USCIS Increases I-907 Premium Processing Filing Fee Starting November 29, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that they are increasing the I-907 premium processing service filing fee by $30 from $1,410 to $1,440. The new premium processing filing fee increase will become effective for all requests mailed, postmarked or otherwise filed on or after November 29, 2019. Under the optional premium processing service USCIS is required to provide a [...]
November 2019 Visa Bulletin – No Movement for EB India; Slow Movement Elsewhere
The U.S. State Department has just released the November 2019 Visa Bulletin which is the second Visa Bulletin for the FY2020 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the very slow forward movement across the backlogged employment-based categories and no movement for EB India (except for 1-day forward movement in EB-2 India). […]
Happy New (Fiscal) Year – The New Government Fiscal Year and Immigration
While few, if any, of our clients and readers spent too much time planning and celebrating, October 1st is an important date as it marks the beginning of the new government fiscal year. The beginning of the new fiscal year turnover has immigration implications for many — for example, H-1B cap petitions are becoming effective and the quotas [...]
DV-2021 Diversity Visa (Green Card) Lottery Opens October 2, 2019
The Department of State has announced the DV-2021 Diversity Visa (a.k.a. “green card”) lottery dates. The dates for electronic entry submission for this year’s lottery are between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 2, 2019, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), on Tuesday, November 5 2019. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at [...]
What are USCIS Requirements for Certified Foreign Language Translations?
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") requires any non-English language document submitted as evidence or in support of an application or petition to be accompanied by a certified English translation which has to meet certain specific requirements. Foreign Language Translation Requirements According to the Code of Federal Regulations, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), Any document containing foreign language submitted to USCIS shall [...]
October 2019 Visa Bulletin – Mixed Bag of Recovery and Delays; First Bulletin for New Fiscal Year
The U.S. State Department has just released the October 2019 Visa Bulletin which is the first Visa Bulletin for the FY2020 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is that EB-1 recovers but not fully as EB-1 India remains stuck in 2015. EB-2/3 ROW is back to Current but EB-2 India/China barely move while EB-3 India/China advance [...]