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Final Rule Effective Beginning April 1, 2019 

Effective immediately, USCIS will begin accepting copies of negative consultation letters directly from labor unions relating to a current or future P nonimmigrant visa petition. A consultation letter from a U.S. labor organization is generally required for petitions in the P visa classification, which covers athletes, artists, entertainers and their essential support personnel.

USCIS will resume premium processing on Tuesday, Feb. 19, for all H-1B petitions filed on or before Dec. 21, 2018. If you received a transfer notice for a pending H-1B petition, and you are requesting premium processing service, you must submit the premium processing request to the service center now handling the petition. You should also include a copy of the transfer notice with your premium processing request to avoid possible delays associated with the receipt of your premium processing request.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2019. Feb. 19, 2019, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before Oct. 1, 2019. USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Feb. 19 that request an employment start date before Oct. 1, 2019.

USCIS has revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and will publish the revised form on the website on March 8, 2019. USCIS will be removing the 12/23/16 version of Form I-539 from uscis.gov on March 8 but will be allowing for a two-week grace period, until close of business on March 21, for that version to be received by USCIS.

USCIS will resume premium processing on Tuesday, March 12, for all H-1B petitions. If you received a request for evidence (RFE) for a pending petition, you should include the RFE response with the premium processing request.

Simple, smart changes to make the H-1B visa program work better

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced the start of the fiscal year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap season, start dates for premium processing of cap-subject H-1B petitions, and the launch of its new H-1B data hub, while reminding petitioners of its new H-1B cap selection process. These new efforts underscore the agency’s commitment to supporting President Trump’s Buy American and Hire American executive order designed to protect U.S. workers.

Starting 05/20/19, USCIS will only accept the 01/31/19 edition. Until then, previous editions: 01/17/17, 12/23/16, 08/13/15, 03/26/15, and 10/23/14, can be used.

For more information visit this link: https://www.uscis.gov/i-129

On May 20, USCIS will begin premium processing for FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitioners requesting a change of status on their Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Petitioners who do not file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, concurrently with an FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petition requesting a change of status must wait until premium processing begins on May 20 to submit Form I-907.   

USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions projected as needed to reach the congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap for fiscal year 2020. USCIS will next determine if the center has received a sufficient number of petitions to meet the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap.

Reminder For Employers: All List B documents must contain a photo of your new hire

LIST B DOCUMENTS

Documents that Establish Identity

The documents on List B establish only identity. Employees who choose to present a List B document must also present a document from List C for Section 2. Employees may present one of the following unexpired List B documents:

Certain Israeli nationals who are lawfully present in the United States will soon be able to request a change of status to the E-2 treaty investor classification. Beginning May 1, eligible Israeli nationals already in the United States in a lawful nonimmigrant status can file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, to request a change of status to E-2 classification, or a qualifying employer can file the petition on their behalf.

USCIS and U.S.

USCIS has updated the Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) (PDF, 224 KB) to emphasize that, under current regulations, the periods of initial authorized stay are different for individual athletes (P-1A) and their essential support personnel (P-1S). The P-1S classification is for “Essential Support Personnel” who are an integral part of the performance of a P-1 nonimmigrant, and who perform support services that cannot be readily performed by a U.S. worker.

On May 20, 2019, the Texas Service Center will begin processing Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, for certain H-1B cap-exempt petitions requesting:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a new strategy known as eProcessing to accelerate USCIS’ transition to a digital business model. eProcessing will be a complete digital experience, from applying for a benefit, to communicating with USCIS, through receiving a decision on a case.

You may file Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, online if you are applying as a single applicant (without co-applicants, or legal or accredited representation) to extend your stay and you hold status as a:

USCIS will reject petitions lacking petitioner’s or applicant’s primary U.S. office address

On August 5, USCIS will begin rejecting Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, petitions that do not include the petitioner’s or applicant’s name and primary U.S. office address in Part 1 of Form I-129.

USCIS currently rejects Form I-129 for several reasons. These include, but are not limited to, lack of signature, incorrect fees, or unauthorized third party signing on behalf of the petitioner. 

On June 10, USCIS will begin premium processing for all remaining FY 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions. Starting on that date, petitioners may file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, with the USCIS service center that is processing their petition.

USCIS has received enough petitions to reach the additional maximum 30,000 visas made available for returning workers under the H-2B numerical limit (also called a cap) for fiscal year (FY) 2019.

As previously announced, USCIS began accepting H-2B petitions on May 8 under the temporary final rule increasing the cap by up to 30,000 additional H-2B nonimmigrant visas for returning workers through the end of FY 2019.

Certain New Zealand nationals can now request a change of status to the E-1 nonimmigrant trader classification and the E-2 nonimmigrant investor classification under Public Law 115-226.

On July 3, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) implemented its new Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system for the H-2B temporary non-agricultural worker program. As of July 3, employers who file an H-2B application for temporary labor certification in FLAG will only receive a temporary labor certification electronically.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published the U Visa Law Enforcement Resource Guide (PDF, 1.58 MB) to provide law enforcement and other certifying agencies with helpful information and best practices for the U visa certification process.

Updated rejection criteria includes time-sensitive H-2A visa classification

As previously announced, on August 5, USCIS will begin rejecting Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, petitions that do not include the petitioner’s or applicant’s name and primary U.S. office address in Part 1 of the form.

USCIS has returned all fiscal year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected in our computer-generated random selection process. On May 17, USCIS announced that it had completed data entry of all selected H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2020.