USCIS

The filing period for H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2014 numerical cap begins on April 1, 2013. USCIS anticipates that it may receive more than 65,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and more than 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher between April 1, 2013, and April 5, 2013. This could be the first time since April 2008 that the H-1B cap will require a lottery. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 cap on Monday, April 1, 2013. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS receives a properly filed petition for which the correct fee has been submitted; not the date that the petition is postmarked.

The bilateral adoption agreement between the United States and Vietnamexpired on Sept. 1, 2008.  Both nations have agreed to cease processing new adoption cases until the United States and Vietnamsign a new bilateral agreement.

Question:   Now that Sept. 1 has passed, what is the status of adoptions from Vietnam?

On March 8, 2013, USCIS transferred some casework from the California Service Center to the Texas Service Center to balance overall workload with processing capacity at the centers. The affected casework includes the following forms:

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 46 (Friday, March 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15030-15031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05327]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[CIS No. 2532-13; DHS Docket No.: USCIS-2006-0068]

Introduction of the Revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form

Revisions include new user-friendly instructions for completing Form I-9

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today published a revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 for use. All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each employee hired in the United States.

Beginning March 4, certain immigrant visa applicants who are the spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives), and have been unlawfully present in the United States, can start applying for provisional unlawful presence waivers through a new process.

On February 13, 2013, USCIS transferred some casework from the Vermont Service Center to the Nebraska Service Center to balance overall workload with processing capacity at the centers. The affected casework includes the following forms:

On February 28, 2013, USCIS will disable the alternative legacy online filing channel for Form I-539 and offer customers the option to: 

• File online with USCIS ELIS, or 
• File a paper application by mail.

Following the launch of our paperless electronic immigration system, USCIS ELIS, we offered customers three ways to file the Form I-539. Since then, USCIS has improved USCIS ELIS and consolidated its filing methods.

In January, the Taiwan Child Welfare Bureau issued an administrative order that requires all adoption cases filed on behalf of U.S. prospective adoptive parents with the Taiwan courts to undergo the U.S. PAIR process. The order applies to all currently licensed Taiwan adoption services providers (ASP), and any ASPs which may be licensed in the future.