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Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas has announced that the public charge rule, put in place by the Trump administration in 2019, is no longer in effect. Instead, DHS will return to its previous policy, which had been in effect for 20 years, since 1999.
In
The ability of foreign students in F-1 status to participate in post-completion Optional Practical Training (“OPT”) in their fields of study is an important aspect of their education–an opportunity that draws many foreign students to U.S. colleges and universities. So when USCIS receipting delays were diminishing these opportunities, foreign students,
On February 24, 2021, the Biden administration issued a proclamation immediately revoking the prior administration’s Proclamation 10014 of April 22, 2020, that blocked individuals from entering the United States on immigrant visas.
On February 24, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it reached the H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2021. The cap was officially reached on February 12, 2021.
President Joe Biden has revoked the immigrant visa ban because he believes it did not advance the interests of the United States, but instead harmed United States industries, families, and diversity immigrant visa lottery winners.
The ban was put in place by former President Donald Trump in April 2020 on
On February 24, 2021, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it would expand premium processing services to include change of status or extension of status petitions for E-3 nonimmigrant visa classification. This expanded premium processing option went into effect immediately.
In a surprising and welcome development to U.S. employers, USCIS today announced that employers filing E-3 visa petitions on behalf of Australian nationals will have the option of requesting premium processing when requesting a change or extension of status to E-3.
The E-3 visa for Australian professionals became law in
On February 18, 2021, the Biden administration formally introduced a new immigration bill in Congress—the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. The bill, marshaled by Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), includes provisions that would impact all aspects of what the administration considers a broken immigration system.
February 17, 2021
The State Department has announced that foreign nationals with valid F-1 or M-1 student visas will be exempted from the Presidential Proclamation barring the entry into the U.S. of most nonimmigrants traveling from certain parts of the world.
Executive Summary: USCIS has announced the timeline for the H-1B FY22 Cap Petition Cycle. Similar to last year, USCIS will require H-1B sponsor employers to register H-1B candidates online starting March 9, 2021. USCIS will then conduct a lottery to select the registrations and will notify companies about selected registrations by March 31, 2021. Companies can file H-1B petitions for selected registrations starting April 1, 2021 until at least June 30, 2021.
On February 3, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rescinded a policy memorandum that, while in place, had negated long-standing agency guidance for the adjudication of H-1B petitions in computer programming and related occupations.
With the H-1B cap season about to begin, there is good news for computer programmers and those who employ them. USCIS announced the immediate rescission of a 2017 guidance memo that had raised questions about whether computer programmers qualified for H-1B specialty occupation visas. The 2017 guidance, issued in the
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting new H-1B petitions subject to the annual quota for fiscal year (FY) 2022 on or shortly after April 1, 2021. USCIS has confirmed it will use the same preregistration system introduced for last year’s lottery and will accept registrations starting on
USCIS has announced that the Cap H-1B Electronic Registration will open on March 9, 2021 at noon EST and will close on March 25, 2021 at noon EST.
The process will mirror last year’s process.
USCIS also announced its timetable – 1) it intends to notify registrants and representatives regarding
Feb. 8, 2021
The Basics
The H-1B program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent. Generally, any position which requires a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific specialty may qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation, but high-demand fields for the competitive visas include science, engineering and information technology.
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