Employment Visas
The biggest news this month is that the EB-1 category came current for Most Countries (but not all). Additionally, the EB-2 category remained current. Otherwise, there was movement but not much in terms of surprises. Mr. Oppenheim did ensure us that the Visa Bulletin is being processed based
Immigration
USCIS has indicated that they are hoping to reopen their office on June 4, 2020 for biometrics and appointments. At this point, we cannot say if this will actually happen, but we will be sure to monitor reports and let you know if this target date changes.
Covid-19
On April 22, 2020. President Trump issued a proclamation "Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak." This proclamation is effective at 11:59 pm (ET) on April 23, 2020. The proclamation will expire
Covid-19
As most, if not all, of you, have heard, our President is preparing an executive order to limit immigration into the United States. At this time, as the order has not been finalized, we cannot say what the impact will be on individual cases. Below is a list of what
Covid-19
This is just an update on what is and is not happening with USCIS, DOS and SEVP during the Covid-19 pandemic. First, it is important to remember that things are changing so current USCIS policy may change very soon. To keep updated with current policies, you can go to
Immigration
USCIS has closed all its field offices to the public until at least April 1, 2020 as of today. Any appointments or biometrics scheduled today through April 1, 2020 are canceled and will be rescheduled once USCIS starts interviews and biometrics again. Please call us or email us if you
Adjustment of Status
This past month's Visa Bulletin had some bright spots and not so bright spots. The biggest news is that the EB-2 category remained current and most likely will remain current next month as well. Additionally, the EB-3 category was backlogged worldwide - and will most likely remain
Adjustment of Status
On January 31, 2020 President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation expanding the Travel Ban enacted in 2018 to include certain foreign nationals of the following six countries: Burma (Myanmar), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania. According to the Department of Homeland Security, these additions were based on an assessment from
Employment Visas
Once again the EB-2 category has remained current despite the projections that there could be a backlog (although, as you will see below, we are not yet out of the woods on the EB-2 retrogression as of yet). Below are the movements in most Family and Employment categories
National Interest Waiver
A big question that many people have, before even asking if they would qualify for a National Interest Waiver application, is can I even file one considering that I am a [fill in the blank with your profession]. You may be surprised that, for the most part, the answer is
Adjustment of Status
Not everyone realizes but there are huge backlogs of cases for employment based immigrant visas. For about 1 year now the EB-1 category (Extra-ordinary Ability, Outstanding Professor and Researchers and Intra-Company Transferees) category has been backlogged about 1 year for most of the world and several years
Adjustment of Status
The Department of State released the January Bulletin as well as an update from Charlie Oppenheim as to usage patterns and what to expect in the future. The biggest surprise was that there was NO backlog for the EB-2 or EB-3 category as predicted. In fact, usage patterns