Blog
News & EventsSeptember 2019 Visa Bulletin Issued; EB-3 Categories Made Immediately Unavailable
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its September 2019 Visa Bulletin, which has been reproduced below. However, during the Department of State Liaison Committee's August 16, 2019 monthly check-in with Charlie Oppenheim, the committee was made aware that the...
DHS and USCIS Announces Final Rule on Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds
On Monday, August 12, 2019, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a final rule that clearly defines the long-standing public charge inadmissibility law. According to section 212(a)(4) of the...
USCIS Will Close Most International Offices
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services's (USCIS) director, Ken Cuccinelli, announced on August 9, 2019 that agency will close all of its international field offices except for seven. Currently, USCIS has 20 field offices worldwide, including in major...
ICE Begins Conducting On-Site Inspections of F-1 STEM OPT Employment
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) unit of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has officially launched on-site inspections of the STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) employment of certain F-1 trainees. The purpose of these...
Changes to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Finalized
On July 24, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule that made significant changes to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The final rule will become effective on November 21, 2019. As the first significant revision...
Form I-539 No Longer Eligible for “Courtesy” Premium Processing
As noted in a previous article, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, and a new Form I-539A, Supplemental Information for Application to Extend/Change...
Data From USCIS Shows Increase of H-1B Denials in 2019
According to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), H-1B denials have skyrocketed since fiscal year (FY) 2015. Analyzing data from USCIS's H-1B Employer Data Hub, NFAP found that denial rates for new H-1B petitions have quadrupled between FY 2015 and FY...
August 2019 Visa Bulletin Issued
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its August 2019 Visa Bulletin. Most notably, there is a significant backlog worldwide for EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3. EB-1-Worldwide: China: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Priority date of July 1, 2016Â (Regression of 312 days) India: Â Â Â Â Â ...
House Passes Bill Aiming to Eliminate Per-Country Green Card Cap
On July 10, 2019, the House passed a bill that would eliminate the per-country cap on green cards, which would mean that the amount of time any new applicant waits for a green card would be equalized, regardless of where the applicant was born. Under current...
Proposed H-1B Cap Registration Fee Currently Under Federal Review
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has submitted a proposal to impose a fee on employers who register for the H-1B cap starting next year. Under current rules, an employer that submits an H-1B cap petition is subject to the following fees: Form I-129 filing...