USCIS Issues New Policy on Form I-693

Starting June 1, 2014, USCIS will limit the validity period for all Forms I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, to one year from the date of submission to USCIS.

Applicants must also submit Form I-693 to USCIS within one year of the immigration medical examination. USCIS will also provide additional ways to submit Form I-693.

As outlined in policy alert PA-2014-005, this updated policy applies to any Form I-693 supporting a benefit application that USCIS adjudicates on or after June 1, 2014.

DOS Alert: Availability of Visa Numbers for EB-3 China

DOS has confirmed that as of 5/9/14 it stopped authorizing visa numbers for EB-3 China cases that will be impacted by the June 2014 retrogression. 

Cases in which a visa number has been requested by USCIS but not authorized by DOS will be placed in a “pending” file until the priority date is current.

H.R. 2377 - The ENLIST Act

From AILA: On 5/20/2014 the House Rules committee considered which amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would be ruled in order. Ultimately, the ENLIST Act was not included as an amendment that was in order for NDAA and therefore it will not receive an up/down vote on the floor of the House.

Additionally, Rep. Denham signaled that he would want the administration to act on this issue if Congress fails to do so: "I think the Department of Defense has the ability to do this today. And if the military takes the position that they want the best and brightest, and these men and women meet that criteria, then I think it's something the Department of Defense is willing and able to do."

House Speaker John Boehner also said that "there have been discussions" about allowing a standalone vote on the ENLIST Act in the House of Representatives, rather than as an amendment to NDAA.

USCIS US Citizen I-129F, I-130 & I-485 Processing Statistics As Of 03/31/14

Please see below latest US Citizen Beneficiary Statistics released by USCIS:

USCIS I-130 - Immediate Relative Category Processing Statistics:

	CSC	VSC	National
All Other Pending	6,197	28,773	284,469
Customer action waiting	13,356	3,213	28,668
Completed	17,263	3,730	72,177
New receipts	: 158	4,945	51,120

CSC = California Service Center 
VSC = Vermont Service Center 
    
USCIS I-129F Processing Statistics:

	CSC	VSC	National
All Other Pending	4,037	757	14,700
Customer action waiting	1,127	141	1,730
Completed	1,400	337	3,068
New receipts	2,010	120	4,820

USCIS I-485 Processing Statistics: 

USCIS FB I-485 & I-130 Processing Statistics As Of 03/31/14

Please see below latest FB (family based) statistics released by USCIS:

USCIS I-130 - Preference Category Processing Statistics

	CSC	VSC	NSC	National
All Other Pending	2,527	11,350	4	14,815
Pending but adjudication deferred	359,264	126,498	4,397	495,200
Customer action waiting	11,276	4,163	1,321	16,884
Completed	12,043	3,454	1,600	18,098
New receipts	18,525	5,222	719	24,633

Volume in Texas Service Center (TSC) is currently low.

CSC = California Service Center
VSC = Vermont Service Center
NSC = Nebraska Service Center
 
USCIS FB I-485 Processing Statistics

USCIS EB I-140 and I-485 Processing Statistics As Of 03/31/14

USCIS EB I-140 Processing Statistics 

	TSC	NSC	National
Pending	12,448	8,776	21,276
Customer Action Wait	806	2,513	3,319
Completed	3,672	1,622	5,298
New Receipt	3,790	2,605	6,395

The volume of cases in nearly all categories above increased at both NSC and TSC in the last one month.

USCIS EB I-485 Processing Statistics

EAD For H4 Visa Holders (Update)

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the publication of two proposed rules, including a rule to extend employment authorization to spouses of certain H-1B workers, and a proposal to enhance opportunities for certain groups of highly-skilled workers by removing obstacles to their remaining in the United States.

Proposed Rule to Extend Employment Authorization to Spouses of Certain H-1B Workers

This proposed rule will amend existing regulations to allow H-4 dependent spouses of certain principal H-1B workers to request employment authorization.

U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields such as science, engineering or computer programming.  Frequently, employers will petition for an immigrant visa for an H-1B worker, which enables individuals to become lawful permanent residents.  Lawful permanent residents are generally eligible to become naturalized U.S. citizens after five years.

Under existing regulations, DHS does not extend employment authorization to dependents (also known as H-4 nonimmigrants) of H-1B nonimmigrant workers. The change proposed by DHS, would allow H-4 dependent spouses of certain H-1B nonimmigrant workers to request employment authorization, as long as the H-1B worker has already started the process of seeking lawful permanent residence through employment.