I-9 Update: USCIS has recently announced a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. While Forms I-9 in employers’ files remain valid if they were completed during the validity period of the prior form edition, employers should be now using the new edition of the form with the 10/21/2019 version date. Employers that require
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Federal Register notice regarding the implementation of the electronic registration process for the upcoming H-1B petitions filing season under the congressionally mandated annual “cap.” The registration period will run from March 1, 2020 to March 20, 2020 for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 H-1B visa cap. All
We are wishing you a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy and Prosperous New Year! A few safety tips for your upcoming holiday travel: Check your passport and visa validity before a trip. Hint: if you are traveling abroad, make sure that you have proper documentation to enter the country of your destination and return to
The big news at the start of the holiday season pertains to the preliminary injunction in the Doe v. Trump matter that enjoins President Trump from implementing a ban on visa applicants unable to prove their ability to obtain health insurance upon entry into the U.S. for the duration of the case litigation. On October
Importantly, effective November 3, 2019, Department of State (DOS) offices abroad were going to start implementing the new health insurance requirement for permanent immigration (Green Card) applicants undergoing Consular Processing at U.S. consulates. Under this new adjudication criteria, a U.S. consular officer would be able to deny an immigrant visa benefit to an individual without
Starting December 2, 2019, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will increase the filing fees for expedited processing (i.e., Premium Processing) services for certain eligible immigration proceedings from $1,410 to $1,440. While this is an inflation-related fee increase and is not as substantial as the prior increase in 2018, petitioners and beneficiaries should carefully
Entering the second month of the 2020 government fiscal year, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will again use the Dates for Filing chart (Chart B), which will have no change from the prior month, to file employment-based preference cases during November. The Final Action chart (Chart A) shows some modest movement. EB-1 Priority
DHS has recently provided a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require H-1B petitioning employers to pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration they wish to submit to USCIS prior to submitting an H-1B cap-subject petition. This proposed fee is related to the DHS’s final rule of January 31, 2019 requiring H-1B cap-subject petitions’
Entering the first month of the 2020 government fiscal year has brought an influx of immigrant visa numbers. The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has also advised that the agency will be using the Dates for Filing chart (Chart B) to file employment-based preference cases during October, which generally has more favorable priority dates
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed the return of all H-1B cap-subject petitions filed in April 2019 that were not selected for processing under the annual lottery. The rejected petitions have been returned to petitioners or their immigration legal counsel with the filing fees. Any petitioners that have not received either receipt