USCIS Delays Effective Date of International Entrepreneur Rule Seeking Time to Kill the Rule
In a Federal Register announcement dated July 11, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has delayed the effective date of the International Entrepreneur rule from July 17, 2017 to March 14, 2018. Additionally, the notice indicates that this delay will allow USCIS to publish rulemaking seeking to rescind the International Entrepreneur rule altogether, pursuant to the guidance from [...]
August 2017 Visa Bulletin – EB-2 ROW Cutoff Date Introduced
The U.S. State Department has just released the August 2017 Visa Bulletin which is the eleventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2017 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the introduction of a cutoff date for the EB-2 ROW, Mexico and Philippines categories, together with the notable forward movement in EB-3 India. EB-2 India and EB-3 China [...]
What is I-485 Supplement J and How to Properly Prepare and Use it?
Earlier this year USCIS introduced a new Form I-485 Supplement J which is being used in connection with filings of new I-485 applications to adjust status or for porting of existing and pending I-485 applications to a new employer or a new job. The purpose of I-485 Supplement J is to provide a confirmation of the bona fide job offer [...]
USCIS Starts Mailing H-1B Cap Non-Selection Notices
Two months after completing the random H-1B cap lottery, USCIS has started mailing back the H-1B cap applications which were not selected under the random H-1B cap lottery. While the H-1B cap receipts for selected cases were sent out by May 3rd, many employers and applicants who had not heard by now had to assume that their H-1B cap cases were not [...]
July 2017 Visa Bulletin – Major EB-3 China Retrogression, EB-3 India Advances Notably
The U.S. State Department has just released the July 2017 Visa Bulletin which is the tenth Visa Bulletin for the FY2017 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant 33-month retrogression in EB-3 China, the continued cutoff date for EB-1 India and EB-1 China and the notable forward movement in EB-3 India. […]
Simeio RFEs: How to Handle “Simeio” RFE Due to Late H-1B Amendment Filing?
In our office, and in the broader H-1B community, we are seeing instances and reports of H-1B petition RFEs aimed at ensuring compliance with the Simeio-line of guidance issued by USCIS in 2015. Specifically, we are seeing RFEs on H-1B petitions (amendments, mostly, but also for extensions) where USCIS is questioning the timeliness or the lack of the H-1B amendment [...]