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News & EventsInjunction Following USCIS’s Publication of New Versions of Immigration Forms
On October 9, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published new editions of Forms I-485, I-129, I-539/I-539A, I-864, I-864EZ, and I-944. On its website, USCIS stated that it would accept the previous edition of the forms if they are...
Congress Passes Short-Term Spending Measure to Temporarily Extend Key Immigration Programs
With the passing of a short-term spending measure, Congress temporarily extended federal government funding through November 21, 2019 while FY 2020 budget negotiations continue. This means that many key immigration programs, which are under federal functions, will...
Department of State Opens Registration for FY 2021 Diversity Visa Lottery
The Department of State (DOS) announced that it would begin accepting online registrations for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery starting on Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at noon EDT. Foreign nationals will have until Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at noon...
October 2019 Visa Bulletin Issued
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its October 2019 Visa Bulletin. Most notably, EB-1 India is available again and many chargeability areas for EB-2 and EB-3 are current again. EB-1-Worldwide: China: Priority date of November 1,...
H-4 EAD Rescission Proposal Remains Under Federal Review
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed a status report in response to a court order in Save Jobs USA v DHS, a lawsuit that challenges the work authorization for H-4 spouses of H-1B beneficiaries. According to the status report, the proposal for...
DHS Proposes Registration Fee for H-1B Cap
On September 3, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed rule requiring petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration they submit to the United States Citizenship and Immigration...
USCIS Completes Return of Unselected H-1B Cap Petitions for FY 2020
On August 15, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has finished returning all H-1B petitions that were unselected for the FY 2020 cap. Petitioners should receive their returned petitions with filing fee checks by...
September 2019 Visa Bulletin Issued; EB-3 Categories Made Immediately Unavailable
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its September 2019 Visa Bulletin, which has been reproduced below. However, during the Department of State Liaison Committee's August 16, 2019 monthly check-in with Charlie Oppenheim, the committee was made aware that the...
DHS and USCIS Announces Final Rule on Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds
On Monday, August 12, 2019, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a final rule that clearly defines the long-standing public charge inadmissibility law. According to section 212(a)(4) of the...
USCIS Will Close Most International Offices
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services's (USCIS) director, Ken Cuccinelli, announced on August 9, 2019 that agency will close all of its international field offices except for seven. Currently, USCIS has 20 field offices worldwide, including in major...