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The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process. The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

Below is a summary of the October Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month:

  • China: EB-1 jumps forward more than four years to June 1, 2016, EB-2 rebounds to April 1, 2015, and EB-3 continues to speed past EB-2 and moves to June 1, 2015
  • India: EB-1 jumps forward more than four years to June 1, 2016, EB-2 moves ahead two years to March 26, 2009, and EB-3 returns to the July 2018 date, advancing six years to January 1, 2009
  • Philippines: EB-1 moves ahead ten months to April 1, 2017, EB-2 returns to current, and EB-3 creeps forward seven months to June 1, 2017
  • All Other Countries: EB-1 remains backlogged, but advances ten months to April 1, 2017, EB-2 and EB-3-both return to current

NOTE: USCIS has not yet announced if it will accept I-485 applications in October based on the Department of State’s Dates for Filing chart. However, the trend over the last several months has been to NOT honor the Dates for Filing chart, and instead only accept I-485 applications based on the Final Action Dates as listed above.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that the suspension of premium processing for FY2019 H‑1B cap cases, announced on March 21, 2018, has been extended until possibly February 2019.

USCIS also announced that effective September 11, 2018, premium processing will be suspended for H‑1B cases filed at the Vermont and California Service Centers, except for:

  1. H-1B petitions filed by cap-exempt petitioners or by petitioners who will be employing beneficiaries at qualifying cap-exempt institutions, entities, or organizations; or
  2. H-1B petitions filed at the Nebraska Service Center by petitioners requesting either an extension of a beneficiary’s H-1B status or requesting consular notification based on the continuation of the beneficiary’s previously approved employment without change with the same petitioner

In its announcement, USCIS explained that because of the recent increase in H-1B petitions filed requesting premium processing, USCIS has been unable to process long-pending H-1B petitions. Therefore, the expanded suspension of premium processing was required to allow USCIS personnel to focus on reducing the current backlog of pending H-1B petitions.

USCIS will continue to accept premium processing requests for H-1B cases until September 10, 2018. However, if a case is not adjudicated within the required fifteen calendar day timeframe, USCIS will refund the fee for premium processing and the case will be processed under regular processing.

We will update this post as soon as the suspension is lifted.

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process. The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

Below is a summary of the September Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month:

China: EB-1 remains stalled at January 1, 2012, EB-2 retrogresses to January 1, 2013, and EB-3 continues to move forward – advancing four months to November 1, 2014

India: EB-1 remains at January 1, 2012, EB-2 falls behind nearly two years to January 1, 2007, and EB-3 moves back six years to January 1, 2003

Philippines: EB-1 moves ahead one month to June 1, 2016, EB-2 retrogresses to January 1, 2013, and EB-3 moves to November 1, 2016

All Other Countries: EB-1 moves forward one month to June 1, 2016, EB-2 retrogresses to January 1, 2013 and EB-3 falls to November 1, 2016

The September Visa Bulletin includes the following important projections for future movement:

China:  

  • EB-1 backlogs are expected to remain until December, with “limited, if any forward movement” in October and November
  • EB-2 is expected to return to March 1, 2015 in October and move ahead slowly each month after that,
  • EB-3 is expected to return to July 1, 2014 in October and move forward approximately three weeks each month starting in November

India:   

  • EB-1 backlogs are expected to remain until December, with “limited, if any forward movement” in October and November
  • EB-2 is expected to return to March 15, 2009 in October and move forward “up to two weeks” per month beginning in November
  • EB-3 is expected to return to January 1, 2009 in October and may move ahead slowly each month after that

Philippines:       

  • EB-1 backlogs are expected to remain until December, with “limited, if any forward movement” in October and November
  • EB-2 is expected to become current in October and remain current for subsequent months
  • EB-3 is expected to return to June 1, 2017 in October, with “minimal” forward movement after October

All Other Countries:      

  • EB-1 backlogs are expected to remain until December, with “limited, if any forward movement” in October and November
  • EB-2 and EB-3 are expected to become current in October and remain current for subsequent months

NOTE: USCIS has not yet announced if it will accept I-485 applications in September based on the Department of State’s Dates for Filing chart. However, the trend over the last several months has been to NOT honor the Dates for Filing chart, and instead only accept I-485 applications based on the Final Action Dates as listed above.

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced today that it has now completed returning all petitions that were not selected in the Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B lottery.  Employers who filed petitions should now have received either a Form I-797 receipt notice with assigned receipt number, or the original rejected petition including filing fees.  USCIS will take inquiries if employers believe they filed during the required period – April 2 to April 6, 2018 – and have not received a receipt notice or rejected petition by August 13, 2018.

 

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process. The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

Below is a summary of the August Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month:

  • China: EB-1 remains backlogged to January 1, 2012, EB-2 moves forward – advancing two months to March 1, 2015 – and EB-3 leaps ahead eighteen months to July 1, 2014
  • India: EB-1 remains stuck at January 1, 2012, EB-2 freezes at March 15, 2009, and EB-3 advances two months to January 1, 2009
  • Philippines: EB-1 retrogresses to May 1, 2016, EB-2 remains current, and EB-3 springs ahead six months to June 1, 2017
  • All Other Countries: EB-1 retrogresses to May 1, 2016, while EB-2 and EB-3 remain current

NOTE: USCIS has not yet announced if it will accept I-485 applications in August based on the Department of State’s Dates for Filing chart. However, the trend over the last several months has been to NOT honor the Dates for Filing chart, and instead only accept I-485 applications based on the Final Action Dates as listed above.

On May 18, 2018, after receiving a notice from the Government of Ecuador terminating that country’s bilateral investment treaty with the United States, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Trade Representative announced the termination in the Federal Register.  The treaty has been in force since 1997.

Continue Reading Termination of U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty Affects E-2 Visa Eligibility for Ecuadorean Nationals

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced yesterday that it has completed the data entry for all H-1B cap petitions selected in the FY2019 lottery held in April.   Because receipts are mailed on a rolling basis as the data entry for each selected petition is completed, it is still possible that additional receipts for petitions selected in the lottery will arrive later this week.

 The USCIS will now begin the process of returning to the attorneys of record those petitions that were not selected in the lottery.  In past years, the return process lasted into July.

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process. The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

Below is a summary of the June Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month:

  • China: EB-1 holds steady at January 1, 2012, EB-2 stalls at September 1, 2014, and EB-3 remains June 1, 2015
  • India: EB-1 remains backlogged to January 1, 2012, EB-2 creeps ahead four days to December 26, 2008, and EB-3 remains May 1, 2008
  • Philippines: EB-2 remains current, while EB-3 remains January 1, 2017
  • All Other Countries: All EB categories are current

NOTE: USCIS has not yet announced if it will accept I-485 applications in June based on the Department of State’s Dates for Filing chart. However, the trend over the last several months has been to NOT honor the Dates for Filing chart, and instead only accept I-485 applications based on the Final Action Dates as listed above.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has reported receiving 190,098 cap subject H-1B petitions during the first five business days of April 2018, more than twice the number mandated by Congress’ cap of 65,000 under the regular H-1B cap and 20,000 under the advanced degree cap for each fiscal year.

On April 11, USCIS completed a computer generated and random lottery to select the 20,000 advanced degree cap petitions it will process for the 2019 fiscal year. Those not selected in this lottery, were included in a second lottery conducted to select the 65,000 regular H-1B cap petitions that USCIS will process.

We expect to start receiving H-1B receipt notices for petitions selected in the lottery within the next two weeks and that they will continue to trickle in through the month of June, as in previous years.

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process. The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

Below is a summary of the May Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month:

  • China: EB-1 remains backlogged to January 1, 2012, EB-2 creeps forward one month to September 1, 2014, and EB-3 freezes at June 1, 2015
  • India: EB-1 remains backlogged to January 1, 2012, EB-2 remains at December 22, 2008, and EB-3 advances three months to May 1, 2008
  • Philippines: EB-2 remains current, while EB-3 stalls at January 1,2017
  • All Other Countries: All EB categories are current

NOTE: USCIS has not yet announced if it will accept I-485 applications in May based on the Department of State’s Dates for Filing chart. However, the trend over the last several months has been to NOT honor the Dates for Filing chart, and instead only accept I-485 applications based on the Final Action Dates as listed above.