US District Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed a law suit brought by Save Jobs USA against U.S. Department of Homeland Security (15-cv-0015, US District Court, District of Columbia) which challenged the rights of certain highly skilled H-1B visa holders’ spouses to work in the US. Judge Chutkan upheld rule which grants certain H-4 visa holders the right for work authorization parallel to their spouses’ H-1B visa validity for employment in the US. The same Judge had previously dismissed the suit, ruling that Save Jobs lacked standing to challenge the H-4 rule. However, a federal appeals court reversed that ruling in 2019 and revived the case.
Read moreUSCIS Implements Final Phase of Premium Processing Service Expansion, Including Option for New Petitions
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it is implementing the final phase of its expansion of premium processing for Forms I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, in the EB-1 Multinational Executive and Manager and EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) categories. This final phase is set to commence on January 30, 2023.
Read morePremium Processing for Pending EB-1 Multinational Executives or Managers and EB-2 NIW Petitions Set to Start
As part of its commitment to expand premium processing service, United Sates Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced it will begin to offer premium processing for certain petitioners who have a pending I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications.
Read moreUSCIS Plans to Expand Premium Processing Services
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) plans to “increase efficiency and reduce burdens to the overall legal immigration system” in order to reduce their extensive adjudication backlogs and increased processing times, by expanding the premium processing service to include additional form types.
Read moreDHS and DOL Make Key Changes to the H-1B Program and Permanent Labor Certifications and Labor Condition Applications
Earlier this month the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Labor (DOL) published two interim final rules that make key changes to the H-1B visa program and permanent labor condition and labor condition application process. The rules, “Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program” and “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States”, were both published on October 8, 2020.
Read moreUSCIS Adjusts Fees Effective October 2, 2020
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule that adjusts US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) fees by a weighted average increase of twenty percent. The updated fees are effective October 2, 2020, and any application, petition, or request postmarked on or after this date must include payment of the new, correct fee. Since these fees fund nearly ninety-seven percent of USCIS’ budget, the agency claims the weighted increase is necessary to avoid a budget shortfall of an estimated $1 billion per year. “USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures and make adjustments based on that analysis,” Joseph Edlow, USCIS deputy director for policy, said. “These overdue adjustments in fees are necessary to efficiently and fairly administer our nation’s lawful immigration system, secure the homeland and protect Americans.”
Read moreUSCIS Resumes Premium Processing for I-129 and I-140 Petitions In Phases Beginning June 1
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that the agency will resume premium processing for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, in phases over the next month. On March 20, USCIS previously announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Read moreUSCIS Accepts Re-filing of Rejected I-140 Petitions with E-certification or Electronically Reproduced Signatures
On March 20, 2020, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it would accept electronically reproduced signatures in benefit requests during the coronavirus (COVID-19) national emergency. Additionally, on March 24, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced that ETA Forms 9089, Application for Permanent Employment Certification (ETA 9089), will be issued electronically to employers and their authorized attorneys or agents. After these announcements, USCIS notes that the agency “inadvertently rejected some Forms I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, that included these e-certified ETA-9089s or blue ETA-9089s with electronically reproduced signatures.”
USCIS is requesting that affected petitioners re-submit their Form I-140 with the blue ETA Form 9089s or e-certified ETA-9089s with “either wet original signatures and/or scanned copies of the original signatures as well as a copy of the rejection notice.” If the petitioner’s inadvertently rejected ETA-9089 expired between March 20 and May 18, 2020, USCIS notes the agency will accept the re-filed Form I-140 petition along with the inadvertently rejected, expired ETA-9089 for the duration of the national emergency.
USCIS Proposes to Dramatically Increase Filing Fees
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced earlier this month a proposed rule to adjust the fee schedule by a weighted average increase of twenty-one percent. In making the announcement, USCIS noted that unlike most government agencies, USCIS is fee-funded and claims the current fees if left unchanged would underfund the agency by approximately $1.3 billion per year. “USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures, just like a business, and make adjustments based on that analysis,” Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of USCIS, said in a statement. “This proposed adjustment in fees would ensure more applicants cover the true cost of their applications and minimizes subsidies from an already over-extended system.”
Read moreUSCIS Increasing Premium Processing Fee
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week that beginning December 2, 2019, the agency is increasing the fee to request premium processing for certain employment-based petitions. The premium processing fee will increase to $1,440 (currently set at $1,410) for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. The agency notes that the premium processing fee was last increased in 2018 and that the increase “reflects the full amount of inflation from the implementation of the premium processing fee in June 2001 through August 2019 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U).” Premium processing is requested using Form I-907 and is an optional service for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. Filing a premium processing request with the additional fee will result in a fifteen-calendar day response time. USCIS.gov has additional information about filing cases via premium processing including filing addresses.