- Important Reminder: As we are reaching the end of the H-1B filing season under the annual government-imposed “cap,” be sure to submit your cap-subject H-1B petitions by the June 30, 2021 deadline. Petitions that are not received by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by the deadline will be rejected. When submitting the petitions, be mindful of the immigration forms’ edition dates, filing fees, and filing locations which are indicated on the H-1B lottery selection notices that also must be part of the H-1B petition filing.
- USCIS has recently rescinded certain policy memoranda dating back to the prior presidential administration and has issued a few new policy updates. Among the important updates are those pertaining to clarification of the criteria and circumstances for expedited processing of various petitions and applications for immigration benefits; improved request for evidence (RFE) and notice of intent to deny (NOID) guidance; and increase of the validity period for initial and renewed employment authorization documents (EADs) for certain adjustment of status applicants. Under the newly updated expedite criteria policy, applicants and USCIS officers are provided further guidance on when expedited processing of specific applications may be warranted. Importantly, nonprofit organizations whose request is in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the U.S. may ask to have their application to be considered for expedited processing, even if premium processing is available for that benefit and they choose to not use it. In all, this change of USCIS’s policy is going to lead to a more relaxed standard of review for expedited processing requests. Additionally, USCIS is now returning to the adjudicative principles of a June 2013 guidance memo that instructed USCIS officers to issue an RFE or NOID when additional evidence could potentially demonstrate eligibility for an immigration benefit. Conversely, USCIS is rescinding a July 2018 memorandum that allowed adjudicating officers to deny certain immigration benefit requests instead of issuing an RFE or NOID first. Under the new approach, USCIS officers should issue an RFE or NOID when they determine that additional information or explanation may potentially establish eligibility for an immigration benefit. USCIS will also increase the current one-year validity period on both initial and renewed EADs to two years for certain adjustment of status applicants. This is expected to reduce the number of routine EAD applications USCIS receives and allow USCIS to put resources into other adjudications.