U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed today (Friday, March 27) that it has completed the random selection of the H-1B registrations electronically submitted between March 1 and March 20, 2020. USCIS will notify petitioners with selected registrations no later than March 31, 2020, that they are eligible to file an H-1B petition for the beneficiary named in the selected registration. Petitioners will have 90 days from the date of notification to file a complete H-1B petition on behalf of the selected beneficiary’s registration.
USCIS has extended its temporary suspension of all in-person services from April 1 to May 3 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Face-to-face services have been cancelled at all field offices, asylum offices, and Application Support Centers (ASCs) until May 3.
Due to physical distancing precautions taken by employers and employees as a response to COVID-19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has relaxed the requirements for employers to physically inspect employee identity and employment authorization documents for Form I-9 purposes.
Major restrictions to traveling into the United States are being implemented rapidly this week as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, Homeland Security confirmed yesterday (Friday) that the U.S. and Canada are temporarily restricting all non-essential travel across their borders. The U.S. and Mexico also are restricting non-essential travel across the southern border. These restrictions took effect today, March 21, 2020, and will be in place for 30 days, at which point they will be reviewed by each country.
USCIS announced this morning, March 20, 2020, that it will no longer accept premium processing services for all nonimmigrant (I-129) and immigrant (I-140) petitions until further notice due to COVID-19. USCIS will honor premium processing requests for petitions that have been received by USCIS and are pending on March 20.
As of March 18, USCIS is suspending all routine face-to-face services with applicants nationwide until at least April 1. This includes services provided at all USCIS field offices, asylum offices and Application Support Centers (ASCs), such as interviews, naturalization ceremonies, and biometric collection appointments.
USCIS announced last night that premium processing will not be available for most H-1B petitions selected in this year’s lottery until June 29, 2020 (at the earliest). However, H-1B petitions filed on behalf of international students (F-1) seeking a change of status to H-1B may request premium processing by May 27, 2020.
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its April 2020 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement, although the employment-based category 3 for most nationals has no movement after the significant retrogression of 18 months in March.
The US government has now added the UK and Ireland to the countries from which travel to the United States will be restricted. These travel restrictions will take effect tonight (Monday), March 17, at midnight.
US Citizens and green card holders will continue to be exempt from the travel restrictions, but those arriving from affected areas will have to fly into one of 13 designated airports for health screenings, followed by a 14-day self-quarantine.
In light of the rapidly changing circumstances around COVID-19, better known as Coronavirus, President Trump has issued a new proclamation this week, which restricts travel to the U.S. from 26 European countries (Schengen states) and which takes effect tonight, Friday, March 13 at midnight.
