Below is a list of policies and regulations that USCIS has enacted since Buy American and Hire American (BAHA) went into effect. Despite its seemingly benign and lofty ideals of “[protecting] economic interests of U.S. workers” and “[preventing] fraud and abuse” BAHA’s reality has been little more than furthering the not-so-secret policy of this administration[…]
USCIS has announced that, on April 10th, they completed the random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated 85,000 H-1B visas allotted each fiscal year. USCIS received a total of 201,011 H-1B petitions during the filing period for Fiscal Year 2020, which represents an increase from the 190,098 H-1B petitions[…]
USCIS has announced that they have received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the annual 65,000 visa cap for fiscal year 2020. The past several years have seen record numbers of H-1Bs filed, with close to 200,000 total H-1B petitions submitted for both FY 2019 and FY 2018. This year will likely be[…]
The USCIS published the below notice re. H1B Premium Process service today. Good luck to those filing H1b applications! – Tahmina ___________ On May 20, USCIS will begin premium processing for FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitioners requesting a change of status on their Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Petitioners who do not file[…]
USCIS has just announced that, effective tomorrow, March 12, 2019, they are resuming premium processing for all H-1B petitions. Copied from USCIS: USCIS will resume premium processing on Tuesday, March 12, for all H-1B petitions. If you received a request for evidence (RFE) for a pending petition, you should include the RFE response with the[…]
The long anticipated fear of the administration revoking H4 EADs is finally seeing some action. Last week, the proposed rules were sent to the OMB which means that the proposed rules will be published in the very near future. I know this is distressing to many people. As a long standing advocate for H4 EADs,[…]
Another concerning announcement coming from USCIS regarding a revised Form I-539 and new Form I-539A, including a new biometrics fee requirement of $85 for many categories of applicants, including those applying for H-4 status. Copied from USCIS: We have revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and will publish the revised form on our[…]
Some (rare) positive news on the H-1B front. USCIS has announced that they are resuming premium processing for all H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018. This announcement expands upon USCIS’ previous resumption of premium processing for all FY 2019 cap-subject H-1B petitions to include non-cap subject H-1B transfers and extensions (other than continuation[…]
We file a fair number of P-visa applications at our office. This news update is concerning given the arbitrary adjudications we have seen across employment-based cases. Copied from USCIS: Effective immediately, USCIS will begin accepting copies of negative consultation letters directly from labor unions relating to a current or future P nonimmigrant visa petition. A[…]
It was an honor to speak with SHRM‘s Roy Maurer about the DHS proposed rules published on Monday December 3rd 2018 which seek to change the H1B visa lottery process. You can read the article here. If you have any comments or questions, we are happy to answer them!