Effective June 5, 2019, applicants for the annual Green Card lottery will be required to provide information from a valid, unexpired passport on their electronic visa entry form. The new passport requirement only applies to the principal applicant on the entry form, and not to his or her accompanying dependents. Failure to provide accurate information on the application form will result in disqualification from the lottery.
Read MoreUSCIS announced earlier this week that data entry for all H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in this year’s lottery has been completed. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected and will issue an announcement once it has finished returned all H-1B petitions. USCIS declined to provide a definite time frame for returning unselected petitions.
Read MoreThe recent transfer of more than 700 border agents from the US-Canada border to the US-Mexico border means travelers between Canada and the US should be ready for delays at immigration inspections. The Department of Homeland Security announced that the temporary transfer of border agents from the northern to the southern border is to assist with the influx of asylum-seekers from Central America.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its June 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, there was a little movement in most categories this month. EB-1 for most nationals advanced by 52 days while there was no movement for Chinese nationals. EB-1 for Indian nationals retrogressed by a little over two years.
For the EB-2 category, Chinese nationals advanced by 78 days while Indian nationals advanced by only three days. Lastly, EB-3 for Chinese nationals moved forward by 24 days, while Indian nationals did not advance, and Philippine nationals advanced by five months.
The Department of Homeland Security will not be enforcing the termination of Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for nationals of Nepal and Honduras until further notice, following a court appeal similar to the case that challenged the terminations of TPS for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador.
Each year, the U.S. Department of State releases statistics on visa refusal rates by country. It lists every country in the world in alphabetical order with its visa refusal rate. In reviewing the refusal rate for visitor visas (B-1/B-2) last year, I reorganized the information so that the countries are listed by highest to lowest rates of refusal. You can find the list here.
Read MorePresident Trump’s newest immigration initiative targets foreign nationals who overstay their visas with a focus on visitors who enter the United States on the B-1/B-2 visa and the Visa Waiver Program. In a memo released on Monday, he has proposed reducing the amount of time foreign nationals are allowed to stay in the United States, requiring additional documentation, and imposing admission bonds that would be refunded upon departure from the U.S.
Read MoreUSCIS has issued policy guidance, clarifying that the use of marijuana or working in the cannabis industry could be a basis for denying naturalization applications, even where such conduct would not be an offense under state law.
Read MoreThe Social Security Administration (SSA) has re-started its practice of issuing “no match” letters to employers this past month. Also known as “Employer Correction Requests,” these letters inform an employer when an employee’s W-2 information such as their name and Social Security do not match the SSA’s records. If employers receive such a notice, they should investigate and take the appropriate corrective action.
Read MoreThe U.S. Embassy in Israel has confirmed that Israeli citizens will be eligible for the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa effective May 1, 2019. This development opens new possibilities for Israel’s robust start-up culture.
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