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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, effective today, it will resume Premium Processing Service for nonimmigrant religious worker petitions filed by certain R-1 petitioners.  Only those petitioners who have successfully passed an on-site inspection are eligible to file under Premium Processing Service.

Administrative Appeals Office is an office within USCIS that decides appeals from denials of various petitions by USCIS such as H-1, L-1, I-140 etc.

AAO Processing Times

Published by: The Economic Times - Date: April 28, 2021 

Synopsis

New or Initial F and M students who were not previously enrolled in a program of study on March 9, 2020, will not be able to enter the United States as a nonimmigrant student for the 2021-22 academic year if their course of study is 100 percent online.

For more on this article please see the attachment below.

Published by: The Times of India  - Date: April 28, 2021

Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:

Rajiv S. Khanna, Managing Attorney at Immigration.com told TOI, “Business entities make plans based on consistency and predictability – not being able to rely on the availability of professional workers was not conducive to business nor to non-citizen workers.”

Nonimmigrant visa application to be available via web-based by April 30, 2010.

DOS Bureau of Consular Affairs announced that it will deploy the DS-160 fully web-based nonimmigrant visa (NIV) application form worldwide. Complete global usage of DS-160 for all NIVS except K’s is expected by 04/30/10. DS-160 replaces the Electronic Visa Application Form (EVAF).

On December 14, 2009, the Department of State published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to increase the nonimmigrant visa application processing fees, also called the Machine-Readable Visa (MRV) fee, and Border Crossing Card (BCC) fees. The proposed rule also establishes a tiered structure with separate fees for different visa categories. 

As of December 15, 2009, approximately 64,200 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. USCIS has approved sufficient H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H-1B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H-1B cap of 65,000.

[Federal Register: December 23, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 245)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 68200-68208]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23de09-23]

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

22 CFR Part 62

[Public Notice: 6853]

RIN 1400-AC56

Exchange Visitor Program--Secondary School Students

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for comment.

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Visa Services Operating Status Update from DOS

Last Updated: April 6, 2021

Release Date 

04/12/2021

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that F-1 students seeking optional practical training (OPT) can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online if they are filing under one of these categories:

This program allows eligible employers to petition for Non-Resident Workers in CNMI.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published an interim final rule in the Federal Register that creates a Transitional Worker visa classification in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program is one of several initiatives that implements the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA), which expands U.S. immigration law in the CNMI.

Release Date 

03/30/2021

H-1B Initial Electronic Registration Selection Process Completed