After temporarily suspending premium processing for nonimmigrant (I-129) and immigrant (I-140) petitions due to COVID-19, USCIS announced on May 29, 2020 they will resume premium processing services in the following four phases:
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As USCIS prepares to reopen its domestic offices on June 4 for face-to-face services, such as interviews, collection of biometrics, and naturalization ceremonies, it will implement certain measures to ensure social distancing.
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In an ongoing effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, President Trump issued a Proclamation, indefinitely suspending the entry of travelers from Brazil to the United States. The travel ban takes effect tomorrow, May 28, 2020, at midnight.
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The Department of State (DOS) has issued its June 2020 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement. The two categories with a significant ten month advancement are employment-based category 1 (“EB-1”) for Indian nationals and employment-based category 3 (“EB-3”) for most nationals. Otherwise, the employment-based categories 1 and 2 for most nationals remain current.
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With employers and employees continuing to take physical distancing precautions in response to COVID-19, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) has extended the ability of employers to remotely verify a new employee’s identify and employment authorization documents for Form I-9 purposes through June 18, 2020.
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The legal battle over the rule that allows spouses of certain H-1B workers to obtain work authorization had an unexpected development earlier this month. For the last five years, Save Jobs USA, a group of U.S. technology workers, has been challenging this rule as hurting U.S. workers. Since the Trump administration took office, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has been stalling this case, insisting that it plans on rescinding the rule, which would make the litigation unnecessary.
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Due to the ongoing Shelter in Place directives in many states, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that employers may temporarily accept expired documents from List B, notably state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards, to verify identity and complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
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Following the chaos resulting from President Donald Trump’s tweet last week on Monday night in which he proposed the temporary suspension of all immigration to the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he formally issued a Proclamation, which provides for a narrow and temporary suspension of certain immigrants coming to the United States for a 60-day period.
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USCIS has extended its temporary suspension of all face-to-face services at USCIS field offices, asylum offices, and Application Support Centers (ASCs) to June 3, 2020, with a planned reopening on or after June 4.
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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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