This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during April for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.
For more details please visit this link:
https://immigration.com/visa-bulletin/visa-bulletin-april-2022
We assisted our client in filing an I-129F petition to bring his fiancee to the U.S. in anticipation of their upcoming marriage in the U.S. On Form I-129F the petitioner answered “yes” to the question: “Have you ever been arrested, cited, charged, indicted, convicted, fined, or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law or ordinance in any country, excluding traffic violations (unless a traffic violation was alcohol-or drug-related or involved a fine of $500 or more)?”. We included reference to that issue in the filing.
USCIS recently updated the lockbox filing location information for the following USCIS form(s). Please see the “Where to File” section of the webpage for your form.
On Mar. 1, USCIS added Elgin, Illinois, as a filing location for certain applicants filing Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.
Please visit the Lockbox Filing Locations Updates page for more information.
Release Date
03/02/2022
As part of the credit card payment pilot program, the USCIS service centers are now accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, for all forms except Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, for H-1B and H-2A petitions.
Discussion Topics, Thursday, March 03, 2022:
FAQ: Abandonment; can I leave the USA while a change of status is pending?/Stamping requirements || Relation between F-1 status and I-485 AOS (child covered under Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)) || Relation between F-1 OPT and H-1B lottery change of status and changing employers || Is doing an unpaid U.S. externship/observership with F-2 visa unauthorized employment? || Can parents of U.S. citizens travel to the U.S. on an existing B-2 visa while their GC is pending?
FAQ's answered in The Economic Times NRI Helpdesk: Can I start my own business if I'm an H-1B visa holder?
Published by: The Economic Times: March 05, 2022
Number 64
Volume X
Washington, D.C
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during April for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.
Release Date
03/17/2022
In the recently published April Visa Bulletin, the Department of State advanced the Date for Filing (also known as the application date) applications for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status in the employment-based, second preference (EB-2) category for India from Sept. 1, 2013, to Sept. 1, 2014.
| Processing Queue | Priority Date |
|---|---|
| Analyst Review | September 2021 |
| Audit Review | June 2021 |
| Reconsideration Request to the CO | September 2021 |
Release Date
03/18/2022
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to address the documentation that certain E and L nonimmigrant spouses may use as evidence of employment authorization based on their nonimmigrant status.
If you are a healthcare worker or a childcare worker who has a pending Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization renewal application and your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) expires in 30 days or less or has already expired, you can request expedited processing of your EAD renewal application. USCIS had previously announced this flexibility for qualifying healthcare workers assisting public health efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. USCIS is now extending this flexibility to qualifying childcare workers.
FAQs: - From F-1 OPT directly applying for a green card - STEM OPT employment parameters, volunteering, part ownership, etc. - Can two employers file H-1B for the same employee using an existing I-140?
This is the first in a series of interviews between Rajiv S. Khanna, principle of The Law Offices of Rajiv Khanna, and leading practitioners across the country designed to provide personal and professional insights into various areas of the law.
Please Note: “Reprinted from the April 2016 issue of ALI CLE’s The Practical Lawyer.”
Read more by clicking the pdf attachment.
Release Date
03/29/2022
H-1B Initial Electronic Registration Selection Process Completed
31 March 2022
| Forms |
Response Time |
Premium Processing Fee |
Expected Implementation Time |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Most Form I-140 EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 petitions |
Release Date
03/30/2022
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending certain flexibilities through July 25, 2022, to assist applicants, petitioners, and requestors. USCIS anticipates this may be the final extension of these flexibilities. USCIS will consider a response received within 60 calendar days after the due date set forth in the following requests or notices before taking any action, if the issuance date listed on the request or notice is between March 1, 2020, and July 25, 2022, inclusive:
was there early in the morning 6am, entered line in orchard st taken inside at 8.00am, to 2nd floor office
- iEAD applications must have a duplicate application prepared with documents. they check before you get in
- make sure you have an address in NJ, they ask proof of residence in NJ to issue your documents, bring DL, utility bill etc to prove that.
- got the card the same day for 8 months,
- they lost our documents, then found them in the 3'rd office where your pictures will be taken
This Update provides helpful hints for U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens on when to change your address with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and do it.
Changing an address with the various Federal immigration components can be confusing, and failure to properly make an address change can lead to denials and other adverse immigration consequences. The Ombudsman's Office encourages immigration benefits applicants and petitioners to promptly notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the U.S. Department of State (DOS), and/or the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) of any change in address. Mail forwarding is not always rapid or reliable.
A recruiting firm for accountants retained our services to file an H-1B petition for a recruiter. Typically, it is difficult to justify that the position of a recruiter qualifies as an H-1B level occupation. Our petition to USCIS argued, however, that even though recruiters do not generally qualify as a specialty level occupation, the present case is different because the beneficiary will be hired as an International Accounting/Finance Recruiter.
USCIS requires applicants and petitioners for certain immigration benefits to be fingerprinted for the purpose of conducting FBI criminal background checks. To better ensure both the quality and integrity of the process, USCIS processes fingerprint cards for immigration benefits only if an authorized fingerprint site prepares them. Authorized fingerprint sites include USCIS offices, Application Support Centers (ASCs), and U.S. consular offices and military installations abroad. In general, USCIS schedules people to be fingerprinted at an authorized fingerprint site after an application or petition is filed. USCIS charges a set fee per person (for most applicants) at the time of filing for this fingerprinting service. Please check the instructions on your Immigration application or petition form to find out if you must be fingerprinted.
The following three points apply for all immigration benefits applications (see exceptionsbelow) requiring an FD-258 fingerprint check filed with USCIS after March 29, 1998:
Applicants and petitioners residing abroad who are fingerprinted at a United States consular or military installation abroad do not need to be fingerprinted by USCIS and are exempt from the fingerprint fee. These applicants and petitioners must file their completed card at the time their application or petition is filed.
The following forms are subject to exceptions to the above requirements.
To find the Application Support Centers (ASCs) closest to you, see the "USCIS Service and Office Locator" page. You can also call our toll free number at 1-800-375-5283.
Related links
Safety & Security of U.S. Borders: Biometrics
Fingerprints & Other Biometrics
Identification Record Request/Criminal Background Check
Upgrade to 10-Fingerprint Collection
Biometrics -DHS
USCIS Ombudsman Case Assistance Online pilot program, a new initiative allowing paperless submission of assistance requests. The pilot program is currently available in Texas and DC, with plans to expand nationwide in fall 2011.