Business Immigration Insights

The State Department has announced the registration period for the Congressionally mandated 2014 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery. The DV lottery allows nationals from certain countries to apply for immigrant visas ("green cards") outside of the normal immigrant visa process. Individuals already being sponsored for immigrant visas by family members or employers may participate as well. Requirements include being a national of an eligible country (although an applicant may qualify based on his or her spouse's nationality) and high school education or work experience. The online ...

On August 7, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted a Travel Update to its website, confirming that CBP agents will systematically stop issuing paper Forms I-94 (Arrival/Departure Records) at all airports and some sea ports of entry in the very near future.  Travelers who enter at land ports of entry will continue to receive paper Forms I-94, until further notice.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is advising that the current version of Form I-9 should continue to be used by employers despite the August 31, 2012 expiration date specified on the form.  USCIS is in the process of updating the form once again, and presumably the new version will be available in the coming months.

Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, must be used by U.S. employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all newly-hired employees.

Please contact Hunton & Williams if you have any questions about Form I-9 or related requirements.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City has announced that, as of July 1, 2012, individuals seeking to renew their visas at the embassy and consulates in Mexico no longer must attend a visa interview appointment, as long as their current visas are still valid or expired within the past 48 months. Previously, only those whose visas had expired within the past 12 months were exempt from interview.

Note that even those applicants who are exempt from interview under the new policy must still attend an appointment at the Applicant Service Center ("ASC") for biometrics and fingerprinting. Additional ...

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today that undocumented youth who were brought here as children and who meet certain criteria are now eligible for "deferred action," a form of long-term relief from deportation that allows employment authorization and college attendance, but does not lead to a green card.  Known as DREAMers (after the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which Congress has failed to pass each time it has been introduced since 2001), these young people have become increasingly vocal and visible in public protests and in the media.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this afternoon that as of Monday, June 11, 2012, it has received sufficient H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for Fiscal Year 2013 (10/1/2012 through 9/30/2013). Perhaps a sign of an improving economic situation in the United States, this is significantly faster than the current fiscal year, when the cap was not reached until November 22, 2011.
 
The H-1B cap applies only to petitions for new employment, and generally does not affect H-1B sponsors who request extensions or a change of employers. Cap-subject H-1B ...

The serious immigrant visa retrogression we notified you about recently has worsened for Indian and Chinese nationals, and is now affecting previously unaffected visa categories, including EB-1 and EB-2 "Worldwide".

While retrogression in the EB-2 China-mainland and India visa categories has been expected for some weeks, the State Department has now stated that effective March 23, 2012, no additional visas will be authorized for applicants in these categories with priority dates of August 15, 2007 or later. Fortunately, USCIS will continue to receive and process applications to adjust status for those with current priority dates under the April Visa Bulletin.  Individuals who submit their applications by the end of this month may be looking at an extended wait to receive permanent resident ...

The Department of State announced increases in visa fees, effective April 13, 2012.  The machine-readable visa (MRV) fees will increase from $140 to $190 for the following nonimmigrant visas:  H, L, O, P, Q and R.  MRV fees for E and K visas will drop from $390 (E) and $350 (K), to $270 and $240, respectively.  All other nonimmigrant visas will increase from $150 to $160.  In addition, immigrant visa fees will drop for family-based cases ($330 to $230) and employment-based cases ($720 to $405).  Finally, Border Crossing Card (BCC) fees for Mexican nationals will increase from $14 to $15.  The ...

Although immigrant visa beneficiaries from India and China have enjoyed the recent priority date advancement in the EB-2 visa category, that will likely change soon.  Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the State Department, predicts a priority date retrogression in the coming months that will last the remainder of the fiscal year.  Mr. Oppenheim stated that the EB-2 category for India and China will likely move from May 2010 back to August 2007, as early as May.  Those able to file their adjustment of status applications during the priority date ...