16 February

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USCIS Updates Age Calculation Under Child Status Protection Act

Effective immediately, USCIS issued guidance in its Policy Manual to update when an immigrant visa “becomes available” for the purpose of calculating a noncitizen child’s age under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). Under this new guidance, USCIS will now use the “Dates for Filing” chart to calculate a child’s age for CSPA purposes. Under the previous CSPA guidance, USCIS considered a visa available based only on the “Final Action Date” chart, even if an individual could apply for adjustment of status using the earlier date in the “Dates for Filing” chart. This update in USCIS’ policy guidance applies to pending...

18 January

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USCIS Announces Final Phase of Premium Processing Expansion for Initially Filed EB-1 and EB-2 NIW Form I-140 Petitions and Future Expansion for Students and Exchange Visitors

Posted by Katie Wu

in EAD, F-1, Green Cards, STEM OPT, Uncategorized, USCIS-General

USCIS announced last week it will begin implementing its final phase of premium processing by permitting new (initial) Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, filed under the E13 multinational executive and manager classification (EB1C) or the E21 classification as a member of professions with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest waiver (NIW) to be filed with premium processing. Beginning January 30, 2023, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for: All initial EB1C multinational executive and manager and E21 NIW petitions; and All pending EB1C multinational executive and manager and E21 NIW petitions. Moreover, USCIS announced that beginning in March...

14 December

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DOL Processing Delays Causing Concern for H-1B Max Out Cases

Posted by Katie Wu

in Green Cards, H-1B, Uncategorized, US DOL

Summary It is critical to start the Green Card process early. Employers should be mindful of the approaching H-1B max out dates to ensure there is sufficient time to obtain an I-140 approval and maintain the status and work authorization for their valuable talent. The days of completing the PERM process within 1 year are gone.  Since the pandemic began, we have seen Department of Labor (“DOL”) processing times slowly increase and have become a major source of stress for our employers as H-1B max out dates approach. As a general rule, H-1B visa holders are entitled to 6 years total in...

01 November

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Impact of ACICS’ Loss of Accreditation on F-1, H-1B, and I-140 Applicants

Posted by Katie Wu

in Green Cards, H-1B, STEM OPT, Uncategorized, USCIS-General

In an alert released today, USCIS announced that on August 19, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) no longer recognizes the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an accrediting agency. This determination immediately impacts two immigration-related F-1 student programs: 1. English language study programs 2. F-1 visa holders applying for a 24-month science, engineering, technology, or mathematics (STEM) optional practical training (OPT) extension. For the English language study program applicants, USCIS will issue Requests for Evidence (RFEs) to any individuals who have filed an I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, on or after August 19, 2022, requesting a...

24 May

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USCIS Announces First Phase of Premium Processing Expansion for Certain Previously Filed EB-1 and EB-2 Form I-140 Petitions

Posted by Katie Wu

in Green Cards

USCIS announced today that it will begin implementing premium processing for certain petitioners who have pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, filed under the E13 multinational executive and manager classification (EB1C) or the E21 classification as a member of professions with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest waiver (NIW). The expansion will occur in phases: EB1C Upgrade Schedule Start Date Corresponding Filing/Priority Dates June 1, 2022 On or before Jan. 1, 2021 July 1, 2022 On or before March 1, 2021 NIW Upgrade Schedule Start Date Corresponding Filing/Priority Dates June 1, 2022 On or before Jan. 1, 2021 As specified by Congress, this final rule allows USCIS 45 days...

03 June

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Consulate Reopening and the Resumption of Visa Services

Posted by gipadmin

in Green Cards, State Department

Consulate Reopening and the Resumption of Visa Services Brandon Neuman, Attorney For foreign nationals, traveling to the United States typically requires a visa or a visa waiver issued by the local consulate. Under normal circumstances, getting the visa stamp in a passport may require some initial preparation or authorization followed by scheduling and attending a visa appointment, then receiving the visa stamp. Likewise, in normal circumstances, immigrants undergoing consular processing (for an immigrant visa, also known as a green card) would typically be able to go through a consular interview process in about half the time compared to immigrants in the United States who chose to...

03 June

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Potential Immigration Reform Measures on the Horizon

Posted by gipadmin

in Green Cards, Legislation

Potential Immigration Reform Measures on the Horizon James K. Gotcher, Partner In February 2021, the Biden Administration introduced the US Citizenship Act of 2021 in the House of Representatives, which provides comprehensive immigration reform (“CIR”). CIR was elusive for past administrations as the last major CIR occurred in 1986 with a smaller bill passing in 1990. However, in each attempt since, the bill would get caught up in partisan politics and never passed. The primary obstacle in each instance was the sheer size of the reform, making it impossible to get all sides to agree to all of the various parts or agree enough to pass a vote on it. While the...

03 June

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June Visa Bulletin Update

Posted by gipadmin

in AOS, Green Cards, State Department, USCIS-General

Visa Bulletin Update Rapid Forward Movements in FINAL ACTION DATE CHART Benjamin Brueggemann, Senior Supervising Attorney We have seen rapid forward movements in the major employment-based categories, EB-2 and EB-3, over the past few months. This is a direct result of the record number of visas available this fiscal year. We remind the reader that the U.S. Department of State announced that 261,500 visas are available this fiscal year, as opposed to the regular allotment of 140,000 visa. This is an increase of 120,000 visa. The first half of the fiscal year, we have not seen as many adjudications of adjustment of status applications or consular processing of immigrant visas. ...

19 February

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Visa Bulletin Update: USCIS Flips Script and Opts To Use Final Action Date Chart for Adjustment of Status Filings

Posted by gipadmin

in Green Cards, State Department, USCIS-General

Benjamin Brueggemann, Senior Supervising Attorney As of the January 2021 Visa Bulletin, USCIS opted to flip the script and move forward with adjustment of status filings using the Final Action Date Chart, rather than the Filing Date Chart as they have done since the beginning of the new Fiscal Year, which started October 2020. For employment-based cases, USCIS has, historically, always used the Filing Date Chart at the beginning of the fiscal year and then gradually switched to using the Final Action Date chart for adjustment of status filings. Although this is not a new concept, the timing of when USCIS chooses the Final Action...

19 February

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U.S. Department of Labor Processing Times of PERMs and Prevailing Wages

Posted by gipadmin

in Green Cards, US DOL

Benjamin Brueggemann, Senior Supervising Attorney Increased processing times is the name of the game at the U.S. Department of Labor. This not only goes for PERM applications, but also PERM Audit reviews and Prevailing Wage Requests. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is currently processing PERM cases received in July 2020. Specifically, the DOL states that the average perm application takes about 207 days, which is about 6.9 months. This is extremely high, even for U.S. Department of Labor standards. Historically, PERM processing times have ranged from 3 to 5 months, but now they are at almost 7 months. The hope is that we will see a shift back to more “normal” processing times in the year 2021 as the U.S. Department...

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