Madalen Faycurry

USCIS Provides Guidance on O-1A Petitions for STEM Fields On Jan. 21, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated the USCIS Policy Manual with additional guidance on how USCIS evaluates eligibility for the O-1A “extraordinary ability” visa category. O-1A visas are reserved for individuals with extraordinary abilities in the sciences, education, business, or athletics. …

U.S. Immigration Updates Week of January 24, 2022 Read More »

Key Deadlines for H-1B CAP Electronic Registration Process Employers seeking to sponsor candidates for initial H-1B sponsorship (commonly known as ‘H-1B CAP’) should begin preparing for the H-1B electronic registration process. Although the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not announced the exact dates for electronic registration, previous registration periods have opened for three …

U.S. Immigration Updates- Week of January 20, 2022 Read More »

Report Finds USCIS Benefits Slowed During Pandemic The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report on December 28, 2021, finding that continued reliance on manual processing slowed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ benefits delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. OIG found that USCIS had limited capability to electronically process more than …

U.S. Immigration Updates-Week of January 10, 2022 Read More »

USCIS Extends Flexibilities for Responding to Certain Agency Requests U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is extending the flexibilities it originally announced on March 30, 2020, to assist applicants, petitioners, and requestors who are responding to certain requests. The flexibilities apply if the issuance date listed on the request, notice, or decision is between March …

U.S. Immigration Updates-Week of January 2,2022 Read More »

Senate Parliamentarian Rejects Immigration Provisions in the Build Back Better Spending Bill After the Senate parliamentarian rejected a plan that included work permits and protection from deportation favored by Democrats for inclusion in the “social spending” budget reconciliation bill, lawmakers struggled to consider their options, including revisions to the immigration provisions or simply moving ahead …

U.S. Immigration Updates Week of December 28, 2021 Read More »

Applicants for H-1B Can Sue Over Changes to Lottery Rule A D.C. federal judge ruled that H-1B specialty occupation visa applicants challenging a change to the visa lottery process only need to show that they had an active job offer when they sued to establish standing. U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden refused the government’s …

U.S. Immigration Updates Week of December 13, 2021 Read More »

Travel Restrictions Increase in Response to Coronavirus Variant Last week, in response to concerns and unknowns about a new coronavirus variant, called Omicron (B.1.1.529), President Biden said that most travelers (excluding U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents) who had been in any of eight countries in southern Africa for the prior 14 days would be …

U.S. Immigration Updates – Week of December 7, 2021 Read More »

Immigration Enforcement Priorities Announced by DHS On Monday, November 29, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it will begin implementation of the Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas on September 30. “Today is an important step forward in ensuring that our workforce …

U.S. Immigration Updates – Week of November 29, 2021 Read More »

House Democrats Push Expanded Immigration Protection on Senate Nearly half of all House Democrats on Monday, November 22, called on their Senate colleagues to augment the immigration protections in the House-passed Build Back Better Act before the Senate votes on it. In a letter led by Democratic Reps. Jesus Garcia (Ill.), Lou Correa (Calif.), Adriano …

U.S. Immigration Updates – Week of November 22, 2021 Read More »

House Budget Reconciliation Bill Retains High-Skilled Immigrant Provisions, Would Impose Fee Increases The House of Representatives’ 2,135-page draft budget reconciliation bill retains several immigration measures, including provisions paving the way for high-skilled scientists and engineers, and raising immigration-related fees. It also would provide for up to 10 years of work authorization and protection from removal …

November 19, 2021 Newsletter Powered by ABIL Read More »