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
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
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
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
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
Yesterday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced start dates for premium processing of fiscal year (FY) 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions. USCIS will review premium processing requests in two phases. ...more
On January 25, 2019, USCIS announced that it would resume premium processing for all fiscal year (FY) 2019 H-1B cap petitions on Monday, January 28, 2019. There is some confusion among employees and employers thinking that...more
On May 21, 2018, I posted a blog regarding the then Proposed USCIS Policy Change for F, J, and M Nonimmigrants and Unlawful Presence implications. On August 9, 2018, USCIS issued a revised final policy memorandum, effective...more
USCIS recently issued a reminder for F-1 students that transferring to another education institution or beginning studies at another educational level automatically terminates Optional Practical Training (OPT) as well as the...more
On May 11, 2018, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum for Public Comment, with the comment period set to end on June 11, 2018. ...more
Yesterday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the launch of a new and expanded E-Verify website, E-Verify.gov. The website, which is in both the English and Spanish languages, includes sections for...more
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all FY 2019 cap-subject petitions. ...more