Update (9/26/2023): USCIS is removing the biometrics requirement (and fee) for all I-539 applications starting October 1, 2023. Details here. USCIS has confirmed policy change that will temporarily suspend the biometrics [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the May 2021 Visa Bulletin which is the eighth Visa Bulletin for the fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the continuing significant forward movement for EB-2 and [...]
USCIS has recently announced that they will allow H-1B petitioners of certain denied H-1B petitions to petition USCIS to reopen (and hopefully, approve) the denial decision in light of certain now-rescinded policy memoranda (third-party worksite placements’ [...]
As we are in the back end of this year's H-1B work visa “cap” registration season (registration ends at noon ET on March 25th), we wanted to provide a reminder for the remaining steps and timelines for this year's H-1B cap season. As a reminder, the H-1B cap season this year has (1) registration period, [...]
As we are just about to enter into this year's H-1B cap lottery registration, we hear a common and interesting question from candidates and employers who are trying to evaluate the chances of selection under the lottery, "Would the chances of H-1B cap lottery selection be higher next year?" The answer is that different groups [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the March 2021 Visa Bulletin which is the sixth Visa Bulletin for the fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant forward movement for EB-2 and EB-3 [...]
The Biden Administration has withdrawn Trump's plan to rescind the H-4 EAD program. The proposed rule, “Removing H-4 Dependent Spouses from the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorization,” which was under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has been withdrawn as of January [...]
As we are heading into the H-1B cap season this year, USCIS has just announced that a January 7, 2021 H-1B Selection final rule which sought to introduce salary-based selection will be delayed until at least December 31, [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the February 2021 Visa Bulletin which is the fifth Visa Bulletin for the FY2021 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the slowing rate of forward movement [...]
Among the many first-day actions taken by the new Biden administration was to immediately put a block (or delay) to some of the last-minute employment-based immigration rules which were sought to be rushed by the prior administration. In a January 20, 2021 memo, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain directed in part, that (a) [...]
