WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced beginning on Nov. 29, it is adjusting the fee to request premium processing for certain employment-based petitions.
The premium processing fee will increase to $1,440 from the current fee of $1,410 for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, reflects the full a
WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has revised Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, by removing the means-tested benefit criteria that was previously used as a factor in determining whether an applicant was exempt from paying for filing fees or biometric services. Individuals may still request a fee waiver if their documented annual household income is at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or they demonstrate financial hardship.
A means-tested benefit is a public benefit—offered by federal, state, or local agencies—for which eligibility and amount considerations are based on a person’s income and resour
To prevent secure document tampering, counterfeiting, and fraud, we will begin producing on Oct. 24 a new security-enhanced U.S. travel document, which is a booklet that looks similar to a U.S. passport and serves dual purposes. The travel document can serve in place of:
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today released preliminary fiscal year 2019 agency statistics, accomplishments and efforts to implement President Trump’s agenda. These preliminary statistics highlight important immigration trends and illustrate the work accomplished by USCIS in FY 2019. The agency will publish final, verified FY 2019 statistics later next month.
“FY 2019 has been a historic year for USCIS and we have achieved many of President Trump’s goals to make our immigration system work better for America. As an agency, we have worked hand-in-hand with our fellow DHS components to answer President Trump’s call to address the ongoing crisis at our sout
Please see below analysis of November 2019 Visa Bulletin:
| Family- Sponsored | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA-mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| F1 | +1 Month 17 Days | +1 Month 17 Days | +1 Month 17 Days | No Change | +2 Months 14 Days |
| F2A | No Change | No Change | No Change | No Change | No Change |
| F2B | +1 Month 7 Days | +1 Month 7 Days | +1 Month 7 Days | +21 Days | +1 Month |
| F3 | +1 Month | +1 Month | +1 Month | No Change | +2 Months |
| F4 | +1 Month 9 Days | +1 Month 9 Days | +14 Days | No Change | +1 Month 24 Days |
| Family- Sponsored | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA-mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| F1 | +1 Month 17 Days | +1 Month 17 Days | +1 Month 17 Days | No Change | +2 Months 14 Days |
| F2A | +1 Month | +1 Month | +1 Month | +1 Month | +1 Month |
| F2B | +1 Month 7 Days | +1 Month 7 Days | +1 Month 7 Days | +21 Days | +1 Month |
| F3 | +1 Month | +1 Month | +1 Month | No Change | +2 Months |
| F4 | +1 Month 17 Days | +1 Month 17 Days | +14 Days | No Change | +1 Month 24 Days |
For analysis of November 2019 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-analysis-november-2019.aspx
November 2019 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from November 1 to November 30 only). Please see below for more details.
| Family- Sponsored | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA-mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| F1 | 01MAR13 | 01MAR13 | 01MAR13 | 08AUG97 | 15SEP08 |
| F2A | C | C | C | C | C |
| F2B | 08JUL14 | 08JUL14 | 08JUL14 | 22AUG98 | 01OCT08 |
| F3 | 15OCT07 | 15OCT07 | 15OCT07 | 22FEB96 | 01JUN98 |
| F4 | 01JAN07 | 01JAN07 | 15OCT04 | 15DEC97 | 01SEP98 |
| Family- Sponsored | All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA- mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| F1 | 01SEP13 | 01SEP13 | 01SEP13 | 15NOV99 | 15MAR09 |
| F2A | 01SEP19 | 01SEP19 | 01SEP19 | 01SEP19 | 01SEP19 |
| F2B | 08JAN15 | 08JAN15 | 08JAN15 | 22APR99 | 01APR09 |
| F3 | 15APR08 | 15APR08 | 15APR08 | 15JUL00 | 01DEC98 |
| F4 | 01JUL07 | 01JUL07 | 15JUN05 | 01JAN99 | 01MAR99 |
Apart from posting current dates, State Department has also added special notes to Visa Bulletin mentioned above. Please see full details below:
D. EXPIRATION OF TWO EMPLOYMENT VISA CATEGORIES
Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR):
Pursuant to the continuing resolution (H.R. 4378 - Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019), signed on September 27, 2019, the non-minister special immigrant program expires on November 21, 2019. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight November 20, 2019. Visas issued prior to this date will only be issued with a validity date of November 20, 2019, and all individuals seeking admission as a non-minister special immigrant must be admitted (repeat, admitted) into the U.S. no later than midnight November 20, 2019.
The final action date for this category has been listed as "Current" for November for all countries except El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, a
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today clarified requirements regarding the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification.
To ensure consistency surrounding this classification, USCIS is issuing three Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) adopted decisions. Through these adopted decisions, USCIS clarifies that it requires evidence of a court’s intervention to provide relief from abuse, neglect or abandonment beyond a statement that the juvenile is dependent on the court. This level of intervention from the court serves as an indicator as to whether the SIJ classification is sought for its intended purpose of relief from parental abuse, neglect or abandonment and not primarily to obta
USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Customer Relationship Interface System (CRIS) from Thursday, October 10th at 11:59 p.m. to Friday, October 11th at 3:00 a.m. (EDT.)
During this timeframe, users may experience technical difficulties with one or more of the following online tools:
LOS ANGELES – A Woodland Hills man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges in connection with a scheme where Chinese nationals fraudulently obtained student visas by hiring people with fake Chinese passports to take an English proficiency test on their behalf. This scheme was shut down thanks to assistance from USCIS fraud detection and national security immigration officers.
Liu Cai, 24, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of using a false passport. United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt scheduled a February 13, 2020, sentencing hearing, at which time Cai will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Cai is the lead defendant in a 26-count federal grand jury indictment ret
USCIS will conduct a system maintenance starting on Thursday, October 3rd, at 11:59 pm until Friday, October 4, at 3:00 am. All times are Eastern.
During this time you may experience technical difficulties with one or more online tools:
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause
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On Oct. 1, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) implemented its new Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system for the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program. Starting Oct. 1, employers who file an H-2A application for a temporary labor certification in FLAG will only receive the certification electronically.
If your application for a temporary labor certification was processed in FLAG, you must include a printed copy of the electronic one-page final determination of your H-2A temporary labor certification approval when you submit your Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker to USCIS. We will consider a