Update on USCIS Efforts to comply with “Buy American and Hire American” On April 4, 2018, the Director of USCIS, Lee Francis Cissna, penned a letter to Chairman Grassley to update him on USCIS’ efforts to comply with the April 2017 Executive Order, “Buy American, Hire American.” The contents of the letter are broken into … Continue Reading
USCIS has announced that it received 190,098 H-1B petitions during the filing period for FY2019, which began on April 2, 2018, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. This year’s number of petitions is lower than the 199,000 H-1B petitions filed in FY2018. Per the regulations, on April 11, USCIS conducted its random lottery … Continue Reading
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced a temporary suspension of premium processing for 2019 Fiscal Year H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those cases seeking exemption on the basis of the beneficiary having obtained a U.S. masters or higher degree. It is expected that the temporary suspension will last until Sept. 10, 2018. The reason for … Continue Reading
In support of its efforts to combat H-1B fraud and consistent with President Trump’s Buy American Hire American initiative, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will now require employers sponsoring H-1B workers at third-party worksites to include additional information and documentation in their H-1B filings. The new policy memorandum “Contracts and Itineraries Requirements for … Continue Reading
On Jan. 25, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced S. 2344, the Immigration Innovation Act of 2018, or I-Squared. I-Squared has been long-championed by Senator Hatch and the reintroduction of it this Congress includes “updates for this Congress.” Per Senator Hatch-… Continue Reading
On Dec. 14, the Office of Management and Budget Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OMB) published the biennial Unified Agenda. A long-standing outgrowth of previous regulatory reform efforts, the Unified Agenda offers the public the “current thinking” of federal agencies on upcoming Agency regulatory priorities. Of importance to the immigration community, DHS USCIS posed … Continue Reading
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report titled “USCIS Needs a Better Approach to Verify H-1B Visa Participants.” The report was published on Oct. 20, 2017, where OIG made the following findings, after which it gave four recommendations to USCIS:… Continue Reading
For over a decade, filing an extension of nonimmigrant status in visa categories such as the H-1B was a fairly routine process for cases involving the same employer and same underlying facts. This changed yesterday. As part of the Trump Administration’s Buy American, Hire American: Putting American Workers First initiative, USCIS rescinded a long-standing policy … Continue Reading
On Oct. 12, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a major change in the direct filing addresses for certain Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker petitions. Previously, the filing center for these petitions was determined by the U.S. state or territory where the beneficiary’s worksite or training site was located. With USCIS’s … Continue Reading
USCIS has begun issuing I-797A, Notice of Action Approval Notices containing inconsistent validity periods on the face of the document. Specifically, the top portion of the I-797A approval notices lists the approved visa classification (e.g., H-1B) and the authorized validity period of that visa classification (e.g., from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 11, 2020). The … Continue Reading
USCIS announced today that it will resume its premium processing service for all H-1B petitions that are subject to this year’s H-1B cap. This news provides much needed relief to employers and foreign nationals, particularly in those situations where an employee is relying on F-1 optional practical training (OPT) cap gap provisions for work authorization. … Continue Reading
On Aug. 28, 2017, USCIS released a policy memorandum that clarified the definition of “affiliate” and “subsidiary” for purposes of determining the H-1B ACWIA fee. The H-1B ACWIA fee is $1500 for H-1B petitioners who have 26 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, and half that amount ($750) for H-1B petitioners who have 25 or … Continue Reading
Over the past several months, some trends have developed which pose challenges for employers taking part in the H-1B program: 1. the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is issuing Requests for Evidence (RFEs) for H-1B petitions that challenge the H-1B position’s level 1 prevailing wage classification, the lowest permitted wage level for H-1B filings; … Continue Reading
Following through on its April 3, 2017, announcement that it was considering changes to the Labor Condition Application (LCA), the Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice in the Federal Register on August 3, 2017, of its proposed revisions to the ETA 9035 or LCA. A certified LCA must be included with every H-1B petition filed … Continue Reading
Under the heading “Transparency for U.S. Workers,” the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uploaded five reports today containing comprehensive data regarding its H-1B and Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) adjudications. The H-1B reports “provide information about the hiring practices of employers who petition for foreign national workers.” The H-1B trend report contains statistics about the H-1B program … Continue Reading
Today, USCIS announced that it has now returned all cap-subject H-1B petitions to employers or their representatives that were not selected in fiscal year 2018 following the lottery process. Any employer that hasn’t received a receipt notice or returned H-1B petition by July 31, 2017, should contact USCIS for assistance. The H-1B cap for fiscal … Continue Reading
Starting Monday, June 26, USCIS will resume premium processing for all H-1B petitions filed for medical doctors under the Conrad 30 Waiver program, as well as interested government agency waivers. As background, the Conrad 30 program allows certain medical doctors to stay in the United States on a temporary visa after completing their medical training … Continue Reading
In response to the Trump administration’s stance on immigration enforcement, California is considering legislation (Assembly Bill 450 (Chiu)) which would prohibit employers from providing federal immigration officials with access to nonpublic areas of the workplace without a judicial warrant. While aiming to provide new protections to workers, the bill’s broad language does not eliminate any employer … Continue Reading
On April 18, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) titled “Buy American and Hire American.” The stated purpose of this EO is to protect the American economy by having the U.S. government and agencies focus on purchasing goods made in America, and to also protect American workers. The first part of the EO includes … Continue Reading
USCIS announced April 7 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year FY2018. After today, USCIS will not accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2018 cap or the advanced degree exemption. The announcement did not provide details about the total number of H-1B petitions … Continue Reading
The U.S. immigration agency’s busiest day of the year was marked with reminders about the dark side of the H-1B visa program. Acceptance of H-1B cap-subject petitions started on April 3, 2017. But the flurry of H-1B filings were met with announcements from agencies involved with the H-1B program about measures designed to tighten policies … Continue Reading
Late Friday evening on March 3, 2017, The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it will temporarily suspend its premium processing service for all H-1B petitions, including CAP-subject H-1B petitions. The temporary suspension will begin on Monday, April 3, 2017, and may continue for up to 6 months. This procedural change is intended … Continue Reading
Due to a technical error, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) recently began issuing H-1B approval notices on Form I-797 that incorrectly list the class as “1B1.” This technical error affected H-1B approval notices for H-1B petitions that were filed with the Vermont, Nebraska, and California Service Centers. The California Service Center confirmed … Continue Reading
We have prepared a serious of Questions and Answers below addressing some of the most commonly asked questions with regard to this Executive Order (EO). GT will continue to monitor developments and provide up to date information. Q1: What do the provisions of the EO address? A1: The provisions of the EO address several issues: … Continue Reading
