Immigration

Immigration News April 2024

FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES

The Department of State issues the visa bulletin every month which publishes information regarding when employment based applicants will have available green cards. The bulletin shows when the applicant’s status becomes “current”.

There are substantial green card backlogs for citizens from countries such as China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines. Therefore, it is important for citizens of India to check the visa bulletin every month.

The visa 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.

Visa Bulletin Summary and Explanation of the Categories

Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category

First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.

(if you are a noncitizen of extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a certain multinational executive or manager.)

The cutoff date for EB1 India moved to March 1, 2021. While the dates for Mexico and Philippines are current, China’a cut off date is September 1, 2022.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

Second: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.

In the EB2 category, the cutoff date is now April 15, 2012. For China, the cutoff date moves ahead to February 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to "*Other Workers".

For EB3 India, the cutoff date moved up to August 15, 2012.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

Fourth: : Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level. (EB4 is generally issued to religious workers or international organization workers)

In the EB4 category, the cutoff date for all countries moves up to November 1, 2020.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

Fifth: Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, of which 32% are reserved as follows: 20% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a rural area; 10% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a high unemployment area; and 2% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in infrastructure projects. The remaining 68% are unreserved and are allotted for all other qualified immigrants.

In the EB5 category, India’s unreserved (i.e., EB5 immigrant visa numbers not set aside for rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure projects) cutoff date advances to December 1, 2020.

USCIS COMPLETES UNPRECENDENTED 10 MILLION CASES IN FY 2023, REDUCING BACKLOG FOR THE FIRST TIME

FY 2025 H-1B CAP Updates

The agency administered the Oath of Allegiance to more than 878,500 new U.S. citizens
The median processing time for naturalization applicants is now 6.1 months from 10.5 months.
The USCIS interviewed 100,000 refugee applications consequently leading to admission and resettlement of 60,000 refugees.
The USCIS has also increased the validity period of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) to five years for adjustment of status applicants.
On 03/21/2024 the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) extended the initial registration period to allow prospective petitioners more time to complete their submissions.Initially set to conclude on March 22, 2024, the registration period remained open until noon Eastern on March 25, 2024.
This extension came in response to a temporary system outage that some registrants experienced. It's crucial to note that USCIS remains committed to notifying selected registrants by March 31, 2024.
Employers or their authorized representatives can then log into their USCIS online accounts to view the status of each registration. If a registration is selected, the status will be updated to 'Selected.'
In addition, USCIS may also send an email or a notification through regular mail to inform the employer about the selection. However, the absence of an email or mail notification does not mean the registration was not selected. The most reliable method to check the status is to log in to the USCIS online account directly.
After the USCIS has notified employers of the beneficiary selections in the H1B registration process. The employers will have 90 days from April 1st, 2024 to June 30th, 2024 to file the H1B applications for the selected registrants.

CHANGES IN IMMIGRATION PREMIUM PROCESSING FILING FEES

In recent updates, the premium processing filing fees for various immigration forms have been adjusted. Here's what you need to know:

Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker: The fee used to be $1,500 for H-2B and R-1 nonimmigrant status and $2,500 for other classifications (E-1,E-2,E-3, H1B,H-3,etc). Now, it's $1,685 for H-2B and R-1 and $2,805 for other classifications as mentioned above.
Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker: Previously $2,500 for certain employment-based classifications, it's now $2,805 for the same classifications.
Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status: The fee has increased from $1,750 to $1,965 for various nonimmigrant classifications.
Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization: For certain F-1 students, the fee has Been changed to from $1,500 to $1,685.

These changes may affect individuals applying for work permits, extending or changing their nonimmigrant status, or seeking employment authorization. It's essential to be aware of these adjustments when planning immigration-related applications

The Contributor of these articles is, Madhurima Boyapati Paturi. She is current Immigration/Legal Chair for ATA. Disclaimer: The information provided here in is for public service and may not apply to any specific or particular circumstance. This information is not intended as, and should not be taken as, legal advice .Please consult an attorney about your particular factual and legal circumstances.