Department of State Clarifies and Expands Exceptions to Trump Work Visa Entry Ban
In an August 12, 2020 news alert, the Department of State (DOS) has issued extensive set of clarifications and exemptions to the June 22, 2020 Trump H-1B, H-2B, L-1 and certain J-1 work visa ban (see our article). The DOS clarification provides much needed and welcome guidance of how to make the arguments for national interest exceptions. Exceptions to the [...]
USCIS Announces Filing Fee Increase Starting October 2
The Department of Homeland Security has just released the final rule that significantly changes the USCIS fee schedule, including adding new fees, establishing multiple fees for nonimmigrant worker petitions and increasing the premium processing time limit. The rule and the new fees will become effective on October 2, 2020. The highlights of the final rule are: significant filing fee increase [...]
USCIS Delays Plans to Furlough 73% of Its Entire Workforce Starting Until August 31st – Major Delays and Disruptions Expected
Update August 26, 2020: USCIS has called off the scheduled furlough. See update. Update July 24, 2020: USCIS has announced that they have agreed to delay the start of the staff furlough until August 31st (from August 3) due to funding estimates showing surplus for the fiscal year and not the previously-projected $571 million deficit. Original Article Below: This week [...]
USCIS Delays Production of Green Cards and EADs
Many of our clients and readers have recently experienced delays in production of Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) cards (also "green cards") or Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) and many have attributed these delays to the COVID-19 closures. There is another reason having to do with vendor and staffing issues at USCIS. Green Card/EAD Production Vendor Contract Cancelled Despite USCIS Staffing Issues [...]
August 2020 Visa Bulletin – EB-1 India, EB-1 China and EB-3 ROW Advance Significantly
The U.S. State Department has just released the August 2020 Visa Bulletin which is the eleventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2020 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the continuing significant forward movement in EB-1 India, EB-1 China and EB-3 ROW together with relatively good forward movement for the other EB categories; suggesting additional notable movements [...]
Options and Strategies for Green Card Holders Stuck Outside of US Due to COVID-19
The Coronavirus/COVID-19 closures and travel disruptions have created many challenges in everyone's life, including for many U.S. green card holders who are stuck outside of the U.S. for a considerable period of time which poses a significant risk to the maintenance of the lawful permanent resident status. This article discusses the issues and some options and strategies to protect the [...]