The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may resume implementation of the new Public Charge Rule, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled.
The factors that are considered under the new Public Charge...more
The “Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program” rule has been submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review and could be published by the end of the year – or earlier....more
Some 50,000 foreign nationals with approved Lawful Permanent Residency (Green Card) applications have been waiting for months to receive their cards, which provide proof of lawful permanent resident status. Without these...more
USCIS has announced that, due to an “unprecedented” increase in revenues, the source of which is unclear, it would not go forward with the furloughs previously scheduled for August 30, 2020 – at least not until the end of the...more
The USCIS is in the process of entering a Consent Order to produce, on a specific schedule, Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cards for those 75,000 foreign nationals who have approved employment authorization...more
Assuming there is no further stalling or litigation by the government, Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) may finally be on their way to approximately 75,000 foreign nationals who have been waiting for them, in some...more
USCIS confirmed that its planned furlough of 70% of its workforce (13,400 employees) will be postponed at least until the end of August. The ostensible reason for the furlough was a budget shortfall, even though USCIS is a...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended its flexibility regarding the physical presence requirements for I-9 inspection for another 30 days, until August 19, due to the ongoing precautions related to the...more
Foreign nationals with approved permanent residence applications but no actual permanent resident card (known as Green Cards) are not the only ones dealing with the printing back-up at USCIS. After deciding to bring the...more
Since May, USCIS has been threatening furloughs of three-quarters of its workforce in August if it does not receive a $1.2 billion loan and an average 21% increase in fees to take care of its budget shortfall. Reportedly,...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) once again is extending its flexibility regarding the physical presence requirements for I-9 inspection for another 30 days until July 19, 2020, due to the ongoing precautions related...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that, because of the National Emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, employers may temporarily inspect Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification,...more
USCIS has announced the new Public Charge Rule will become effective on February 24, 2020, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has lifted the injunction.
This Rule affects legal immigrants (those who are legally in the United...more
The long-promised new Form I-9 is now available for use and downloading from the USCIS website. Although it became available for use starting January 31, 2020, there is a grace period. Employers have up to 90 days (until May...more
It is time to start preparing for the upcoming H-1B visa lottery, which begins April 1, 2020, and will be the first one to require an electronic registration for each case.
To be eligible to file a cap-subject H-1B...more
2/3/2020
/ Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lottery ,
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USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
Is it a significant achievement to make it onto a national sports team?
Would winning a top-ten spot in a European championship constitute an award for excellence?
Would being one of a duo who were U.S. junior ice dance...more
Beginning in October 2020, employers in the construction industry in Pennsylvania will be required to use E-Verify, the federal government’s web-based program that allows employers to verify an employee’s work-authorization...more
Since 2017, USCIS under the Trump Administration has essentially directed its adjudicators to find ways to deny H-1B petitions. The most recent statistics on Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and denials certainly support this,...more
The I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form, that employers have been using since July 2017 is set to expire on August 31, 2019. Until USCIS makes any additional announcements on I-9 Central, employers should plan to...more
Long USCIS processing delays are now the norm for all types of immigration cases. Indeed, the delays have reached crisis levels. Processing times increased by 46% over the past two fiscal years and 91% since FY 2014.
...more
On August 8, 2018, DHS issued a new policy that announced that foreign students would begin accumulating “unlawful presence” if any violation of status had occurred, whether known to the student or not. On May 3, 2019, in...more
USCIS has announced on Twitter that there was an 11% increase from FY 2019 in H-1B advanced degree petitions selected in the FY 2020 lottery.
This year, USCIS reversed the lottery selection process. Master’s cap petitions...more
USCIS announced that as of April 10, 2019, it received 201,011 H-1B petitions for the FY 2020 cap season — more than enough to meet both the regular (65,000) and the advanced degree exemption (20,000) caps.
At the same...more
Professional athletes who are “internationally recognized” are eligible for the P-1 visa and eSports (video games) at the professional level have become such major athletic events that eSports players have been granted these...more
As the start of the H-1B cap season approaches, USCIS has clarified that not all of this year’s cap cases can be premium processed.
Despite its notice on March 12, USCIS has announced that only cap-subject H-1B petitions...more