Wednesday, August 31, 2022

USCIS Updates Guidance Related to Religious Workers

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to reorganize and expand on existing guidance related to special immigrant and nonimmigrant religious workers.

This update reorganizes the special immigrant religious worker guidance for clarity and provides more comprehensive information about the special immigrant religious worker filing process, verification of evidence, and the site-inspection process.

In addition, for both special immigrant and R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker petitions, this update clarifies the circumstances under which certain related petitioners may meet the compensation requirements even if the attesting employer will not dir



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Saturday, August 27, 2022

DHS Issues Regulation to Preserve and Fortify DACA

News release originally published by the Department of Homeland Security.

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas today announced that the Department has issued a final rule (PDF) that will preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy for certain eligible noncitizens who arrived in the United States as children, deferring their removal and allowing them an opportunity to access a renewable, two-year work permit. Since its inception in 2012, DACA has allowed over 800,000 young people to rem



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Friday, August 26, 2022

Visa Bulletin October 2022 Predictions

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

Please see October 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
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F101FEB1501FEB1501FEB1522APR0022APR12
F2ACCC22MAY19C
F2B01NOV1501NOV1501NOV1508MAY0101DEC11
F308DEC0808DEC0808DEC0801NOV9701JUL02
F415APR0715APR0708OCT0515JUL0022SEP02
"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
F115AUG1615AUG1615AUG1615JAN0208JUN15
F2ACCCCC
F2B08JAN1708JAN1708JAN1708SEP0108NOV13
F315NOV0915NOV0915NOV0901MAY0101DEC03
F408JAN0808JAN0815MAR0615MAY0101MAY04



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Wednesday, August 24, 2022

USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2023 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) 2023.

We have completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants' online accounts. The status for registrations properly submitted for the FY 2023 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 2023 H-1B cap. We will continue to accept and process petitions



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Saturday, August 13, 2022

Updated COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for Uniting for Ukraine Parolees

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has updated the COVID-19 vaccination requirements for beneficiaries paroled into the United States under Uniting for Ukraine. Effective immediately, all beneficiaries aged 6 months and older must have an attestation submitted attesting that they received COVID-19 vaccinations both before traveling to the United States and after arrival in the United States, unless they are eligible for an exception. Previously, beneficiaries younger than 5 years old qualified for an exception to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement because the vaccine was not approved or licensed for use in that age group.

Before Traveling to the United States

To receive travel authorization under Uniting for Ukraine, all beneficiaries aged 6 months and older must have an attestation submitted attesting that they received



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Monday, August 8, 2022

September 2022 Visa Bulletin

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

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

September 2022 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from September 1 to September 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 15MAR00 01MAR12
F2A C C C 22APR19 C
F2B 22SEP15 22SEP15 22SEP15 01APR01 22OCT11
F3 22NOV08 22NOV08 22NOV08 15OCT97 08JUN02
F4 22MAR07 22MAR07 15SEP05 01JUN00 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 08AUG16 08AUG16 08AUG16 01DEC01 22APR15
F2A C C C C C
F2B 01JAN17 01JAN17 01JAN17 08AUG01 01OCT13
F3 08NOV09 08NOV09 08NOV09 15APR01 08NOV03
F4 15DEC07 15DEC07 22FEB06 15MAR01 22APR04



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September 2022 Visa Bulletin Analysis

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

Please see below analysis of September 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
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F1No ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F2ANo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F2BNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F3No ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F4No ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo 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
INDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F1No ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F2ANo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F2BNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F3No ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change
F4No ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo ChangeNo Change



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USCIS Updates Interpretation of “Under Honorable Conditions” for Military Naturalization

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is publishing an update to its Policy Manual to clarify that a current or former service member who received an uncharacterized discharge may be eligible for naturalization under sections 328 and 329 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA).

Previously, USCIS had interpreted the requirement for a separation "under honorable conditions" in INA 328 and INA 329 to require a separation characterized as either Honorable or General-Under Honorable Conditions. This <a data-entity-substitution="media" data-entity-type="media" href="https://u5845491.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=e113bc32R4bNU3on8i4xFGJrzYObBvJpO3ic9caGfdwlpO062pqbGhUjrxf6DRoF81Z5uWdyRnaT3VKed90JR1Rfb3nN-2FfCEBqQ8e4WV864h-2FFaPIntVzX-2BOQGJQPM-2FSXQOsZXKE7pgTP79TPHlnN-2FVZQMaWjnEEtk9v6DMWAWo-3DY7zS_uE5enmldDnhCX1vI-2FxNbrQZgUNueAFml0SuU9KJE2uflIoy53bXsCpdzZwiD6ABa5hMrLlu55Wqv4VxvBCJR4IxjiQHmdVXHVaMuIa5VbqFChXTkTRHF8P3Q55Cz9Q43-2F1foYxk5cFOLyQcQqjLMFB5kVZdRrfeOb8TEt-2FtvGABsPBCDM4hqOiBmYGhaI0NYWtZXbCcvogeRNxDn4FdBf-2FkRIyoGRHAjuvh07Ho8oG4-3D" typ



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Saturday, August 6, 2022

New STEM Resources Available on USCIS Website

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has published additional online resources on uscis.gov to provide an overview of some of the temporary and permanent pathways for noncitizens to work in the United States in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This guide also highlights some of the most important considerations for STEM professionals who want to work in the United States.

New pages:



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Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Information on Form I-589 Intake and Processing Delays

USCIS is currently experiencing delays in issuing receipts for Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal. Due to these delays, you may not receive a receipt notice in a timely manner after you properly file your Form I-589. For purposes of the asylum one-year filing deadline, affirmative asylum interview scheduling priorities, and Employment Authorization Document eligibility based on a pending asylum application, your filing date will still be the date that we receive



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Monday, August 1, 2022

Parolees Can Now File Form I-765 Online

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that certain parolees can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online.

Most individuals paroled into the United States for urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit purposes under INA 212(d)(5) are eligible to seek employment authorization under category (c)(11). Please see the Form I-765 instructions (PDF, 810.34 KB) for more information.

Effective immediately, applicants for employment authorizati



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