April 2019 Visa Bulletin – EB-1 India and China Unchanged; Slow Movement Elsewhere
The U.S. State Department has just released the April 2019 Visa Bulletin which is the seventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the extremely slow forward movement in almost all employment-based categories. EB-1 India and China remain unchanged and EB-3 India remains more advanced than EB-2 India with continuing favorable [...]
Premium Processing Reinstated for All H-1B Petitions
USCIS has announced that starting March 12, 2019, they will accept requests for premium processing “upgrades” for all H-1B petitions. This includes upgrades for pending H-1B petitions and premium processing requests as part of new petitions. USCIS will announce soon whether they will also accept premium processing for “cap” cases. […]
Last Call for H-1B Cap: Very Short and Busy H-1B Cap Filing Season Expected – April 1-5 (Five Business Days); H-1B Lottery Likely
As we are going into the peak of the H-1B cap season, our office receives many inquiries about the duration of the H-1B filing season this year or, in other words, when will the H-1B cap be reached? So far we have been able to compare demand with prior H-1B filing seasons and we knew that this would be a [...]
Premium Processing Reinstated for H-1B Petitions Filed On or Before December 21, 2018
USCIS has announced that starting February 19, 2019, they will accept requests for premium processing “upgrades” for pending H-1B petitions which were filed on or before December 21, 2018. As a result, at this time, the only H-1B petitions where premium processing is not available are petitions filed after December 21, 2018. We do expect premium processing to resume [...]
March 2019 Visa Bulletin – Slow Forward Movement Across Almost All Employment-based Categories
The U.S. State Department has just released the March 2019 Visa Bulletin which is the sixth Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the extremely slow forward movement in almost all employment-based categories. EB-3 India Filing dates do not advance at all but EB-3 India remains more advanced than EB-2 India [...]
USCIS Makes Substantial Changes to I-539 Application Process Starting March 11, 2019
USCIS has announced that it is making changes to Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and that the new revised form will be the only version allowed starting March 11, 2019. Unfortunately, USCIS has also indicated that the form itself will only be available on USCIS website on March 11, 2019 - the same day on which is becomes [...]