The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is making this public service announcement to alert employers and other interested stakeholders that the iCERT System Labor Certification Registry, which provides public access to labor certification decisions in the PERM, LCA, H-2A, and H-2B visa programs, will be decommissioned. Effective February 28, 2020, members of the [...]
DOS final rule governing the issuance of B non-immigrant visas for temporary visitors is effective 1/24/2020. This rule establishes that travel to the United States with the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States is an impermissible basis for the issuance of a B non-immigrant visa. [...]
USCIS announced beginning on Nov. 29, it is adjusting the fee to request premium processing for certain employment-based petitions. The premium processing fee will increase to $1,440 from the current fee of $1,410 for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.
USCIS announced that on January 2, 2020, it will dispose E-Verify records that are older than 10 years, or dated on or before December 31, 2009. E-Verify employers have until December 31, 2019, to download case information from the Historic Records Report. For more information, please see the I-9 central page.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is reporting that: On October 11, 2019, the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York enjoined and restrained the Department of Homeland Security and USCIS from “enforcing, applying, or treating as effective” the DHS Public Charge Final Rule. In addition, the court specifically enjoined the government from [...]
USCIS data on receipts, completions, and RFEs from FY2015 to FY2019 (through 9/30/19) for various employment-based non-immigrant visa categories, including H-1B.
On 10/4/19, President Trump issued a proclamation suspending the entry of immigrants who “will financially burden the U.S. healthcare system,” effective at 12:01 am (ET) on 11/3/19. Immigrants must have approved health insurance coverage within 30 days of entry, or be able to pay for reasonably foreseeable medical costs. Please see presidential document for more [...]
Beginning September 16, 2019, the FLAG System's LCA Program Module will be enabled and stakeholders will be able to begin preparing H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 applications using the Form ETA-9035E. However, the FLAG System will not permit the submission of LCA applications until 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 1, 2019. OFLC will continue to [...]
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule that clearly defines long-standing law to better ensure that aliens seeking to enter and remain in the United States — either temporarily or permanently — are self-sufficient and rely on their own capabilities and the resources of family members, sponsors, and private organizations rather [...]
USCIS will publish a final rule on July 24 that makes a number of significant changes to its EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, marking the first significant revision of the program’s regulations since 1993. The final rule will become effective on Nov. 21, 2019. New developments under the final rule include: Raising the minimum investment [...]