Immigration Briefs

Immigration Briefs

Latest — May 11, 2022

USCIS extending the auto-extension period for EADs from 180 days to 540 Days

USCIS will issue a temporary final rule providing that the automatic extension period applicable to expiring EADs for certain renewal applicants who have filed Form I-765 will be increased from up to 180 days to up to 540 days from the expiration date stated on their EADs. This increase will

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May 2022 Visa Bulletin Released - Not Much Movement

The biggest take away from this months Visa Bulletin is that there was little, if any movement for any category, except some forward movement for India EB–2 cases. See Below for details. Family Based Visa Dates FB1 – Adult Children (unmarried) of US Citizens: This category stayed at Dec

USCIS transferring almost ALL EB I-485s from TSC and NSC to the National Benefits Center

Image from Immigration Impact USCIS has majorly reconfigured how it is handling I-485s based upon I-140s. For all I-485s based upon I-140s EXCEPT Employment Based Category 4 cases (religious workers and some other special immigrants), USCIS is transferring the I-485 cases from the Texas Service Center and the Nebraska Service

USCIS Adds 22 New Fields to the STEM OPT list

AILA today reported that USCIS has added 22 new files of study to the STEM designated degree program list. AILA stated: On January 21, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it updated the STEM Designated Degree Program List to add 22 qualifying fields of study and a corresponding

Is Immigration Reform Possible Soon?

Is there a possibility that congress may be able to pass immigration reform soon? Democrats are making a big push to do so, but there margin is extremely slim (1 Senator), so how can they get this done? What the Democrats are trying to do is using the budget process

Local USCIS Office Personnel being pulled out to help Afghan Refugees

USCIS has indicated that some local USCIS office personnel are being pulled out of the local offices to go to US Military bases to help process the incoming Afghan Refugees. In the local DC Field Office all September (or, at least, many) appointments have been cancelled so that personnel can

Summary of President Biden's Immigration Reform Bill

While President Biden submitted his legislation to overhaul the US Immigration system to Congress on his first day in office, the actual text of the bill was not released initially primarily because Congress has not actually introduced the bill in Congress as of yet. At this time, even thought the

How Trump Officials Tried to end the H-1B Visa Program

For those interested in the difficulties that companies and individuals went through over the past 4 years in terms of getting and renewing H-1Bs, a good article has come out on Forbes Magazine and on its website (link here). First, why are H-1Bs important and how do they help the

New Administration Halts Implementation of Pending Regulations, Withdraws Travel Ban

The incoming administration has issued an order halting the implementation of all proposed rules that are not yet final for 60 days (so until March 20, 2021). This includes the DOL wage change rules as well as the USCIS changes to the H-1B process (see a description of these rule

USCIS and DOL re-issue new H-1B selection process and new Prevailing Wage calculations as Final Rules

Just this week, USICS and DOL issued new final rules that will take effect in 60 days. Before getting into the details of the rules, it is important to note that the new Biden administration has stated that it will halt implementation of new rules for at least 60 days