On April 1, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began requiring certain I-129 petitions, historically filed at service centers, to instead be filed at its various lockbox facilities. USCIS confirmed on...more
U.S. immigration law has always been challenging with ever-changing rules and policies and their far-reaching effects. However, the constant complication post-pandemic has been the unpredictability of processing times and...more
On January 4, 2023, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a proposed rule to increase fees for most immigration benefit requests. If implemented, employers will pay significantly more for...more
International borders have been closed for 18 months, U.S. embassies abroad have been operating at a limited capacity, and yet employers struggle to find and retain talent. Corporate immigration, including H-1Bs and other...more
This alert summarizes a number of important developments affecting business immigration that occurred last week, including a number of federal court decisions enjoining certain presidential and regulatory actions, as well as...more
On August 3, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a Final Rule that alters the USCIS filing Fee Schedule. On average, the filing fees were increased overall by approximately 20%....more
USCIS has recently announced it will resume premium processing for forms I-129 and I-140 in phases over the next month. Please see the agency’s announced schedule below. USCIS will accept premium processing requests on the...more
USCIS Resumes Premium Processing - USCIS has announced here that beginning the month of June 2020, it will again start accepting certain petitions for premium processing. Premium processing was indefinitely suspended as...more
Premium processing, the vehicle utilized by many U.S. petitioners filing for nonimmigrant and immigrant-based benefits, is being resumed by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) with a phased-in approach commencing...more
On Friday, May 29, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced plans for the phased-in resumption of premium processing for eligible I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker petitions and eligible I-129...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday that it will resume premium processing for certain petitions in phases over the next month....more
To seek H-1B “professional” work authorization for foreign recruits during 2018 employers should start now to get their preliminary Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Preparations must then...more
All I-129 petitions, whether initial requests or requests for extension of visa status, will be subject to the same level of scrutiny, USCIS has confirmed. The agency will no longer defer to the findings of a previously...more
USCIS announced that it has resumed premium processing for all H-1B visa petitions after a six month suspension of the program for these petitions. Over the past few months, USCIS has progressively re-opened premium...more
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on October 24, 2016 that effective December 23, 2016 fees for most nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions will increase by an average of 21 percent. This...more
In a move likely to elicit equal parts appreciation and exasperation among the employer community, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued guidance on the need to file an amended H-1B petition when there is a...more
On April 9, 2015, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a precedential decision (Matter of Simeio Solutions, 26 I&N Dec. 542) that significantly impacts U.S....more