TThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its December 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories had little forward movement. Employment-based category 1 (“EB-1) for most nationals advances by 44 days while for Chinese nationals it moves forward by 103 days. There is no change for Indian nationals in the EB-1 category.
Read MoreU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to increase most of its government filing fees, and change the premium processing time to 15 business days instead of calendar days due to budgetary shortfalls.
Read MoreBeginning November 11, 2019, citizens of Poland will be eligible to visit the United States for business or leisure for up to 90 days without a visa. They will be admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (“VWP”).
Read MoreThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its November 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment-based categories this month had little advancement. (Employment-based (“EB”) category 1 for all nationals (except for India and China) advanced by little over a month. EB-1 for China moves forward three months and EB-1 India remains the same. The EB-2 category for all nationals continues to be current. China has a two and a half month advancement, and India advanced by one day. The EB-3 category is current for all nationals except for China and India, which saw no change from last month. The Philippines moves forward by three and a half months.
Read MoreThe publication of a proposed rule that would rescind the H-4 EAD has been delayed until at least spring 2020. In a letter submitted by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week, the agency confirmed that while it still plans on publishing a rule to repeal the H-4 EAD, the proposed rule is still undergoing interagency review. DHS also stated that the spring 2020 date was “aspirational.”
Read MoreUSCIS has proposed a $10 fee for each electronic registration submitted by a sponsoring employer for the upcoming H-1B lottery. USCIS will accept public comments on the proposed fee until October 4, 2019.
Read MoreAlthough the most recent version of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification expired on August 31, 2019, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has advised employers to continue to use the July 17, 2017, version of the Form I-9 until an updated version is released. The revised version of Form I-9 is not expected to be significantly different from the current version.
Read MoreEarlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a final rule concerning the “public charge” grounds under the immigration statute for denying admission, extension of status, and permanent residence to foreign nationals. The rule will take effect after 60 days, on October 15, 2019, unless litigation prevents its implementation.
Read MoreUSCIS’s fee proposal for employers to complete the online registration process for next year’s H-1B visa lottery has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”). The amount of the fee, which would be paid in addition to the filing, training, and anti-fraud fees for each H-1B petition, has not yet been announced. Publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register is anticipated in the coming days.
Read MoreThe Department of Homeland Security has decided to extend Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for nationals of Syria for a period of eighteen months. TPS designation for Syria was scheduled to end on September 30, 2019. The DHS decision will extend it through March 31, 2021.
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