The Department of State (DOS) has issued its February 2022 Visa Bulletin. The most important takeaways for February are that priority dates for EB-3 India and China have remained the same as the previous month while EB-2 India and China continue to advance. India, specifically, had over a five-month jump forward in EB-2 visas. Family-based priority dates remain the same across all categories.
Read MoreThe Department of State has authorized consular officers to waive the in-person interview requirement for certain visa applications through the end of 2022. Visa applicants would apply for visas through the mail instead of scheduling an in-person interview at the US Consulate.
Read MoreThe Biden administration announced yesterday that it is ending the current restriction on travelers from eight countries in Southern Africa on December 31, 2021. The travel restriction was implemented on November 26, 2021 in an effort to curb the spread of a new COVID-19 variant (“Omicron”), and suspended entry for travelers who have been physically present in the following countries during the 14-day period prior to their attempted entry into the US.
Read MoreThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has officially withdrawn a rule that would have changed the way the annual H-1B lottery is conducted by giving priority to registrations with the highest wage level. It will continue with the current method of randomly selecting the H-1B registrations in the annual lottery.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its January 2022 Visa Bulletin. The most important takeaways for January are that priority dates for EB-3 India and China have remained the same as the previous month while EB-2 India and China continue to advance. Family-based priority dates remain the same except for slight advancement for nationals of Mexico across all categories.
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 identity and employment authorization documents for Form I-9 purposes through April 30, 2022. The employer must continue to have its employees working remotely in order to benefit from this option.
Read MoreIn an effort to curb the spread of a new COVID-19 variant (“Omicron”), President Biden has issued a Proclamation, which suspends entry for travelers who have been physically present in the following countries during the 14-day period prior to their attempted entry into the US:
Read MoreOn Friday, November 19, we learned that USCIS selected (for a third time!) additional H-1B lottery registrations from the registrations that were not selected in March 2021. We also received selection notifications over the weekend. The newly selected registrations have notices that say “FY2022 Selection of Reserve Registration” and indicate a filing period of November 22, 2021, to February 23, 2022. If we filed a registration on your behalf and it was selected in this third lottery, we have already reached out to your employer. Your employer also should have received a notification from USCIS about the selection.
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its December 2021 Visa Bulletin. The most significant development for the December 2021 Visa Bulletin is that priority dates for EB-2 India move past the EB-3 category. Family-based priority dates mostly remain the same as last month except for advancements for Mexican nationals in all categories..
Read MoreThe Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has agreed to change its employment authorization (“EAD”) policies for spouses of H-1B workers in H-4 status and spouses of L-1 workers in L-2 status as part of a settlement agreement to end litigation over the long delays in processing EAD renewals. I have explained the terms of the settlement in greater detail below. Please note that this does not affect the processing delays for first-time employment authorization applications.
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