On Wednesday, January 31, 2024, DHS published a final rule adjusting the USCIS fee schedule in the Federal Register. The Final Rule will be effective on April 01, 2024. Any benefit request postmarked on or after this date must be accompanied by the fees established by this final rule. The Final R...
On December 27, 2023, USCIS announced a final rule that will increase the filing fee for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, to adjust for inflation. DHS is increasing the premium processing fees USCIS charges for all eligible forms and categories to reflect the amount of inflation from ...
On December 21, 2023, the Department of State announced that, beginning January 01, 2024, consular officers have the authority and discretion to waive the in-person interview for: First-time H-2 visa applicants (temporary agricultural and non-agricultural workers); and Other nonimmigrant vis...
On December 20, 2023, USCIS issued policy guidance regarding the F and M student nonimmigrant classifications, including the agency's role in adjudicating applications for employment authorization, change of status, extension of stay, and reinstatement of status for students and their dependents ...
On December 21, 2023, US Department of State in the Federal Register published a notice of pilot program to resume renewal of H-1B Nonimmigrant Visas in the United States for Certain Qualified Noncitizens. The notice describes the following requirements, the procedure for participation in the pil...
On December 12, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued policy guidance on eligibility, filing, and adjudication for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, including joint petitions, individual filing requests, and waivers. The update clarifies what nonciti...
On December 13, 2023, consistent with its September announcement, the Department of Homeland Security published a Federal Register notice reiterating the extensions of the periods to re-register for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under the existing designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, ...
On December 13, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will begin transitioning the filing location for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, when filed for a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, from the service centers to appropriate...
On December 13, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa master's cap for FY2024. USCIS will send non-selection notices to r...
On November 21, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that they are expanding myProgress (formerly known as personalized processing times) to Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, and Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust S...
On November 16, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the Department of Labor (DOL) published a temporary final rule making available an additional 64,716 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for fiscal year (FY)...
According to the recent Bloomberg Law Report, a limited number of H-1B specialty occupation workers will be able to renew their visas in the United States as soon as January 2024, State Department Officials announced. The rollout of the H-1B domestic visa renewal pilot will be limited to just 20,...
The entry submission period for the FY2025 Diversity Immigrant Visa program is from 12:00 pm (ET) on October 4, 2023, to 12:00 pm (ET) on November 7, 2023. The entry form will only be available for submission during this period. Entries must be submitted online through DOS's website. Paper entrie...
Foreign nationals with valid H1B status can work for multiple employers simultaneously through a provision called Concurrent H1B. This can be achieved by filing a Concurrent H1B petition, which enables the H1B holder to take on additional employment while maintaining their existing H1B status. Th...
According to a recent AILA Practice Alert dated September 22, 2023 (AILA Doc. No. 21092710), the following might be the impact on the Immigration services: If the government agencies close for budgetary reasons, all but "essential" personnel are furloughed and are not allowed to work. USCIS:USCI...
On September 18, 2023, through a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published today, DHS proposed modernizing and improving the H-2 programs by providing greater flexibility and protections for participating workers and improving the program's efficiency. This would include strengthening protec...
On September 12, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued policy guidance to clarify how it evaluates evidence to determine eligibility for extraordinary ability and outstanding professor or researcher first preference employment-based immigrant visa classifications (EB-1). Guidance...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminds affirmative asylum applicants that, starting Sept. 13, 2023, you must bring an interpreter to your asylum interview if you are not fluent in English or wish to proceed with your interview in a language other than English. Sign language interprete...
DOS announced that as of 09/07/2023, all available diversity visas were issued for FY2023. The Diversity Visa (DV) program awards up to 55,000 immigrant visas per year and allows those from countries with low immigration rates to the United States to enter for a chance to apply for a U.S immigran...
The U.S. Department of State, on September 08, 2023, released the October 2023 visa bulletin. The latest visa bulletin contains notes on final action dates and dates for filing; it also contains notes on the scheduled expiration for EB-4 and employment-based visa availability for FY024. Final ac...
On August 01, 2023, CBP issued a notice informing airlines of USCIS updates regarding certain receipt notices that includes extension language of up to 48 months for certain pending permanent green card applicants and renewals. This change started on January 11, 2023, for Form I-829, and on Janua...
On August 21, 2023, USCIS announced the launch of a new online form for individuals, attorneys, and accredited representatives to request an in-person appointment at their local field office without having to call the USCIS Contact Center. This online appointment request form allows individuals ...
The U.S. Department of State, on August 04, 2023, released the September 2023 visa bulletin. The latest visa bulletin contains notes on DV-2024 results, availability of employment-based visas during September, numerical limits under INA, and more. For September 2023, F2A numbers EXEMPT from pe...
On July 27, 2023, USCIS announced that it has determined that to reach the FY2024 H-1B CAP, it will need to select additional registrations from previously submitted electronic registrations using a random selection process. In the coming days, USCIS will announce when it has completed the second...
The U.S. Department of State, on April 07, 2023, released the May 2023 visa bulletin. The latest visa bulletin establishes the EB-3 final action date of 01JUN22 & EB-2 final action date of 15FEB22 for the Rest of the World, Mexico, and the Philippines. The U.S. Department of State warned that In...
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