USCIS has proposed a $10 fee for each electronic registration submitted by a sponsoring employer for the upcoming H-1B lottery. USCIS will accept public comments on the proposed fee until October 4, 2019.
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USCIS’s fee proposal for employers to complete the online registration process for next year’s H-1B visa lottery has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”). The amount of the fee, which would be paid in addition to the filing, training, and anti-fraud fees for each H-1B petition, has not yet been announced. Publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register is anticipated in the coming days.
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People often ask me about the “million dollar green card.” Established nearly thirty years ago by Congress, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program grants lawful permanent residence (“green card”) to individuals who invest US$1 million in a business in the U.S. (or $500,000 in high unemployment areas), and create (or, in some cases, preserve) 10 permanent full-time jobs for U.S. workers. Today, USCIS published a final rule that contains major changes to the EB-5 Program. These changes will take effect on November 21, 2019.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it is revising the civics test for the naturalization application, which was last done in 2009. According to USCIS, the purpose of the revision is to ensure that it continues to accurately test the applicant’s knowledge and understanding of U.S. history, government, principles, and values.
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The Department of Homeland Security formally moved to rescind the H-4 EAD last week by sending a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on February 20, 2019. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), the text of the proposed rule has not been made available to the public yet.
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USCIS has announced that it will resume premium processing on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, for all H-1B petitions (transfers, extensions, amendments, etc.) filed on or before December 21, 2018.
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USCIS announced today that premium processing will become available for pending H-1B cap cases as of Monday, January 28, 2019. Employers who have received requests for evidence (RFEs) for pending H-1B cap petitions should include their RFE reply with their request for premium processing.
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The Department of State (DOS) has issued its November 2018 Visa Bulletin. Overall, there was very little movement in most categories this month. EB-1 for Chinese and Indian nationals had no movement. EB-2 worldwide is current (except for China and lndia). EB-2 for Chinese nationals advanced by one and a half months, but there was no movement for EB-2 Indian nationals. EB-3 is current (except for China, India, and the Philippines). EB-3 for Chinese and Indian nationals had no movement, but Philippine nationals moved forward by one week.
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Starting October 1, 2018, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) may begin removal (also referred to as “deportation”) proceedings after denying an application for a benefit, such as an application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident (Form I-485), naturalization (Form N-400), or change or extension of status (Form I-539). This new policy stems from President Trump’s Executive Order 13768, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.”
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USCIS held a call last week on September 6, 2018, to publicly explain its updated policy on when it could deny petitions or applications without first issuing a Request for Evidence (“RFE”) or Notice of Intent to Deny (“NOIDs”). The new policy took effect this week on September 11, 2018, and will apply to applications and petitions received by USCIS on or after September 12, 2018.
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