Stage 1 of USCIS’s previously announced Premium Processing Expansion program is set to begin on June 1, 2022. Stage 1 will focus on I-140 petitions and will be rolled out in phases, with only long-pending cases eligible to upgrade to premium processing in the coming months.
Continue Reading Premium Processing Will Soon Be Available for EB-1C and EB-2 NIW I-140 Petitions
In a move reflective of the agency’s current approach to rulemaking and policy changes, US Citizenship and Immigration Services has provided less than one business day’s notice that it is almost doubling the popular “premium processing” fee that allows US employers to receive decisions on their petitions to sponsor foreign workers in a matter of days, instead of waiting the many months these petitions currently take to be processed at USCIS without the premium fee.
Continue Reading USCIS Almost Doubles Premium Processing Fee With Less Than One Business Day’s Notice to Employers
After suspending all “premium processing” for more than two months during the COVID-19 pandemic, USCIS today announced it will again accept premium fees (currently, $1,440 per form) and requests for expedited adjudication (currently, 15 calendar days) for Forms I-129 (Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker) and I‑140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker).
Continue Reading COVID-19 UPDATE: USCIS Premium Processing Returns Beginning June 1, 2020
Are you frustrated with the increasing level of documentation required to support employment-based immigration filings? You are not alone.
Gone are the days when a company letter and organizational chart were enough to support an L-1A manager case or just quoting the Occupational Outlook Handbook was enough to demonstrate specialty occupation status for an H-1B
After more than 15 years since the statutes were enacted, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will finally publish its proposed regulations implementing the American Competitiveness in the Twenty‑First Century Act of 2000, known as “AC21,” and the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998, known as “ACWIA.”
Continue Reading DHS to Publish Long-Awaited Regulations on AC21 and ACWIA
In response to the Obama Administration’s recommendations to speed-up the backlogged permanent residence process, the State Department issued a revamped monthly Visa Bulletin. The new Bulletin contains charts for employment- and family-based cases that can be approved (similar to the previous charts), and new charts showing when applicants can file their adjustment of status applications.