As part of USCIS's efforts to fulfill President Trump’s Buy American and Hire American Executive Order, USCIS has taken numerous actions to strengthen policies and regulations designed to protect U.S. workers and their wages, enhance fraud detection and prevention in employment-based visa programs, and increase the transparency of employment-based visa programs.
Are you seeking to adjust your status and become a U.S. permanent resident under a family-sponsored or employment-based preference immigrant visa? If you have not yet had a relative or employer file an immigrant visa petition on your behalf, please learn more about the Adjustment of Status Filing Process.
Foreign visitors to the U.S.
In January 2017, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) modified how it presents processing time information. Previously, the AAO reported, by form type, the average completion time for the month’s cases. But certain scenarios (such as a month with few completions in certain categories) could result in an imprecise portrayal of processing times.
Published by: The Economic Times - Date: September 02, 2021
Synopsis
The USCIS ombudsman's office is housed within the Department of Homeland Security but watches over the USCIS independently. You can open a case with them online. They are often successful where the USCIS bureaucracy fails because they can function as a neutral mediator.
For more on this article please see the attachment below.
Discussion Topics, Thursday, September 02, 2021
Processing Queue | Priority Date |
---|---|
Analyst Review | April 2021 |
Audit Review | October 2020 |
Reconsideration Request to the CO | April 2021 |
Form Type | Case Type | Completed 0-180 Days | Quarterly Completions |
---|---|---|---|
Cumulative total of all completions | 43.43% | 1,043 | |
I-129CW | Petition for CNMI Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker | 100% | 2 |
I-129E2 | CNMI Treaty Investor | 100% | 3 |
We were approached by an employer in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry to respond to an RFE (Request for Evidence) for an Operations Research Analyst. The RFE indicated that the job duties were vague, and did not allow the USCIS to ascertain the minimum requirements for the position, or determine whether it constituted a specialty occupation.
We assisted in the filing of an H-1B petition for a newly established company in the healthcare industry for a computer and information systems manager. We received a request for evidence (RFE), asking for details about the employer and questioning the employee’s qualifications.
In this case, the petitioning green card holder filed forms I-130 and I-485 for her second husband, whom she had been married to for less than five years since obtaining her lawful permanent resident status based on her first marriage, which was to a U.S. citizen. That marriage ended in a divorce.
We responded to a Form I-485 Request for Evidence to prove that approximately a decade ago the permanent residency applicant had, in fact, attended two U.S. universities as he had claimed in previously approved petitions. Both universities had been certified by ICE under its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) during the applicant’s attendance.
Release Date
WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security has announced the automatic extension of TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. TPS beneficiaries from these six countries will retain their status, provided they continue to meet all the individual requirements for TPS eligibility. The automatic extension of TPS-related documentation includes Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) through Dec. 31, 2022.
We assisted in the filing of an H-1B petition for a newly established company in the healthcare industry for a computer and information systems manager. We received a request for evidence (RFE), asking for details about the employer and questioning the employee’s qualifications. Oddly, the RFE specifically questioned the credentials of the professor, who had assessed the employee’s educational background and experiential qualifications.
Number 58
Volume X
Washington, D.C
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during October 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.
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.
Release Date
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that, effective Oct. 1, 2021, applicants subject to the immigration medical examination must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before the civil surgeon can complete an immigration medical examination and sign Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.
If USCIS determines there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, USCIS will state on this page that you may use the Dates for Filing chart. Otherwise, USCIS will indicate on this page that you must use the Final Action Dates chart to determine when you may file your adjustment of status application.
As part of the credit card payment pilot program, the Texas Service Center is now accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, for petitioners filing Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, with