The Department of State (DOS) has issued its July 2021 Visa Bulletin. Priority dates for both employment-based and family-based petitions are detailed below. Most significant movement happens for employment-based category 3 for nationals of India with a 14-month advancement in priority dates.
Read MoreEarlier this week, the State Department released additional guidance on the restrictions for travelers from Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
Read MoreAs employers reopen their offices and employees return to work in-person, DHS has provided further guidance on how employers can complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for employees who continue to work remotely. Specifically, DHS clarifies that employers do not need to have 100% of their staff tele-working in order to remotely verify an employee’s work authorization (new hire or those who need to have their work authorization re-checked) so long as that employee continues to work remotely. However, once that employee begins to work in-person at the office on a “regular, consistent, or predictable basis,” then in-person inspection of employment authorization documents is required within three business days.
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its June 2021 Visa Bulletin. Priority dates for both employment-based and family-based petitions are detailed below.
In response to surging COVID-19 cases in India, President Biden issued a proclamation this afternoon (April 30), banning travelers into the United States from India effective May 4, 2021 at 12:01 AM EST. Travelers on flights en route to the US from India that departed before 12:01 AM on May 4, 2021, will not be subject to the restriction.
The growing cases of COVID-19 abroad has also resulted in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) extending the prohibition on “non-essential travel” at its land borders with both Canada and Mexico for an additional 30 days through May 21, 2021.
USCIS has just released guidance that the agency will resume its previous practice of adjudicating extension petitions with deference to the initial approval where the parties and facts are the same. This is welcome news as processing times for extension petitions have grown dramatically over the last few years from a couple of months to six to ten months.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its May 2021 Visa Bulletin. Both employment-based and family-based priority dates are detailed below.
Read MoreFor employers who continue to operate remotely, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) has once again extended the ability of employers to remotely verify a new employee’s identify and employment authorization documents for Form I-9 purposes through May 31, 2021.
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