Sunday, March 31, 2019

Premium Processing Begins for Certain Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions on May 20

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.   

On March 19, we announced that we would offer premium processing in a two-phased approach during the FY 2020 cap season to best manage premium processing requests without fully suspending it. In the past few years, we had to



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Saturday, March 30, 2019

Owner of Information Technology Companies Sentenced To 15 Months in Prison for Visa Fraud and Tax Fraud

USCIS Identified H-1B Visa Fraud and Initiated Investigation

NEWARK, N.J. – An owner of two information technology companies was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison for his role in using phony documents to fraudulently obtain H-1B visas for foreign workers and submitting false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) officer at the Vermont Service Center identified fraud and provided support to the investigation in this case. The FDNS Unit of the Newark Field Office then provided significant support to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and other law enforcement partners during the criminal investigation that led to the confirmation, prosecution a



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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Rochester Man Sentenced For Visa Fraud

USCIS assisted in case combatting H-1B Visa Fraud

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced last week that Anjaneyulu Katam, 46, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of visa fraud, was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison and fined $5,000 by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Rossi, who handled the case, stated that between 2011 and 2017, Katam ran businesses in which he falsified immigration documents for Indian nationals to enter the U.S. and work in tech industries involving computer programming. The defendant manipulated the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. employers temporarily to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. Katam falsified visa applications, work experience documents, and work contracts, which he then submitted to the U.S. Depa



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Tuesday, March 26, 2019

CW-1 Filings for Fiscal Year 2020 Must be Accompanied by an Approved Temporary Labor Certification

USCIS will begin accepting petitions for employment with start dates in fiscal year (FY) 2020 under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker program (the CW-1 program) on April 4, 2019. However, all CW-1 filings for FY 2020 must include an approved temporary labor certification (TLC) from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). USCIS will reject any CW-1 petition with an employment start date on or after Oct. 1, 2019, filed without the approved DOL TLC.

As required by the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018 (Workforce Act), DOL has announced that they will soon publish an Interim Final Rule in the Federal Register. The rule, effective April 4, 2019, will outline how CW-1 employers will obtain a prevailing wage and TLC to use when petitioni



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Saturday, March 23, 2019

McKees Rocks Man Sentenced for Role in Marriage Scam

PITTSBURGH - A resident of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to one year of probation on his conviction of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit offenses against the United States, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Donetta Ambrose imposed sentence on Norman Lee McCullough, 55, of McKees Rocks, PA.

In connection with sentencing, the court was advised that from June 2016 to May 4, 2017, McCullough conspired with two other individuals to defraud the Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services. McCullough, a United States Citizen, received money and entered into a sham marriage with a Nigerian citizen so that the Nigerian citizen could obtain legal permanent residency in the United States. McCullough also submitted f



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Wednesday, March 20, 2019

USCIS Announces FY 2020 H-1B Cap Season Start, Updates, and Changes

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.

“USCIS continually strives to improve the administration of the H-1B program and make it work better for employers, our agency, and U.S. workers,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “We are also committed to fulfilling the president’s Buy Ameri



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Sunday, March 17, 2019

Panama City Marriage Fraud Conspirators Plead Guilty and Sentenced

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Ravi Babu Kolla, 47, an Indian foreign national residing in Panama City, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit marriage and visa fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  On Tuesday, his co-defendant Krystal Cloud, 40, of Altha, Florida, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for marriage and visa fraud conspiracy after pleading guilty on December 28, 2018.  Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the guilty plea and sentence.

Between February 2017 and August 2018, Kolla operated an immigration marriage fraud business in Bay County that recruited U.S. citizens to marry Indian foreign nationals to gain immigration benefits.  The majority of the Indian foreign nationals overstayed their Visas or Student Exchange Visitor Program requirements an



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Saturday, March 16, 2019

Visa Bulletin May 2019 Predictions

For official April 2019 Visa Bulletin and analysis, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-april-2019.aspx

Please see May 2019 Visa Bulletin Predictions below (for both Family Based and Employment Based):

Family Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland 
born
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F122DEC1122DEC1122DEC1101SEP9715MAY07
F2A22MAR1722MAR1722MAR1715MAR1722MAR17
F2B08DEC1208DEC1208DEC1201JAN9822AUG07
F315OCT0615OCT0615OCT0622FEB9608JUL96
F408FEB0608FEB0601AUG0401MAR9815JUL96
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland 
born
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F115JUL1215JUL1215JUL1208NOV9922APR08
F2A22DEC1722DEC1722DEC1722DEC1722DEC17
F2B01OCT1401OCT1401OCT1408AUG9815MAR08
F315MAY0715MAY0715MAY0708AUG0008NOV97
F415SEP0615SEP0608MAR0501DEC9801APR98



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Friday, March 15, 2019

Tools Outage

USCIS will conduct a widespread system maintenance on Wednesday, March 13, 2019, from 9 p.m. until midnight (Eastern).

During this time you may experience technical difficulties and many of our online tools may be unavailable, including:

  • Check My Case Status
  • e-Request
  • Change of Address Online
  • Check Processing Times
  • Civil Surgeon Locator
  • FOIA Status Check
  • Office Locator
  • File Online
  • myUSCIS Online Account 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.



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Thursday, March 14, 2019

5 Arrested in Scheme that Hired People to Take English Proficiency Exam on Behalf of Chinese Nationals Seeking Student Visas

LOS ANGELES – Federal authorities this morning arrested five defendants linked to a scheme that helped Chinese nationals obtain student visas by hiring individuals who used fake Chinese passports to take an English proficiency test for the foreign students.

The arrests were made pursuant to a 26-count indictment returned on Friday by a federal grand jury. The indictment charges the defendants with conspiring to use false passports, using false passports, and aggravated identity theft as part of the scheme to impersonate Chinese nationals who were required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to obtain a student visa.

The five defendants were taken into custody this morning without incident. They are:

  • Liu Cai, 23, of Woodland Hills, who allegedly facilitated the scheme, took at least five TOEFL exams him


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April 2019 Visa Bulletin

For March 2019 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-march-2019.aspx

For analysis of April 2019 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-analysis-april-2019.aspx

April 2019 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from April 1 to April 30 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
F1 01DEC11
01DEC11 01DEC11 08AUG97 08APR07
F2A 01MAR17 01MAR17 01MAR17 15FEB17 01MAR17
F2B 22OCT12 22OCT12 22OCT12 01DEC97 01AUG07
F3 22SEP06 22SEP06 22SEP06 08FEB96  01JUN96
F4 01JAN06 01JAN06 15JUL04 08FEB98 01JUN96
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
F1 01JUL12 01JUL12 01JUL12 01OCT99 08APR08
F2A 15DEC17 15DEC17 15DEC17 15DEC17 15DEC17
F2B 01JUL14 01JUL14 01JUL14 01JUL98 01MAR08
F3 22APR07 22APR07 22APR07 15JUN00 01SEP97
F4 01AUG06 01AUG06 15FEB05 15NOV98 15JAN98



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April 2019 Visa Bulletin Analysis

For April 2019 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-april-2019.aspx

Please see below analysis of April 2019 Visa Bulletin:

Family Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored
All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland
born
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F1+1 Month 10 Days+1 Month 10 Days+1 Month 10 Days+7 Days+7 Days
F2A+1 Month 24 Days+1 Month 24 Days+1 Month 24 Days+2 Months+1 Month 24 Days
F2B+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 21 Days+2 Months 9 Days+10 Days
F3+14 Days+14 Days+14 Days+24 Days+5 Months
F4+3 Months 9 Days+3 Months 9 Days+7 DaysNo Change+5 Months
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored
All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland
born
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F1+2 Months 9 Days+2 Months 9 Days+2 Months 9 Days+9 Days+7 Days
F2A+7 Days+7 Days+7 Days+7 Days+7 Days
F2B+9 Days+9 Days+9 Days+4 Months 21 Days+1 Month 10 Days
F3+1 Month 21 Days+1 Month 21 Days+1 Month 21 Days+7 DaysNo Change
F4+1 Month 9 Days+1 Month 9 Days+7 Days+7 Days+7 Days



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April 2019 Visa Bulletin Special Notes

For the official April 2019 Visa Bulletin and analysis, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-april-2019.aspx

Apart from posting current dates, State Department has also added special notes to Visa Bulletin mentioned above. Please see full details below:

D. FINAL ACTION DATE MOVEMENT



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Wednesday, March 13, 2019

USCIS Provided Assist Leading to Indictments on Conspiracy to Commit Marriage Fraud and Related Immigration Charges

RALEIGH, N.C. – Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced that a federal grand jury in Raleigh has returned an indictment charging Levan Lomtatidze, 44, a citizen of the country of Georgia; Melissa Anne Godshall, 31, a citizen of the United States; and Robert J. Kennerley, 46, a citizen of the United States, with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, marriage fraud, aiding and abetting, visa fraud and false statements in immigration proceedings.

The indictment alleges that Godshall and Kennerley, who were romantically involved, were panhandling for money on the side of the road in Granville County, North Carolina. An individual approached them and asked Godshall if she would be willing to marry a foreign-born national for money. Godshall agreed to engage in the marriage to Lomtatidze in exchange for $12,000, housing and a veh



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Tuesday, March 12, 2019

USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for All H-1B Petitions

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.

When an H-1B petitioner properly requests the agency’s premium processing service, USCIS guarantees a 15-day processing time. If we do not take certain adjudicative action within the 15‑calendar day processing time, USCIS refunds the petitioner’s premium processing service fee and continues with expedited processing of the petition.

If Your H-1B Petition Was Transferred

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 th



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Friday, March 8, 2019

Tools Outage

USCIS will conduct a widespread system maintenance on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, from 9 p.m. until midnight (Eastern).

During this time you may experience technical difficulties and many of our online tools may be unavailable, including:

  • Check My Case Status
  • e-Request
  • Change of Address Online
  • Check Processing Times
  • Civil Surgeon Locator
  • FOIA Status Check
  • Office Locator
  • File Online
  • myUSCIS Online Account 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.



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Thursday, March 7, 2019

USCIS Assists in Case Resulting in the Leader of Non-Profit Music Organization Pleading Guilty in Visa Fraud Scheme

NEW YORK - Yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, Stella Boyadjian, the operator of a non-profit organization called Big Apple Music Awards Foundation Inc., based in Rego Park, Queens, New York, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring aliens unlawfully into the United States, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  The guilty plea was entered before United States Magistrate Judge Sanket J. Bulsara.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate assisted in the case, which was a joint investigation by the Diplomatic Security Service’s Criminal Fraud Investigations and Overseas Criminal Investigations Divisions.

Between January 2013 and December 2014, Boyadjian and others engaged in a widespread visa fraud scheme to bring foreign nationals illegally into the United States by fraudulently claiming to the United



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Wednesday, March 6, 2019

UPDATE: USCIS to Publish Revised Form I-539 and New Form I-539A on March 8

We have revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and will publish the revised form on our website on March 8, 2019. We 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. Starting on March 22, we will only accept the revised Form I-539 with an edition date of 02/04/19. We will reject any Form I-539 with an edition date of 12/23/16, or earlier, that is received by USCIS after March 21.

We will also be publishing a new Form I-539A, Supplemental Information for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, on the Form I-539 webpage on March 8. Form I-539A



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Sunday, March 3, 2019

Worcester Man Charged With Making False Statement in Naturalization Application

BOSTON— A man residing in Worcester was arrested today and charged in federal court in Boston with making a false statement on an application for naturalization.

John Doe, a/k/a Richard Cheremeh, whose true age, name, and nationality are unknown, was charged with one count of making a false statement relating to naturalization and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment that was unsealed today, on July 31, 2014, Doe falsely stated on an application for naturalization that he had never given any U.S. government official any information or documentation that was false, fraudulent, or misleading.

The charge of making a false statement relating to naturalization provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of aggr



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Saturday, March 2, 2019

USCIS Updates Fee Payment System Used in Field Offices

WASHINGTON—On Feb. 25, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) expanded the fee payment system used in field offices to 13 additional offices:

  • Albuquerque, New Mexico;
  • Buffalo, New York;
  • Detroit, Michigan;
  • El Paso, Texas;
  • Harlingen, Texas;
  • Hartford, Connecticut;
  • Jacksonville, Florida;
  • Louisville, Kentucky;
  • Mt. Laurel, New Jersey;
  • Newark, New Jersey;
  • Raleigh, North Carolina;
  • Sacramento, California; and
  • San Antonio, Texas.

Our fee pa



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Friday, March 1, 2019

New Online Tools Reduce Wait Times for Callers

The USCIS Contact Center is currently experiencing higher than normal wait times for callers to speak to a representative. While we work to resolve this, we encourage you to use our online tools.

Our self-service applicant tools could save you a phone call or a trip to one of our offices. These helpful resources include:

  • The USCIS online account;
  • Case Status Online;
  • Change of Address; and
  • Emma, our online virtual assistant.

If you have an inquiry that cannot be resolved through our self-help tools, you may call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833).

The USCIS Contact Center is changing its hours of operation to ensure that we h



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