As mentioned in the prior blog, during his first day in office, President Biden revoked the Travel Ban instituted by the Trump Administration in February of 2017. The “Proclamation on Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to The United States” effective immediately revoked Executive Order 13780 of March 6, 2017 (Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist […]
Early Wednesday, soon to be President Biden announced major new immigration policies that he wants to quickly implement. The most important to our clients is that he wants to clear up the employment-based immigration backlog and do away with per country visa caps. This is exciting news and we are hopeful that the new administration […]
With Joseph R. Biden Jr. being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States and Kamala Devi Harris being sworn in as Vice President on January 20, 2021, there are likely to be significant immigration changes coming soon. Vice President Harris is not only the first woman to serve as Vice President; she […]
UPDATE: Senate Bill 386 and House Bill 1044 were not added to the Omnibus Spending Bill and will not go into law in 2020. Please follow our blog for updates on legislation related to the equalization of priority dates. Previously Published 12/2/2020: Late on December 2, 2020 the U.S. Senate passed Senate Bill 386. Senate […]
H.R. 8337 passed through the house on September 20th and on September 30th the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 8337. This heavily bipartisan bill was then signed into law by President Trump today (October 1). The law allows USCIS to provide premium processing for all three Employment Based categories – EB1, EB2 and EB3. The processing […]
The USCIS new rule regarding changes in filing fees was blocked by Federal Judge Jeffrey White. While the injunction is in place the old fee schedule must be followed. The important fee changes for NIW/EB1A and OPR clients are as follows: I-140 – The fee will remain at $700 and will not be reduced to […]
The USCIS announced their priority dates for October and the EB1 category jumped significantly. The priority date for both India and China changed from Septembers priority date of March 1, 2018 to Sept. 1, 2020. The EB2 and EB3 categories also moved. The EB2 changed from July 8, 2009 to May 15, 2011 for India […]
Starting June 1, USCIS will start resuming premium processing for all eligible Form I-140 petitions. Starting June 8, USCIS will resume premium processing requests for H1B petitions beginning with premium requests for cap-exempt petitions that are already filed and pending adjudication. Starting June 15, USCIS “plans” on resuming premium processing for cap-exempt HIB petitions that […]
Interviews and Appointments USCIS is officially scheduled to reopen its offices on June 4 and USCIS will begin resuming interviews and biometric appointments. USCIS will first send out notices to applicants and petitioners with previously scheduled appointments and interviews. As USCIS begins to reopen, the number of available appointments and interviews that they are scheduling […]
USCIS announced that it will be seeking funding from Congress to help with a budget deficit it is experiencing as a result of a decrease in filings for immigration benefits. USCIS has indicated that to make up for the additional funding being sought from Congress that they intend to add a 10% surcharge to all […]
