USCIS announced today that premium processing will be offered in a “two-phased approach” for H-1B petitions filed in this year’s lottery. In the first phase, which will begin on April 1, 2019, USCIS will accept requests for premium processing for H-1B petitions filed with a request to change status. In the second phase, which is expected to begin in June, USCIS will accept requests for premium processing for H-1B petitions that were filed with a request for consular notification.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its April 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, there was very little movement in most categories this month. EB-1 for most nationals advanced by one month while there was no movement for Chinese and Indian nationals. For the EB-2 category, Chinese nationals advanced by three months while Indian nationals advanced by only three days. Lastly, EB-3 for Chinese nationals moved forward by twenty-four days, while Indian nationals advanced by one month, and Philippine nationals advanced by three months.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its March 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, movement in all categories has slowed down. EB-1 for most nationals advanced by one month while Chinese and Indian nationals advanced by only fourteen days. For the EB-2 category, Chinese nationals advanced by three months while Indian nationals advanced by only three days. Lastly, EB-3 for Chinese nationals moved forward by seven days, while Indian nationals advanced by one month, and Philippine nationals advanced by four months.
Read MoreUSCIS 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.
Read MoreNow that the federal government's most recent shutdown has ended and E-Verify has resumed operations, please remember to create cases in E-Verify for all employees hired during the shutdown. The deadline to create these cases is February 11, 2019.
Read MoreUSCIS confirmed this morning through publication of a final rule that it would change the order in which it runs the annual H-1B visa lottery to maximize selection of candidates with US Master's degrees.
Read MoreU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that applicants who have a pending affirmative asylum application with USCIS can now check the status of their applications online at uscis.gov/casestatus. Only asylum applicants with an application pending with USCIS will be able to use this new feature to check their case status online. It will not cover defensive asylum applicants whose cases are pending in immigration court.
Read MoreUSCIS 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.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its February 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, movement in all categories has slowed down. EB-1 for most nationals advanced by two months while Chinese and Indian nationals advanced by only one month. For the EB-2 category, Chinese nationals advanced by two months while Indian nationals advanced by only five days. Lastly, EB-3 for Chinese nationals moved forward by twenty-three days, while Indian and Philippine nationals advanced by a month and a few days.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its January 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, there was very little movement in most categories this month. EB-1 for all nationals advanced by three months. There was no movement for the EB-2 category, except for Chinese nationals which advanced by one month. EB-3 for Chinese and Indian nationals remained unchanged, while Philippine nationals advanced by another week.
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