U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will increase most of its government filing fees effective October 2, 2020, due to budgetary shortfalls. It also will change the premium processing time from 15 calendar days to 15 business days. Finally, it will issue new versions of Form I-129 and Form I-765 in the next 30 days, which also will take effect on October 2, 2020.
Read MoreIn response to certain recent actions taken by China to reduce Hong Kong’s autonomy, President Trump issued an Executive Order last week, stating that Hong Kong would no longer be treated as separate from the People’s Republic of China (“China”) for purposes of certain US laws.
Read MoreThe Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will continue to limit “non-essential travel” at its land borders with both Canada and Mexico for an additional 30 days through August 20, 2020. Travel for recreation or tourism is considered “non-essential.” Essential services related to the movement of food, fuel, healthcare and life-saving medicines will continue.
Read MoreWith employers and employees continuing to take physical distancing precautions in response to COVID-19, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) has again extended the ability of employers to remotely verify a new employee’s identify and employment authorization documents for Form I-9 purposes through August 19, 2020, provided the employer continues to have its employees working remotely.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its August 2020 Visa Bulletin. We will now be covering both employment-based and family-based priority dates as detailed below.
Read MorePresident Trump just released a Proclamation, suspending the admission of foreign national workers on H-1B, H-2B, J and L visas and their accompanying dependents through December 31, 2020, in response to high U.S. unemployment. The Proclamation also extends the suspension of immigrant visas further to his April 22 Proclamation through the end of 2020. This Proclamation will take effect on Wednesday, June 24, 2020.
Read MoreThe Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will continue to limit “non-essential travel” at its land borders with both Canada and Mexico for an additional 30 days until July 21, 2020. Travel for recreation or tourism is considered “non-essential.” Essential services related to the movement of food, fuel, healthcare and life-saving medicines will continue.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its July 2020 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement. One category with a significant eleven month advancement is employment-based category 1 (“EB-1”) for Indian nationals. Otherwise, the employment-based categories 1 and 2 for most nationals remain current.
Read MoreWith employers and employees continuing to take physical distancing precautions in response to COVID-19, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) has again extended the ability of employers to remotely verify a new employee’s identify and employment authorization documents for Form I-9 purposes through July 17, 2020, provided the employer continues to have its employees working remotely.
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