News

A group of visa holders has filed a complaint stating U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have caused unlawful obstacles due to their slow processing speed. The group is supported by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). The individuals state they have waited between seven and thirteen months for the issuance of employment authorization from USCIS.

The group leading the proposed class-action effort has submitted applications for work authorization as they wait for the outcome of green card applications. Individuals with E-2 visas, spouses of foreign investors in U.S. businesses are also parties to the complaint.

Ongoing demand for technology roles is driving a competitive job market, for U.S. nationals and foreign workers. With over one million tech roles available and nowhere near enough U.S. talent available, demand for H-1B employment-based visas continues. With our extensive experience and insight, here are the steps to utilize the H-1B program to meet your technology hiring needs.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was sued by a group of Indian nationals in the hopes of forcing the federal government to review green card petitions filed nearly 10 years ago. The last interview was completed in 2019. As such, the plaintiffs claim there has been an unreasonable period of time to complete the adjustment of status application.

On plaintiff’s employer filed the I-140 petition in August 2010. Three other plaintiffs filed their adjustment of status in March 2012. USCIS originally completed the fingerprint and photograph process and completed the three interviews as the process requires for green card applicants in 2015, 2016, and 2019.

In this month’s Chats with Charlie for the November 2021 Visa Bulletin, Charlie Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the Department of State, explained the retrogressions experienced for India in the EB-3 category, while making some predictions for the rest of the fiscal year in the employment-based categories. Questions are submitted in advance for each of these chats, with Charlie answering as many as possible. Charlie also announced his retirement, making this his last Chats with Charlie webinar.

In explaining the retrogressions, Charlie highlighted the estimated FY 2022 Employment-Based Annual Limits, comparing them to the minimum visa demand within the October 2021 Final Action Dates.

President Biden rescinded regional traffic bans due to Covid and provided guidance on individual requirements for all individuals traveling to the U.S. under Presidential Proclamation 10294. The regional travel ban was revoked on October 25, 2021, but remains in effect through 12:01 AM Eastern Time on November 8, 2021. After that point in time, the updated vaccination requirements go into effect for all international air passengers traveling to the U.S. from foreign destinations under the Presidential proclamation.

With some exceptions, all noncitizen, nonimmigrants must comply with Covid vaccinations. For those pursuing an exception, specific requirements include following the health and safety standard requirements as developed by the Director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Additional guidance, outlined below, has been issued by the White House, Department of State, CDC, and other agencies. The guidance outlines the new travel requirements. 

The Biden administration revealed an updated budget reconciliation bill which includes $100 billion for immigration reform. The total bill is valued at $1.75 trillion. The suggested immigration efforts are less robust than plans previously submitted to, and denied by, the Senate parliamentarian.

The bill includes moving the eligibility date for immigrants on the ‘registry’ to receive green cards. The registry was first introduced in 1929 and was last updated in 1986. The proposal is to move the dates up to 2010, allowing individuals who entered the country without documentation between Jan 1, 1972, and Dec 31, 2009, to qualify for legal permanent status.

Two bills have been introduced in Congress in the past year which may help to alleviate some of the backlogs in the visa application process. In the 2020 fiscal year, 122,000 family-based visas and 9,100 employment-based visas went unused as a result of the pandemic. On October 1st, 2021, 83,000 employment visas expired. The unused visas from the 2020 fiscal year have gone to waste and are currently not eligible for roll-over despite the widespread backlogs in the visa system. The Preserving Employment Visas Act and the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 are proposed bills which both seek to remedy this issue. Both pieces of proposed legislation await approval.

The nearly 1,000 Diversity Visas that were set aside by a D.C. federal court must be issued prior to October 2022, per a court order. The U.S. Department of State is required to complete adjudication of these diversity visas that were reserved due to Covid regional travel bans.

Diversity visas are granted to individuals from specific countries that are underrepresented in overall immigration rates.

The State Department is required to start processing the FY2021 diversity visas as soon as possible, within reason. The Judge stated the processing timeline and October 2022 due date is set balancing the needs of the diversity visa holders and resource constraints at the State Department. Monthly reporting is required to ensure the additional 966 diversity visas are adjudicated within the timeframe.

A Fourth Circuit panel unanimously put aside a 2018 ruling that ended immigration judges’ ability to throw out removal cases. The original ruling was enacted by then Attorney General Jeff Sessions. As a result, the appeal of a removal order issued to a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient has been revived.

A 2019 ruling has not yet been overturned by Attorney General Merrick Garland that will finalize immigration judges' ability to put aside removal cases.

Unused green cards from the last two years may be reinstated under a proposed Senate spending bill. The proposed bill allows U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to reinstate employment- and family-based visa numbers from both fiscal years of 2020 and 2021. The allotment was not able to be processed due to the global pandemic and other delays.

There has been and continues to be a high level of frustration with those seeing green cards, with many waiting years. Continued demand for foreign workers, particularly in the computer occupations area, is slowing company growth.