USCIS Updates Guidance on Employment Authorization for E and L Nonimmigrant Spouses

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to address the documentation that certain E and L nonimmigrant spouses may use as evidence of employment authorization based on their nonimmigrant status.

On Nov. 12, 2021, USCIS issued a policy announcement to clarify that we will consider E and L spouses to be employment authorized based on their valid E or L nonimmigrant status. Since the November 2021 announcement, the Department of Homeland Security added new Class of Admission (COA) codes to distinguish between E and L spouses and children.

As of Jan. 30, 2022, USCIS and CBP began issuing Forms I-94 with the following new COA codes for certain E

USCIS Urges Eligible Individuals to Consider Applying for Adjustment of Status in the EB-2 Category Based on the April Visa Bulletin Date for Filing for India

In the recently published April Visa Bulletin, the Department of State advanced the Date for Filing (also known as the application date) applications for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status in the employment-based, second preference (EB-2) category for India from Sept. 1, 2013, to Sept. 1, 2014.

If you are a noncitizen who has an approved immigrant visa petition in the EB-2 category chargeable to India and a priority date earlier than Sept. 1, 2014, USCIS encourages you to consider applying for adjustment of status in April by filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. You should include your Form I-6

Visa Bulletin May 2022 Predictions

For official April 2022 Visa Bulletin & Analysis, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2022/visa-bulletin-april-2022.aspx

Please see May 2022 Visa Bulletin Predictions below (for both Family Based and Employment Based categories for all countries):

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	01FEB15	01FEB15	01FEB15	01MAR00	22APR12
F2A	C	C	C	C	C
F2B	01NOV15	01NOV15	01NOV15	15FEB01	01DEC11
F3	01DEC08	01DEC08	01DEC08	15OCT97	01JUL02
F4	01APR07	01APR07	01OCT05	15FEB00	01SEP02

"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	01JUN16	01JUN16	01JUN16	08JUN01	08JUN15
F2A	C	C	C	C	C
F2B	01OCT16	01OCT16	01OCT16	15MAY01	22OCT13
F3	08SEP09	08SEP09	08SEP09	15MAR01	22NOV03
F4	22OCT07	22OCT07	01MAR06	15FEB01	15MAY04

Secretary Mayorkas Designates Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status

WASHINGTON— The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced the designation of Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. Only individuals who are already residing in the United States as of March 15, 2022, will be eligible for TPS.

"This TPS designation will help to protect Afghan nationals who have already been living in the United States from returning to unsafe conditions," said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "Under this designation, TPS will also provide additional protections and assurances to trusted partners and vulnerable Afghans who supported the U.S. military, diplomatic, and humanitarian missions in Afghanistan over the last 20 years."

Secretary Mayorkas is designating Afghanistan for TPS on the statutory basis of ongoing armed conflict and

USCIS to Offer Deferred Action for Special Immigrant Juveniles

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that it is updating the USCIS Policy Manual to consider deferred action and related employment authorization for noncitizens who have an approved Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification but who cannot apply to adjust status to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) because a visa number is not available.

Deferred action is an act of prosecutorial discretion that defers proceedings to remove a noncitizen from the United States for a certain period. Deferred action does not provide lawful status.

The SIJ classification is available to noncitizen children subject to state juvenile court proceedings related to ab

USCIS Announces Policies to Better Protect Immigrant Children Who Have Been Abused, Neglected, or Abandoned

WASHINGTON — United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced new policies that will provide better protection to immigrant children who are victims of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or similar parental maltreatment.

"Today, we are taking action to help immigrant children in the U.S. who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned and offer them protection to help rebuild their lives," said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou. "These policies will provide humanitarian protection to vulnerable young people for whom a juvenile court has determined that it is in their best interest to remain in the United States."

The new policies include updating regulations to clarify Special Immigrant Juvenile (S

Immigration Help Available to Those Affected by Special Situations, Including the Invasion of Ukraine

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminds the public that we offer immigration services that may help people affected by extreme situations, including the invasion of Ukraine.

The following measures may be available on a case-by-case basis upon request:

• Changing a nonimmigrant status or extending a nonimmigrant stay for an individual currently in the United States. If you fail to apply for the extension or change before expiration of your authorized period of admission, we may excuse that if the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond your control;
• Reparole of individuals previously granted parole by USCIS;
• Expedited processing of advance parole requests;
• Expedited adjudication of requests for off-campus employment authorization for F-1 students experiencing severe economic hardship;
• Expedited adjudicatio

Secretary Mayorkas Designates Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months

WASHINGTON— The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the designation of Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months.

"Russia's premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians forced to seek refuge in other countries," said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "In these extraordinary times, we will continue to offer our support and protection to Ukrainian nationals in the United States."

A country may be designated for TPS when conditions in the country fall into one or more of the three statutory bases for designation: ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or extraordinary and temporary conditions. This designation is based on both ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Ukraine that prevent Ukrainian nationals, and those of no

April 2022 Visa Bulletin

For March 2022 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2022/visa-bulletin-march-2022.aspx

For analysis of April 2022 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2022/visa-bulletin-analysis-april-2022.aspx

April 2022 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	01DEC14	01DEC14	01DEC14	01JAN00	01MAR12
F2A	C	C	C	C	C
F2B	22SEP15	22SEP15	22SEP15	01JAN01	22OCT11
F3	22NOV08	22NOV08	22NOV08	15SEP97	08JUN02
F4	22MAR07	22MAR07	15SEP05	01JAN00	22AUG02

"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	15MAY16	15MAY16	15MAY16	01MAY01	22APR15
F2A	C	C	C	C	C
F2B	22SEP16	22SEP16	22SEP16	22APR01	01OCT13
F3	22AUG09	22AUG09	22AUG09	01MAR01	08NOV03
F4	01OCT07	01OCT07	22FEB06	22DEC00	22APR04

April 2022 Visa Bulletin Analysis

For April 2022 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2022/visa-bulletin-april-2022.aspx

Please see below analysis of April 2022 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	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	No Change	No Change	No Change	+3 Months 23 Days	No Change
F2A	No Change	No Change	No Change	No Change	No Change
F2B	No Change	No Change	No Change	+4 Months	No Change
F3	No Change	No Change	No Change	No Change	No Change
F4	No Change	No Change	No Change	+8 Months 9 Days	No Change

"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	No Change	No Change	No Change	+1 Month	No Change
F2A	+4 Months	+4 Months	+4 Months	+4 Months	+4 Months
F2B	No Change	No Change	No Change	+21 Days	No Change
F3	No Change	No Change	No Change	No Change	+1 Month 7 Days
F4	No Change	No Change	+1 Month 21 Days	+3 Months 21 Days	+2 Months 21 Days

USCIS Expands Credit Card Payment Pilot Program to All Service Centers

As part of our credit card payment pilot program, the USCIS service centers are now accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, for all forms except Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, for H-1B and H-2A petitions.

At the end of the pilot, we will evaluate the results and determine the next steps for expanding this payment option for other forms. The goal of this pilot is to bring USCIS one step closer to accepting digital payments using a credit card at all service centers.

We <a data-entity-sub

Secretary Mayorkas Designates Sudan and Extends and Redesignates South Sudan for Temporary Protected Status

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new designation of Sudan and an extension and redesignation of South Sudan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months.

"Sudan is currently experiencing political instability and unrest, and armed conflict in South Sudan has displaced millions of residents," said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "After careful consideration, I have decided to offer temporary protection to Sudanese and South Sudanese nationals in the United States until conditions in each country improve and individuals can safely return."

Secretary Mayorkas made these decisions after consultation with interagency partners and careful consideration of the conditions in these countries. The TPS designation of Sudan for 18 months is based on extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent indivi

H-2B Cap Reached for Second Half of FY 2022

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2022. Feb. 25, 2022, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date on or after April 1, 2022, and before Oct. 1, 2022. We will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Feb. 25, 2022 that request an employment start date on or after April 1, 2022, and before Oct. 1, 2022.

We continue to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes petitions for:

USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2022 H-1B Cap

USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master's cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2022.

We have completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants' online accounts. The status for registrations properly submitted for the FY 2022 H-1B numerical allocations, but that were not selected, will now show:

• Not Selected: Not selected – not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this registration.

We will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed for current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, are exempt from the FY 2022 H-1B cap. We will continue to accept and

USCIS Launches H-2A Employer Data Hub

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has launched an H-2A Employer Data Hub to provide information to the public on employers or agents petitioning for H-2A workers. The data hub is part of our continued effort to increase transparency in employment-based visa programs and follows the launch of the H-1B Data Hub in 2019 and the H-2B Data Hub in 2021.

The data hub allows the public to search for H-2A petitioners by fiscal year from 2015 through 2021, employer (petitioner) name, city, state, ZIP code, worksite state, <a target='_blank' href="ht

USCIS Urges Eligible Applicants to Switch Employment-Based Categories

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services encourages eligible applicants to consider requesting to transfer the underlying basis of their adjustment of status application to the first (priority workers) or second (noncitizens in professions with advanced degrees or with exceptional ability) employment-based preference categories, because there is an exceptionally high number of employment-based immigrant visas available in these categories during this fiscal year (October 2021 through September 2022).

The overall employment-based annual limit for fiscal year 2022 is approximately twice as high as usual, because that limit includes all unused family-sponsored visa numbers from fiscal year 2021, which was approximately 140,000.

In addition, under the relevant statute, any visas not required in the fifth employment-based preference category are made available in the first