USCIS just released a proposed rule that would increase most fees for USCIS benefits, some by quite a bit. I will go through some of the proposals below. I-485: Adjustment of Status Currently, there is a general fee for the I-485 that covers filing the I-485, and the filing of the I-765 and I-131 applications.
Before discussing the visa bulletin for November, I just wish to apologize for the absence of posts in the last couple of months. In the future I shall make sure that there are no more long pauses such as the one that occurred and will ensure that I am able to get out relevant information
Just yesterday the Department of State released the Visa Bulletin for August 2019 and there are backlogs all around for Employment Based Green Cards – updates for all categories below: EB-1A: This has been backlogged for quite a while, but is retrogressing a couple years this month to July 1, 2016 for everyone except India,
Back in. we wrote an article about the Department of State adopting a new rule on inadmissibility called the 90-day rule. This replaced their previous 30/60 rule. For a full rundown on the change in the regulation and what it means, see the article we wrote here. Basically, the 90-day rule means that any
Charlie talked with the American Immigration Lawyers Association again at the end of March. Here are some updates that he gave on potential movements of priority dates in the future. To summarize: EB-1 usage is high, not a lot of movement. EB-2 usage is normal so steady movement. For more details, see below. Data
When looking specifically at the H-1B visa, there have been many news stories over the last two years – some claiming that the H-1B is primarily used to displace US workers (especially in the IT area), and that it is used to artificially keep wages lower. Others claim the exact opposite, that the H-1B compliments
Many of you have probably noticed the increase in processing times at USCIS lately – I-140s are taking a long time, H-1Bs and other changes of status applications are talking almost a year to process, and I-485s are now well over a year to process as well. Well, the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association has reviewed
Recently, the Department of State and Charlie Oppenheim released the new March 2019 Visa Bulletin. Below is a summary of the movement in each category. Family-Based cases: F1: Final Action dates moved forward to about a month for most countries – October 22, 2011 for All Other Areas, China and India. Mexico had no
USCIS has submitted its proposed regulation to rescind the H-4 EAD regulations that have been in place since February 25, 2015. While this is not a huge surprise, as USCIS has had this on their agenda since the new Administration has been in power, it is still somewhat of a surprise as it has taken
The February 2019 visa bulletin was recently released. Below is a summary of current dates as well as projections from Charlie Oppenheim on how various categories will move in the coming months. As a note, USCIS has stated that, for filing the I-485, you can use the Dates for Filing for Family based case, but