News

Published July 15, 2016 USCIS announced on July 8, 2016, that it has returned all fiscal year 2017 H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected in our computer-generated random selection process. USCIS previously announced on May 2, 2016, that it completed data entry of all selected cap-subject petitions. If you submitted an H-1B cap-subject petition between April 1 and April 7, 2016 and have not received a receipt notice or a returned petition by July 22, 2016, you may

Published July 22, 2016 The August 2016 Visa Bulletin published by the Department of State shows a retrogression in the following classifications: Employment-based First Preference (EB-1) for China and India; Employment-based Second Preference (EB-2) for all countries except China and India. Visa retrogression occurs when there is a lack of visa availability in an oversubscribed classification. The new cut-off dates are January 1, 2010 for EB-1 China and India and February

Published July 29, 2016 July, 28th 2016 USCIS held an EB-5 Stakeholder call today where it discussed EB-5 program updates and sought feedback from stakeholders. Some of the key points include the following: 5 years ago there were less than 200 Regional Centers. Today, there are more than 850. In the last 18 months, over 2,300 I-829 petitions were approved showing the creation of over 23,000 jobs. The Department of Commerce is currently in the final stage of review for publica

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a final rule expanding the existing provisional waiver process to allow certain individuals who are family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and who are statutorily eligible for immigrant visas, to more easily navigate the immigration process. The provisional waiver process promotes family unity by reducing the time that eligible individuals are separated from their family me

Published August 29, 2016 WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing a new rule, which would allow certain international entrepreneurs to be considered for parole (temporary permission to be in the United States) so that they may start or scale their businesses here in the United States. Read the advance version of the notice of proposed rulemaking: International Entrepreneur Rule. Once the notice of proposed rulemaking is published in the Feder

Published July 17, 2017 The Department of Homeland Security delayed the effective date of the International Entrepreneur Rule to March 14, 2018. The rule was scheduled to go into effect on July 17, 2017. The Department explained in its published announcement that the delay would allow it to further consider the rule and will also issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to receive public comment regarding the proposal to rescind the rule pursuant to a previous Executive Order. I