The 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Read MoreThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has officially withdrawn a rule that would have changed the way the annual H-1B lottery is conducted by giving priority to registrations with the highest wage level.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.
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