The February 2020 Visa Bulletin was recently released. Nothing particularly of note other than that EB1 India continues to see no movement whatsoever. EB1 India has now seen no forward movement from its 1 January 2015 priority date since it first retrogressed in the June 2019 Visa Bulletin. Commentary: February 2020 For[…]
As H-1B season 2020 approaches, USCIS continues to provide trickles of information about what this new landscape will look like. Today, they announced the formal implementation of the electronic registration process and gave some insight as to the timeline. As we knew before, the registration period will open on March 1st, 2020 and will run[…]
It is no secret that, ever since the Trump Administration first came into office in 2017, the H-1B visa program has undergone significant changes and challenges. Unfortunately, 2020 promises to be no different; H-1Bs and the H-1B visa process will undergo perhaps the biggest fundamental change since the program’s inception in 1990. In the past,[…]
Yesterday was the last day to comment on proposed rules to increase USCIS fees. It’s really by design that such an important comment period falls smack in the middle of the holiday period. I hope at least some of you were able to get your comments in. Having read most of the rule at this[…]
USCIS issued a new policy today that will add several layers of brick to the invisible wall. Issues that were not previously considered in citizenship cases will now be part of the ‘good moral character’ assessment. We will write more about this soon. In the meantime, here is what USCIS said this morning: Copied from[…]
The day has finally come. USCIS has announced the implementation of the electronic registration process for next year’s H-1B lottery, forever changing the landscape of H-1Bs. Instead of preparing and filing completed H-1B petitions and then finding out whether or not that petition was selected in the lottery, employers (or their attorneys) will now electronically[…]
The December 2019 Visa Bulletin was released earlier today. Once again, nothing particularly noteworthy except that the employment-based categories for India continue to see no movement. Commentary: December 2019 For all countries except India, China, Philippines, and Mexico: F2A category priority date remains current, F2B preference advances 31 days to a PD[…]
Today, USCIS continued its unmitigated attack on immigrants and immigration, announcing another proposed rule seeking to greatly limit eligibility for applying for employment authorization. Essentially, those individuals who enter the United States without inspection will be ineligible to apply for employment authorization based on pending asylum applications, except in very limited circumstances. A copy[…]
Poland is the latest country to be designated into the Visa Waiver Program, meaning that, as of November 11, 2019, Polish citizens will be able to apply to travel to the United States for up to 90 days for purposes of business or pleasure without first obtaining a U.S. visa. A small piece of good[…]
This morning, USCIS announced that the rule to finalize a $10 fee for the new H1B preregistration process is now complete. That means, when the new process goes into effect next year, each application to register an H1B employee will be charged at $10. As more information becomes available, we will update you. We too[…]