The Department of State (DOS) has released its October 2018 Visa Bulletin. October 1 marks the start of the new fiscal year so all the immigrant visa categories benefit from new visa numbers. As a result, all categories will experience significant advancements, some as many as four to six years.
Read MoreUSCIS announced today that it will temporarily suspend premium processing for most H-1B petitions filed at the Vermont and California Service Centers beginning September 11, 2018. USCIS expects that the suspension will last until February 19, 2019.
Read MoreUSCIS has clarified that STEM OPT extensions are available to international students who will work at a site other than the employer’s principal place of business. USCIS updated its website on Friday, August 17, with this clarification.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its September 2018 Visa Bulletin. As to be expected in the last month of the fiscal year (the new fiscal year begins on October 1), several categories are no longer current and other categories have experienced significant retrogressions.
Read MoreA recent report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) confirms that the USCIS has exponentially increased the number of requests for evidence (“RFE”) it has issued for H-1B petitions and denials of L-1 petitions this past year as a result of the Trump administration’s “Buy American, Hire American” Executive Order. Notably, for H-1B petitions, the RFE rate jumped from 17.3% in Q1 (under the Obama administration) to 69% in Q4 2017.
Read MoreDuring a stakeholders teleconference yesterday, USCIS confirmed that processing times for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, would continue to slow down as the agency intensifies its efforts to identify marriage fraud. Previously, I-751s were adjudicated within a year, but processing times are now reaching up to 20 months.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its August 2018 Visa Bulletin. Most notably, the Employment-Based (“EB”)-1 category for all nationals worldwide (except for China and India) is no longer current and has retrogressed to May 1, 2016. EB-1 for Chinese and Indian nationals had no movement. EB-2 and EB-3 worldwide remains current. EB-2 for Chinese nationals advanced by two months, but there was no movement for EB-2 Indian nationals. EB-3 for Chinese, Indian and Philippine nationals also moved forward.
Read MoreThe enforcement priorities of the Trump administration when it comes to U.S. immigration continue to intensify. Late last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) released guidance, expanding the range of cases in which it can initiate removal proceedings.
Read MoreOn June 26, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s Travel Ban (version 3.0) by a 5-4 vote. Formally referred to as the September 24, 2017, Presidential Proclamation, the Travel Ban restricts travel to the United States for nationals of the following seven countries: Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, and North Korea. For Venezuela, the travel ban is limited to certain government officials and their family members visiting the U.S. on business or tourist visas (B-1/B-2).
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