Business Immigration Insights

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced today that it has now completed returning all petitions that were not selected in the Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B lottery.  Employers who filed petitions should now have received either a Form I-797 receipt notice with assigned receipt number, or the original rejected petition including filing fees.  USCIS will take inquiries if employers believe they filed during the required period – April 2 to April 6, 2018 – and have not received a receipt notice or rejected petition by August 13, 2018

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process. The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

Below is a summary of the August Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month:

• China: EB-1 remains backlogged to January 1, 2012, EB-2 moves forward - advancing two months to March 1, 2015 - and EB-3 leaps ahead eighteen months to July 1, 2014
• India: EB-1 remains stuck at January 1, 2012, EB-2 freezes at March 15, 2009, and EB-3 advances two ...

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process. The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

Below is a summary of the July Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month:

• China: EB-1 remains backlogged to January 1, 2012, EB-2 jumps ahead four months to January 1, 2015, while EB-3 reverses course and retrogresses to January 1, 2013
• India: EB-1 remains stalled at January 1, 2012, EB-2 continues to creep forward, moving to March ...

In a closely watched asylum appeal, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has issued a decision that will adversely affect the ability of victims of domestic and gang violence to find protection in the United States.

Matter of A-B- was originally decided, in December 2016, in favor of the asylum seeker by the Board of Immigration Appeals.  The BIA is an administrative branch of the US Department of Justice.  It accepts appeals, filed by either government attorneys or immigrants, of decisions made by civil immigration courts throughout the country.

In late 2016, the BIA overturned the 2015 ...

The Associated Press is reporting that US embassies and consulates around the globe have been instructed to limit the validity period of F-1 visas issued to Chinese graduate students studying in fields such as robotics, aviation and high-tech manufacturing. The new policy requires that visas issued to such students are only valid for one year, where Chinese students are normally issued visas valid for up to five years. The policy is reportedly taking effect on June 11, 2018. There are more than 300,000 Chinese citizens studying in the United States – nearly one-third of all ...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that because the conditions in Nepal no longer support its designation for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the designation set to expire on July 24, 2018, will now terminate on June 24, 2019.  TPS allows qualifying persons inside the United States to remain and work lawfully in the United States until conditions in their home countries improve following civil war, natural disaster or similar extraordinary situations.  The final year of designation gives those unable to acquire another legal status time to prepare to depart the United States by the TPS termination date.

On May 18, 2018, after receiving a notice from the Government of Ecuador terminating that country’s bilateral investment treaty with the United States, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Trade Representative announced the termination in the Federal Register.  The treaty has been in force since 1997.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced yesterday that it has completed the data entry for all H-1B cap petitions selected in the FY2019 lottery held in April.   Because receipts are mailed on a rolling basis as the data entry for each selected petition is completed, it is still possible that additional receipts for petitions selected in the lottery will arrive later this week.

 The USCIS will now begin the process of returning to the attorneys of record those petitions that were not selected in the lottery.  In past years, the return process lasted into July.

In a policy memorandum dated May 10, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration and Services (“USCIS”) provided new guidance to its officers and adjudicators on calculating unlawful presence for nonimmigrants in F, M, and J status. This policy memorandum, which becomes effective on August 9, 2018, represents a dramatic shift in long-standing USCIS policy.

The date unlawful status begins to accrue is extremely important as this date is a linchpin in determining when the 3-year and 10-year bars of reentry may apply.  Generally, unlawful status for more than 180 days, but ...

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process. The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

Below is a summary of the June Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month:

• China: EB-1 holds steady at January 1, 2012, EB-2 stalls at September 1, 2014, and EB-3 remains June 1, 2015
• India: EB-1 remains backlogged to January 1, 2012, EB-2 creeps ahead four days to December 26, 2008, and EB-3 remains May 1, 2008
• Philippines: EB-2 remains ...