News

The demand for travel to the U.S. from India is seeing a surge, both for personal and business purposes. The U.S. consular offices have continued to issue visas throughout the pandemic, except for extensive restrictions during periods of time in 2020 and 2021, during COVID pandemic peaks. Clearly, demand has far outweighed the capacity for visa issuance. This article summarizes the status of filing for U.S. immigration visas for Indian nationals as of April 28, 2022.

The H-1B program requirements can be complex to navigate, particularly for companies that are part of a larger employer group. Related entities must be considered when making determinations regarding H-1B dependency and calculating the required fees. The impact of related entities on the H-1B program, specifically as it relates to the aggregation of employees for H- 1B dependency determinations and USCIS fees, is detailed here. We also provide helpful insight regarding the multiple petitions rule for cap-subject H-1B petitions, which specifically affects related entities.

DHS has extended COVID vaccination requirements for all travelers to the U.S. via air, land, and sea ports. Temporary Title 19 requirements continue for non-U.S. travelers entering the United States via land ports of entry and ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide related proof of vaccination upon request. These requirements will continue to apply to non-U.S. travelers who are traveling both for essential and non-essential reasons, and do not apply to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, or U.S. nationals.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy to actively reduce the immigration backlog by dismissing cases that are non-priority is seen as a positive for most affected individuals. However, immigration attorneys see that some individuals may be negatively affected and without a pathway to citizenship.

The new guidelines for ICE to dismiss non-priority cases go into effect on April 25, 2022. At that time, ICE attorneys will focus solely on high-priority cases where undocumented individuals pose a threat to public safety, border security, or national security. Guidelines to use to determine who is considered a threat is not clear. In general, attorneys have been told to consider the whole person, not a specific act, and to consider mitigating factors. The discretion of the ICE attorney will determine which cases are dismissed.

For employment-based cases, USCIS has once again confirmed Applicant must use the Date of Chart to file an AOS application. This is not surprising news, as there is little movement in the dates from the April 2022 visa bulletin to the May 2022 visa bulletin. The lack of movement shows better communication between USCIS and the Department of State to ensure all the visas available in this fiscal year are utilized. The Date for Filing for EB-2 India advances by three months to December 1, 2014. All other Dates for Filing for EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Professional/Skilled Workers remain the same as the dates in April 2022 visa bulletin.

Read the full article to see family-based updates and more details.

Individuals not able to enter the U.S. under a Trump-era policy asked a federal judge to require the Biden administration to review and reconsider their denials. The individuals claim the Biden administration has not done enough to redress the damages they experienced due to the policy. The group consists of individuals in Muslim-majority countries that were banned from entry to the U.S. under Trump’s travel ban.

The Trump policy limited the individuals’ ability to enter the U.S., thereby ending their visa applications. Although there was a waiver program, the group claims it was restrictive and limited their ability to protect their visa process. Additionally, the waiver program was extremely limited. As a result, thousands of individuals were harmed by the policies.

The U.S. Department of State Visa Appointment Service, USTravelDocs, announced interview waiver applications can be submitted free of cost at certain Visa Application Centers (VAC) where the Consulate or Embassy is located in India. If the individual chooses to file at a different location, a nominal charge of INR 650 per password is due and requires payment at the time of submission.

Certain requirements must be met to qualify for an interview waiver and a drop box appointment.

To address the sizeable backlog of deportation and asylum cases, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lawyers have been told to focus on low-priority cases. This emphasis hopes to deliver a significant impact on the current backlog of 1.7 million cases. This is the latest action from the Biden Administration to address the sizeable backlog. Under the enforcement guidelines previously established where cases with a potential safety threat or for recently entered undocumented individuals are to be prioritized, the low-priority cases are to be quickly addressed and closed. It is estimated that at least 700,000 cases, or roughly 40% of the court backlog, are considered low priority.

E-Verify Records that are over 10 years old, dated on or prior to December 31, 2022, will be destroyed on May 5, 2022. Employers using the E-Verify system have until May 5, 2022, to download their case information from the Historic Records Report.

Either a copy of the case details page to the Form I-9 or the E-Verify case verification number is required for employers while filing. As such, employers are recommended to keep the Historic Records Report with the related Form I-9.

A joint temporary final rule will be released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) making an additional 35,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available. The visas will be available for the second half of FY 2022. The visas are specified for U.S. employers looking for additional workers on or after April 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022. The additional visas are an effort to fill current labor market needs in the U.S. and provide more options for workers who wish to come to the U.S. Employers with a history of violating obligations for the H-2B visa holder workers will see a higher level of scrutiny.