May 2020 Visa Bulletin Released
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its May 2020 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement, although the employment-based category 1 for most nationals is now current. Employment-based category 3 continues to have no movement since the significant retrogression of 18 months in March. Employment-based category 1 (“EB-1) visas are now available for most nationals. The priority date for EB-1 advances by just over a month for Chinese nationals and by three months for Indian nationals in the EB-1 category. For the EB-2 category, immigrant visas are available for most nationals. However, for Chinese nationals, there is a one-month advancement while for Indian nationals the priority date moves forward by just eight days. Finally, for the EB-3 category, there continues to be no movement since the 18-month retrogression in March. However, for Chinese nationals, the priority date moves forward by one month and by five weeks for Indian nationals.
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Presidential Press Briefing Indicates a Much Narrower Executive Order
After last night's devastating tweet in which President Trump proposed suspending all immigration to the US, President Trump clarified today (Tuesday, April 21) in a press briefing that he will soon sign an Executive Order (as early as tomorrow) temporarily putting on hold the processing of immigrant visa applications from abroad. Specifically, foreign nationals applying for visas for admission as permanent residents based on employment and possibly family will be delayed by an additional 60 days, at which point officials will re-examine economic conditions in the United States.
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President Trump’s Proposal to Suspend all Immigration to the U.S.
President Donald Trump tweeted last night (Monday, April 20) at around 7 PM PST / 10 PM EST that he will sign an executive order temporarily suspending all immigration to the U.S. in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The president has not offered any further details on the upcoming order, although the media reported this morning that the proposed executive order is for a temporary, 120-day suspension of employment-based visas into the United States.
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H-1B Lottery 2020: Looking Ahead
USCIS’s first ever electronic H-1B visa lottery process successfully took place this year despite significant concerns about the agency’s ability to implement and execute such an online tool. USCIS received nearly 275,000 registrations between March 1 and March 20, 2020. The number of registrations increased by nearly 30% this year (USCIS received 199,000 H-1B petitions in last year’s lottery), which is not surprising given the relative ease of the online registration process compared to the practice in previous years of filing complete H-1B petitions the first week of April.
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Selection Process of H-1B Electronic Registrations Completed
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.
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USCIS Extends Suspension of In-Person Services to May 3
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.
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DHS Temporarily Relaxes Form I-9 Requirements
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.
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U.S. Implements Major Restrictions to Entry this Week as a Result of COVID-19
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.
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USCIS No Longer Accepting Premium Processing Requests for All Petitions
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.
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USCIS Suspends Face-to-Face Services Nationwide Until April 1
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.
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