data entry for all fiscal year 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in the lottery. USCIS is still issuing...more
The Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor jointly announced the addition of 30,000 H-2B temporary worker visas for fiscal year 2019. These additional visas are available only to returning workers who...more