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 Homeland Security has extended Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for nationals of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan until January 2, 2020, following a federal court order that temporarily prevents DHS from terminating TPS for nationals of these countries.
Read MoreUSCIS announced today that premium processing would resume for ALL H-1B petitions tomorrow, March 12, 2019. Finally! The announcement was silent on whether premium would be available for the upcoming H-1B visa lottery. We recommend giving USCIS a week to clarify its position in this regard.
Read MoreThe United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will release a new Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, on March 8, 2019, which will require all accompanying dependents (“co-applicants”) in the application to pay for and complete biometrics services (fingerprinting and taking photo) with USCIS. This includes children. Each accompanying dependent also will need to sign an updated Supplement A of the Form I-539. Effective March 21, 2019, USCIS will only accept the new version of the Form and will reject any applications using prior versions.
Read MoreThe 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.
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 MoreThe U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela stopped processing visas on January 25, 2019, due to diplomatic tensions. Although the State Department has not yet formally designated an alternative consulate for visa processing, the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru confirmed its availability for processing immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications.
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.
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