USCIS tweeted (yes, tweeted) this morning that they have extended the H-1B lottery registration period to Monday, March 20 at 2PM PST / 5PM EST because their online payment option stopped working yesterday.  USCIS confirmed that the crash was due to high user traffic.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Somalia due to ongoing armed conflict, public health crises, and food security challenges in Somalia.

On Monday, March 6, USCIS announced that it will expand the availability of premium processing to pending applications by international students for Optional Practical Training (OPT) and OPT extensions based on a STEM degree.

The Department of State (DOS) has issued its March 2023 Visa Bulletin, which has zero movement across all employment and family-based categories. While the EB-2 category worldwide has seen backlogs over the past several months, the EB-3 category has remained open for nationals of most countries. Due to increased EB-3 applicants, DOS has announced that they may establish a worldwide final action date for the EB-3 category over the next few months. 

It's that time of the year again!  The registration period for this year's H-1B visa lottery runs from Wednesday, March 1 at 9 AM PST / 12 PM EST to Friday, March 17 at 9 AM PST / 12 PM EST. We highly recommend registering early on during this period so there is time to accommodate any system glitches or crashes before the registration period closes on March 17. If you would like us to assist you with the H-1B registration process, please contact us by Friday, February 24, at the latest so we can help you get set up and confirm eligibility for H-1B classification.

President Biden has approved a two-year extension of Deferred Enforced Departure (“DED”) for certain residents of Hong Kong currently in the United States, and an expansion of DED to Hong Kong residents who arrived in the United States after the initial grant of DED was announced on August 5, 2021.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reached a settlement agreement last week in which USCIS has agreed to adjudicate H-4 and L-2 extension and EAD applications on Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, and Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, when these forms are filed with the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker in H-1B and L-1 status.

The Department of State (DOS) has issued its February 2023 Visa Bulletin. Overall, there is almost no movement in priority dates for employment and family-based categories in February. The only category to have any movement is the F-1 category for Mexican nationals for which the priority date advances by almost five months. All other family-based categories remain the same. 

Beginning January 30, 2023, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for all pending and initial I-140 Immigrant Petitions for Multinational Executive and Manager (EB-1C) and I-140 Immigrant Petitions for National Interest Waivers (EB-2 NIW).