USCIS announced that starting in January 2021, it will replace the sticker that is currently issued to lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to extend the validity of their Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card (PRC or “Green Card”) with a revised Form I-797, Notice of Action for Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card. The revised [...]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, USCIS is experiencing delays in issuing receipt notices for some applications and petitions filed at a USCIS lockbox facility. As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, an increase in filings, current postal service volume and other external factors, you may experience a delay of four to six weeks in [...]
CA District Court Sets Aside DHS Specialty Occupation and DOL H-1B Wage Rules Yesterday, December 1, 2020, the District Court for the Northern District of California, set aside the IFRs issued by the Department of Labor and the DHS-USCIS (scheduled to take effect December 7th), finding that defendants “failed to show there was good [...]
USCIS today announced it will increase fees for premium processing, effective Oct. 19, as required by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act, Pub. L. No. 116-159, signed into law on Oct. 1. The USCIS premium processing service allows petitioners to pay an additional filing fee to expedite the adjudication of certain forms, [...]
I. DOL Interim Final Rule on Computation of Prevailing Wage Levels The Department of Labor is issuing rules amending the regulations governing permanent labor certifications and Labor Condition Applications to incorporate changes to the computation of prevailing wage levels. The IFR will be published today, 10/8/20, and will be effective on the date of [...]
On September 30, 2020 the President signed H.R. 8337 the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act, which will fund the government through December 11, 2020. Included in the Act is language from the Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act (H.R. 8089), which seeks to address USCIS’s budget shortfall. The relevant language begins on page 30 [...]
On September 29, 2020, a district court stayed the implementation and the effective date of the August 2020 Final Rule, which changed the fee schedule and required new versions of several forms, in its entirety pending final adjudication of this matter. (ILRC et al., v. Wolf, et al., 9/29/20) As of September 30, 2020, many of you [...]
Unlike most government agencies, USCIS is fee funded. Fees collected and deposited into the Immigration Examinations Fee Account fund nearly 97% of USCIS’ budget. As required by federal law, USCIS conducted a comprehensive biennial fee review and determined that current fees do not recover the cost of providing adjudication and naturalization services. Under a [...]
On August 3, 2020, USCIS published a Final Rule that significantly alters the USCIS fee schedule by adjusting fees by a weighted average increase of 20 percent, adding new fees, establishing multiple fees for nonimmigrant worker petitions, and limiting the number of beneficiaries for certain forms. The rule also removes certain fee exemptions, changes fee [...]
Infographic listing the most important points about the latest Presidential Proclamation.