Department of Labor Update: Form I-9 COVID Policy: The Department of Labor has announced that starting May 1, 2022, employers will no longer be able to accept expired List B documents for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification purposes—ending a temporary policy enacted in response to stay-at-home orders and document renewal difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
H-1B CAP: On February 28, 2022, almost a full year since the H-1B CAP lottery took place for fiscal year (“FY”) 2022, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had reached the congressionally mandated 85,000 H-1B visa cap. Individuals who were not selected for the FY 2022 cap season will now
H-1B Registration Period for FY 2023 CAP-Subject H-1B Petitions Opens on March 1, 2022 FY 2023 H-1B cap season is quickly approaching, with the registration period opening at noon on March 1, 2022 and ending at noon on March 18, 2022. All H-1B registrations must be submitted online during this period to be counted in
H-1B Registration The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that the initial registration period for Fiscal Year 2023 (“FY 2023”) H-1B cap will open on March 1, 2022 at noon EST and run through noon EST on March 18, 2022. USCIS intends to notify registrants by March 31st whether their H-1B registration
Receipt Notice Delays Due to COVID-19 restrictions and filing increases, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is currently experiencing a four to six week delay in issuing receipt notices for applications and petitions filed at a USCIS lockbox facility. The delay period varies according to the lockbox facility and application/petition filed, with more
Receipt Notice Delays Due to COVID-19 restrictions and filing increases, USCIS is currently experiencing a four to six week delay in issuing receipt notices for applications and petitions filed at a USCIS lockbox facility. The delay period varies according to the lockbox facility and application/petition filed, with more significant delays for individuals filing Form I-485,
Department of State Update: In light of the severe backlogs in visa interview scheduling and in an effort to expedite visa issuance to qualified applicants, the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) has extended the Interview Waiver Program for certain nonimmigrants (H-1, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q) and their dependents through December 31, 2022.
In light of the on-going pandemic, our usual travel advisory has been updated to include a few safety tips if you plan to travel internationally for the holidays: Travel Bans: Travelers from a number of countries in Africa (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe) where the Omicron COVID-19 variant has been
International Travel Update: On November 26th, 2021, the White House issued a proclamation suspending and limiting entry into the United States for certain individuals traveling from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe which are the countries where the COVID-19 Omicron variant has been detected in substantive numbers thus far. Restrictions began
Effective November 8th, Travel Bans are Lifted and COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements Take Effect President Biden has issued a proclamation rescinding the country-by-country travel restrictions previously applied during the COVID-19 pandemic which banned foreign nationals from entering the U.S. if they had been present in any of the following countries within 14 days: China, Iran, the