U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS)

, , ,

USCIS Announces Further Details About H-1B Electronic Registration

, , ,

As discussed in our previous blog posts, USCIS is taking steps to implement an electronic registration to be used in the upcoming H-1B cap lottery for Fiscal Year 2021. A few further implementation details have now been released in a Federal Register posting dated January 9, 2020, and in a press release dated January 10, 2020. USCIS noted the following details:

  • The initial registration period will open from March 1 through March 20, 2020.

  • H-1B cap-subject petitioners, including those seeking Master’s cap H-1Bs, will be required to first register electronically with USCIS and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each submission.

, ,

Update on L-1 Intracompany Transferee Filings at the U.S.-Canada Border

, ,

This is a brief update on L-1 “intracompany transferee” visa processes for Canadian citizens, because those processes began changing in April 2018.  As background, the L-1 intracompany transferee visa, in most cases, requires that the employer first file and obtain USCIS approval of an L-1 petition, and that the prospective L-1 employee (the beneficiary) then apply in person to a U.S. Consulate in their home country for a physical L-1 visa.  Canadian citizens are usually “visa-exempt,” meaning they are not required to get a physical visa from a U.S. Consulate.  Moreover, for L-1 visas, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allows for eligible Canadian citizens to submit their U.S. employer’s L-1 petition directly at a “Class A” port of entry (POE) for on-the-spot adjudication by U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) at the same time the individual is asking CBP for admission to the U.S. 

, , , ,

DHS Proposes Numerous Fee Adjustments

, , , ,

On November 14, 2019, DHS published a new rule containing numerous adjustments to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) filing fee schedule. These proposed adjustments are in addition to other recently finalized fee rules increasing the Premium Processing Service fee by $30 and adding a $10 fee for each electronic H-1B cap registration. In this new rule, DHS is planning on an upward adjustment of USCIS fees “by a weighted average of 21 percent” among other changes.

AILA has published a searchable table of fee adjustments, located here, which shows upwards adjustments to filing fees for many commonly used forms such as N-400 for naturalization, I-485 for Adjustment of Status, I-140 for immigrant visa petitions, and I-129 for nonimmigrant visa petitions.

, ,

USCIS Announces H-1B Electronic Registration Period

, ,

As discussed in prior posts, on January 30, 2019, USCIS announced a final rule regarding changes to the annual H-1B cap lottery system, requiring an electronic registration for each cap-subject petition. While the electronic registration requirement was suspended for the lottery in April 2019, USCIS is taking steps to implement it for the lottery in April 2020, including the collection of a $10 fee for each electronic registration submitted. 

Now further implementation details have been released: USCIS announced on Friday, December 6, that electronic registration will be required for the upcoming filing season in April 2020, that the agency has “completed a successful pilot testing phase,” and that the initial registration period will run from March 1, 2020 to March 20, 2020.

, ,

Premium Processing Service Fee to Increase on December 2, 2019

, ,

On October 31, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a rule to adjust the premium processing service (PPS) fee from $1,410 to $1,440. Under this new rule, all requests for PPS postmarked on or after December 2, 2019, must include the new fee.

, , ,

DHS Publishes Final Rule Expanding Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility

, , ,

Update: This regulation is the subject of litigation. As of Friday October 11, 2019, there is a nationwide injunction against the enforcement of this rule by DHS. The Department of State (“DOS”) version of the rule, however, went into effect on October 15, 2019, but as of October 15, 2019, the DOS has not yet implemented that rule.

Original post:

Effective October 15, 2019, unless halted by litigation, the standard by which a foreign national is determined to be “likely at any time to become a public charge” (and consequently inadmissible to the U.S.) will drastically change.

, ,

I-539 applications for dependents no longer eligible for “courtesy” Premium Processing Service

, ,

As discussed in a prior post, USCIS began in March 2019 to require a new version of the Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, and introduced a biometrics fee and appointment requirement for each applicant.  The Form I-539 has never been eligible for the government’s 15-day Premium Processing Service (PPS), but a particular subset of I-539 applicants — the dependents of principal nonimmigrants (e.g., the H-4 spouse of an H-1B worker) — have, until recently, benefited from “courtesy” PPS of the I-539 if it was filed with the principal’s own PPS’d application or petition.  

,

USCIS to schedule interviews outside of applicants’ geographic areas

,

In a stated attempt to reduce processing times on applications, USCIS announced on June 17, 2019, that it would be adjusting workloads for its field offices and that, as a result, some applicants may be scheduled for interviews outside of their geographic area.  Generally, interviews for naturalization and permanent residency are scheduled based on the USCIS field office closest to an applicant’s residence.  This change will particularly affect San Francisco Bay Area residents residing in the San Francisco Field Office jurisdiction, who may now be scheduled for interviews in Sacramento or San Jose.

, , , , , ,

Forms DS-160 and DS-260 now require disclosure of social media accounts

, , , , , ,

On May 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of State added required questions about social media accounts or identifiers to the online nonimmigrant and immigrant visa application forms, the DS-160 and DS-260.  This means that anyone applying for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa (a temporary visa) or a U.S. immigrant visa (permanent residence, a green card) must disclose all social media accounts used in the last five years. Social media presumably will be reviewed by U.S. Consular personnel in the course of visa adjudications.

, ,

USCIS resumes Premium Processing Service for cap-subject H-1B petitions, takes next step in H-1B registration rules

, ,

USCIS resumed Premium Processing Service for all cap-subject H-1B petitions on June 10, 2019. The USCIS news alert is posted here and also mentions a temporary suspension of the use of pre-paid mailers for sending approval notices. Instead, final notices will be sent via regular U.S. mail.

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security published its proposed regulatory agenda which included a proposal to charge a fee for H-1B registrations filed under the electronic registration rule expected to to take effect for the upcoming “cap” season in Spring 2020. Further implementation details have not yet been released.

© Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC 2019