Immigration Solutions

U.S. suspending visa services worldwide due to coronavirus – State Department

3/19/2020 – WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is suspending all routine visa services as of Wednesday in most countries worldwide due to the coronavirus outbreak, a spokeswoman for the State Department said, an unprecedented move that will potentially impact hundreds of thousands of people. The Department did not say which or how many countries … Read more

H-1B Visa – Employer / Employee relationship no longer enforcable by USCIS!!

On March 10, 2020, in the court case ITServe Alliance v. L. Francis Cissna, D.C. U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer invalidated USCIS memos regarding the employer / employee relationship: CIS issued a 2010 Guidance Memorandum (CIS 2010 Guidance Memo), also referred to as the Neufeld Memo, from which comes a new employer-employee relationship set … Read more

New USCIS Form I-129 – Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds final rule on Feb. 24, 2020

ALERT: USCIS will implement the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds final rule on Feb. 24, 2020, except in Illinois, where the rule remains enjoined by a federal court (as of Feb. 5, 2020). If the injunction in Illinois is lifted, USCIS will provide additional public guidance. The final rule will apply only to applications and petitions … Read more

I-765 EAD Work Permit for Alien with Final Order of Deportation or Order of Supervision

I-765 EAD Work Permit for Alien with Final Order of Deportation or Order of Supervision Category (C)(18) Final Order of Deportation or Removal, including Deferral of Removal under the Convention Against Torture–(c)(18). File Form I-765 with a copy of the EOIR IJ’s Order of Removal and Form I-220B, Order of Supervision (if any). Additional factors … Read more

U.S. employers are experiencing a widespread unskilled and low skilled worker shortage.

A recent article on vox.com highlighted the struggles of U.S. employers to fill unskilled and low skilled positions. According to the article, the hardest-to-find workers are no longer computer engineers. They are home health care aides, restaurant workers, and hotel staff. Many employers are unaware that there are foreign national workers who could be excellent … Read more

H-1B RFE for Employer-Employee Relationship – Physical Therapy Firm with employees at 3rd party worksite.

This is a typical RFE for a company that places it’s employees at a 3rd party worksite. ————// A specialty occupation is one that requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and that requires the attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in a specific specialty, or its equivalent, … Read more

November 2019 Visa Bulletin Dates – Family

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES First: (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference. Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents:  114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, plus any unused first preference numbers: A. (F2A) Spouses and Children … Read more

November 2019 Visa Bulletin Dates – Employment

EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES First:  Priority Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences. 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. Third:  Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other … Read more

FLC PREVAILING WAGE TOOL

About the prevailing wage for H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 Visa and PERM foreign labor certification petitions. flcdatacenter.com is a website built by the State of Utah under contract by the Department of Labor. The wage data is made available to the public and may be used in other applications. We use the same data as flcdatacenter.com, … Read more

DHS Proposes $10 Registration Fee for Petitioners Seeking to File H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration they submit to USCIS. Because USCIS must expend resources to implement and maintain the H-1B registration system, and because USCIS operations are funded by fees … Read more