Important Announcements

The FY 2022 H-1B Cap Registration period will begin 12pmET March 9, 2021, and end 12pmET March 25, 2021. The FY 2022 H-1B Cap Registration period will begin 12pmET March 9, 2021, and end 12pmET March 25, 2021. The USCIS...

What is H1B Season? What is H1B Season?  That time of year we must prepare H1B visa petitions to meet the April 1, filing deadline.  There is a 65,000 visa limit to the number of regular H-1B visas and 20,000...

U.S. Consulates Increase Denials of Blanket L-1 Visas Petitions We are receiving reports from other U.S. immigration attorneys of frequent refusals of Blanket L-1 visas petition by U.S. Consulates. These denial have been reported for several reasons as broad as...

USCIS Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises (VIBE) Activated for Employment Based Petitions; H1B, E, L, R, TN, & I-140 s etc. VIBE is an e-tool to enhance USCIS’ adjudications of employment-based immigration petitions. VIBE uses the Dun & Bradstreet (D&B)...

USCIS Revises Interview Waiver Guidance for Form I-751 USCIS has issued a policy memorandum (PDF, 115 KB) (PM) providing guidance to USCIS officers on when to consider waiving the interview requirement for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence....

USCIS Notice for Re-registration of Honduras for TPS and EAD The designation of Honduras for TPS is terminated effective January 5, 2020 at 11:59 p.m., local time. The 60-day re-registration period runs from June 5, 2018 through August 6, 2018....

USCIS Not Accepting Service Requests for Filings Pending 75-Days Immigration attorneys report that the USCIS Contact Center is no longer allowing individuals to place service requests for Forms I-765 Application for Employment Authorization until and unless the application is outside...

USCIS Memo Time in H4 and L2 Status No Longer Counts Towards H1 or L1 Time NEWS FLASH: H and L Important New Benefits USCIS Memo Time in H4 and L2 Status No Longer Counts Towards H1 or L1 Time...

USCIS Issues Guidance on Adjustments by Individuals Whose Conditional Permanent Residence Has Been Terminated Issued Guidance on Adjustment of Status by Aliens Whose Conditional Permanent Residence Has Been Terminated The policy guidance ) explains how USCIS applies Matter of Stockwell,...

USCIS is issuing erroneous denials of COS and AOS applications where the foreign-national has purchased, but not used, an airline ticket to depart the U.S. USCIS is issuing erroneous denials of COS and AOS applications where the foreign-national has purchased,...

USCIS H1B Employer Data Hub USCIS has launched an H-1B Employer Data Hub to provide information to the public on employers petitioning for H-1B workers. The data hub is part of a USCIS continued effort to increase transparency in employment-based...

USCIS Changes EB-5 Investors Form I-829 To Extend Permanent Resident Status The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status is for immigrant entrepreneurs to petition to remove the conditions...

USCIS Announces Workload Transfer of H-1B Petitions from CSC to NSC In an effort to advance processing times for H1B nonimmigrant petitions, on October 1, 2018, USCIS announced that it transferred some H1B nonimmigrant Form I-129 Petitions for Nonimmigrant Workers...

USCIS Advises Employers and Agents Petitioning P Visas P1-A and P-1S Differences USCIS has updated the Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) to emphasize that, under current regulations, the periods of initial authorized stay are different for individual athletes (P-1A) and their...

The U.S.C.I.S. has released an interim final rule extending the period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released an interim final rule extending the period of Optional Practical Training...

The 9th Circuit Holds The Child Status Protection Act Applies To LPR Children Who May Take Advantage of Age Calculation Formula in INA §203(h)(1). Reading the statue as a whole, the panel concluded that Congress intended “age of the alien...

Prevailing Wage What is “Prevailing Wage”? The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires that when an H-1B foreign national is hired, the wages of U.S. workers will not be adversely affected. Normally, that means that the H-1B employee must be...

NSC Premium Processing Email Notification Failure The Nebraska Service Center’s (NSC) Premium Processing Unit confirmed a lack of email notifications was due to a technical glitch with its system. For several weeks, American Immigration Lawyer Association (AILA) members were not...