News

Due to the ongoing COVID pandemic and resulting backlog, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the extension of some flexibilities for responding to USCIS requests. This is likely the final extension, per the organizations.
Responses received within 60 calendar days after the due date specified will be considered prior to USCIS taking any further action. The due date listed on the form must be between March 1, 2020, and July 25, 2022, inclusive.

Additional requirements apply. Read the full article or contact your attorney for more details.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services completed the initial selection process from H-1B lottery submissions. The cap has been reached for both the H-1B cap numerical allocation and the master’s cap. Selected registrations have been notified. Individuals selected are eligible to submit an H-1B cap-subject petition for the noted beneficiary for the selected registration.

Online accounts for those who submitted a lottery entry are updated with their current status. Please contact ILSBS if you have any questions.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) are issuing a rule to give asylum seekers decisions more quickly. Whether granted relief or not, individuals applying with asylum claims will know their results within months, not years.

Per the rule, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asylum officers will consider initial asylum information. Currently, only immigration judges from the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) review requests. The review process includes consideration of risk for fear of persecution or torture. The credible fear standard will be reviewed by USCIS asylum officers.

Tens of thousands of individuals granted Temporary Protected Status previously blocked from a path to permanent U.S. residency now have a way forward. The Biden administration settled an ongoing legal action due to a Trump-administration policy that was illegally implemented. The agreement awaits a judge’s signature, however, is believed to move forward.

Individuals with TPS status and pending deportation cases should contact the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor to have their matter reopened and dismissed. Once the deportation case has been dismissed, qualifying individuals are then eligible to apply for a green card through asylum, employment, or family petitions.

The FY2023 H-1B lottery filing process has closed. USCIS will complete the random lottery from the submitted petitions. USCIS will run two cap lotteries to select the beneficiaries. Results will be updated by March 31st, 2022. The first FY2023 H-1B lottery selection is for the regular H-1B cap of 65,000. The second selection is for "master's cap" beneficiaries who were not selected in the first lottery—the master's cap of 20,000 for holders of U.S. advanced degrees. USCIS could run subsequent lotteries if the number of H-1B petitions received in the initial lotteries is insufficient to meet the FY 2023 quota.

The Department of State set the Date for Filing, known as the application date, for the EB-2 category for India from September 1, 2013, to September 1, 2014. This is for applications for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status for employment-based, second preference visas.

If you have an approved noncitizen immigrant visa petition in the EB-2 category for India and a priority date prior to September 1, 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) encourages you to file an adjustment of status in April. We can help.

The Department of State released the April 2022 visa bulletin today. The visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas both for consular processing and adjustment of status applications to be filled in April. The State Department releases both the Final Action Dates and Date of Filing Application for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas. For filing Adjustment of Status (AOS) within the United States, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed the chart and chosen strong advancement for EB-3 India. However, with this exception, little movement is shown in the April Visa Bulletin.

USCIS recently announced that Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas has added a new designation of Ukrainian citizens for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. The 18-month designation will go into effect upon publication in the forthcoming Federal Register notice. Once published, TPS applicants from Ukraine who meet the eligibility requirements will be able to apply with USCIS.

The initial TPS registration period with USCIS will be defined by the Federal Register notice. To be eligible for TPS, Ukrainian nationals who wish to apply must do so during the specified registration period. ILBSG will update its clients regarding the filing deadline once the dates are announced. In the meantime, we advise working with an attorney to prepare your application and supporting documents, so that your TPS application can be submitted to USICS as soon as the registration period opens.

The FY2023 H-1B Cap filing season ends on March 18, 2022, at 12 noon EST. If you are considering filing for the lottery system to obtain an H-1B visa, we highly recommend you start as soon as possible. If you have already filed, it's time to start preparing for your options if your file is not selected as part of the lottery process. To assist you in the process, we provide answers to some common questions. Have more questions? Contact us anytime.

A proposed bipartisan government spending bill was revealed for the fiscal year 2022. The bill is presented to the House of Representatives and is likely to be voted on in the current week. Then the bill moves to the Senate, where we see delays in many proposals. However, the U.S. government funding is estimated to run out on March 11, 2022. As such, this bill is critical. There are many proposals in the bill, but here we focus on the impact on immigration.