April 23, 2019
Update: President Donald Trump issued a memorandum on Monday, April 22 that aims to force compliance from countries whose nationals consistently overstay valid travel and business visas. Per a 2018 report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the countries that fall into this category are mostly ...
April 12, 2019
Update: Leaders in the European Union and the United Kingdom have agreed to extend the deadline for leaving the EU. As it currently stands, there are now two possible deadlines: June 1, if Parliament doesn’t agree to participate in EU Parliament elections in late May. October 31, ...
April 11, 2019
Update: At 6:10 pm EST on April 11, 2019, the USCIS announced that they have completed the H-1B Cap random selection process and have also determined that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to meet the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption ...
April 6, 2019
Update: At 5:37 pm EST, the USCIS announced that they have received a sufficient number of petitions projected as needed to reach the congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap for fiscal year 2020. USCIS will next determine if they have received a sufficient number of ...
April 2, 2019
On March 29, 2019, the UK Parliament once again voted against the Brexit Deal put forward by Prime Minister Theresa May. As previously negotiated, the Brexit date was automatically extended to April 12, 2019. The UK Parliament will continue to debate Deal-scenarios that can be put ...
March 22, 2019
Update: On March 21, the European Union (EU) member states approved extending the deadline for the United Kingdom’s exit. There are now two possible dates, and three options available that depend on the UK Parliament's next steps. The BBC infographic below explains the current situation: If Parliament agrees ...
March 20, 2019
Update: USCIS announced earlier today that Premium Processing willbe available for FY2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions in a two-phased approach Phase 1: Starting April 1, 2019, only FY2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a change of status can concurrently request premium processing (“Group 1”). However, premium processing for these petitions will not begin ...
March 14, 2019
Update: Today, the UK’s Parliament agreed to ask the European Union (EU) for a delay in exiting the EU by a vote of 412 to 202. This followed yesterday's vote when Parliament voted to reject a no-deal Brexit. This vote did not change the date of Brexit, ...
March 14, 2019
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released today the April 2019 Visa Bulletin. The April 2019 visa bulletin sees minimal advances in the EB-1 categories for the Final Action Chart (Chart A) and continues to apply cut-off dates to these categories. The Final Action Chart for ...
March 12, 2019
Update: Starting Tuesday, March 12, premium processing will again be available for all H-1B petitions. This encompasses all H-1B petitions including change of employer petitions, amendments, extensions, and, as of now, H-1B FY2020 CAP petitions. More changes possible in coming weeks and months: EIG will continue to monitor H-1B ...
February 27, 2019
The Proposed Rule is With the White House OMB for Review Update: On February 20, 2019, DHS submitted the H-4 EAD Rule removal to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. In the Federal Rule Making Process this is an early step (see image below) which can ...
February 16, 2019
Update: Starting Tuesday, February 19, premium processing will again be available for all H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018. This includes all change of employer petitions, amendments, and extensions filed through that date. imple extensions of H-1B status without changes in employment remain eligible for Premium ...
February 15, 2019
Consistent with our observations from last month, the March 2019 visa bulletin sees minimal advances in the EB-1 categories for the Final Action Chart (Chart A) and continues to apply cut-off dates to these categories. Furthermore, as reported last month, in the Final Action Chart the ...
February 14, 2019
As a result of AILA’s report on long-delayed USCIS processing times, 86 Members of Congress, led by Rep. Jesús Garcia (D-Ill.), have signed a letter addressed to the USCIS Director, Francis Cissna expressing their concerns over these delays and requesting insight into any contributing factors. Specifically, they are requesting ...
January 30, 2019
USCIS has confirmed that, effective April 1, 2019, it will reverse the order of selection for H-1B cap lottery to benefit individuals with a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education. Going forward, USCIS will pick petitions to fill the Regular Cap H-1B before running a second lottery to fill the ...
January 26, 2019
Update: Starting Monday, January 28, premium processing will become available for pending FY2019 H-1B CAP cases. Premium Processing requests can be submitted for cases currently pending USCIS action. Petitioners who have received an RFE can submit a request for premium processing along with the RFE response. Simple extensions of H-1B ...
January 16, 2019
Today, the UK Parliament voted by a margin of 432-202 to reject Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the EU. The result of the vote throws the entire future of Brexit back into uncertainty, with the future of the state of relations between the UK and ...
January 11, 2019
Very few changes are observed in the February visa bulletin from the previous month's publication. The EB-1 categories for the final action chart continue to have cut-off dates, and based on the Department of State's predictions in Section E of the visa bulletin, these categories ...
December 23, 2018
On Saturday, December 22 at 12:01 am, a partial government shutdown went into effect. While the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services remain unaffected by the shutdown, the U.S. Department of State and the E-Verify program will be impacted. What does ...
December 20, 2018
Update on the Potential Government Shutdown. Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a short-term spending bill designed to fund the government through February 8, 2019. The proposed bill, if made law, will avert a shutdown that would otherwise potentially go into effect at midnight on December 21, 2018. This bill ...
December 17, 2018
Update: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that real-time approvals for the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) will no longer be available. Travelers to the U.S. from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries who do not already have valid ESTA authorization are now advised to apply at least ...
December 13, 2018
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the January 2019 Visa Bulletin today. The January visa bulletin sees little advances in certain categories, while others remain unchanged. Contrary to our previous predictions, the EB-1 categories continue to have a cut-off date in January with no mention from ...
December 13, 2018
Erickson Immigration Group attorneys Justin Parsons, Jeff Quilhot, and Hiba Anver hosted a webinar on the latest proposal to modify the H-1B Cap program. The main points of the proposed changes include requiring petitioners to register electronically and reversing the order in which lottery selections are ...
December 3, 2018
European Union leaders officially approved Britain’s separation–their Brexit—from the EU on Sunday, November 25. For Brexit to be finalized, the U.K. Parliament will have to vote to approve. Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain is pushing to have Brexit voted on before Parliament recesses on ...
December 1, 2018
Update: Friday, November 30, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that proposed two main changes to the H-1B cap process: (1) it would require petitioners to electronically register H-1B cap-subject beneficiaries with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during ...
November 13, 2018
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December 2018 Visa Bulletin just moments ago. The December visa bulletin sees small advances in certain categories, while others remain unchanged. Most notably, both the EB-3 China and EB-3 India categories have jumped ahead of their EB-2 counterparts in ...
November 1, 2018
Update: In recent days, President Trump has spoken publicly about two immigration policy positions - a desire to end birthright citizenship, and a desire to increase enforcement against asylum seekers. In both cases, the President's statements have been short on details, focusing on the outcomes he ...
October 19, 2018
Update: According to EIG's sources in DC, the H-4 EAD rule is still being drafted. The anticipated timeline announced in September has not changed. There's been a lot of confusion caused by various media reports, including most recently one news outlet that initially indicated the rule may take effect this year ...
October 17, 2018
Streamlined lottery process proposal in development at USCIS HQ Update: In an interview with Bloomberg Law, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna addressed potential improvements to the H-1B CAP lottery process currently being discussed at USCIS headquarters. The proposal currently being developed could include a pre-registration/pre-selection process potentially easing the ...
October 11, 2018
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the November 2018 Visa Bulletin just moments ago. In this month's visa bulletin, little to no changes are observed. As previously reported based on the DOS's predictions, the EB-1 retrogression for all countries is expected to last longer than normal this year ...