USCIS Announces Inflation Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a final rule that will increase the filing fee for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, to adjust for inflation.

The USCIS Stabilization Act established the current premium processing fees and the authority for the Department of Homeland Security to adjust the premium fees on a biennial basis. After leaving these fees unchanged for the three years following passage of the Act, DHS is now increasing the premium processing fees USCIS charges for all eligible forms and categories to reflect the amount of inflation from June 2021 through June 2023 according to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The adjustment increases certain premium processing fees from $1,500 to $1,685, $1,7

USCIS Updates Policy Guidance for International Students

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance regarding the F and M student nonimmigrant classifications, including the agency's role in adjudicating applications for employment authorization, change of status, extension of stay, and reinstatement of status for these students and their dependents in the United States.

This guidance consolidates existing policy. USCIS expects that this will provide welcome clarity to international students and U.S. educational institutions on a wealth of topics, including eligibility requirements, school transfers, practical training, and on- and off-campus employment.

For example, the guidance clarifies that F and M students must have a foreign residence that they do not intend to abandon, but that such students may be the beneficiary of a permanent labor certification application or immigrant visa petition a

Visa Bulletin February 2024 Predictions

For official January 2024 Visa Bulletin & Analysis, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-january-2024.aspx

Please see February 2024 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	08MAR15	08MAR15	08MAR15	15MAY01	22APR12
F2A	22NOV19	22NOV19	22NOV19	22NOV19	22NOV19
F2B	15NOV15	15NOV15	15NOV15	08JAN04	01DEC11
F3	08MAY09	08MAY09	08MAY09	08OCT98	01JUL02
F4	15JUN07	15JUN07	08DEC05	08OCT00	15NOV02

"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	08OCT17	08OCT17	08OCT17	15JUN05	08JUN15
F2A	22SEP23	22SEP23	22SEP23	01OCT23	22SEP23
F2B	15FEB17	15FEB17	15FEB17	22OCT04	08NOV13
F3	08MAR10	08MAR10	08MAR10	22JUN01	01DEC03
F4	08MAR08	08MAR08	15MAR06	08MAY01	22MAY04

USCIS Changes Filing Location for Form I-907 for Pending Form I-140

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin transitioning the filing location for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, when filed for a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, from the service centers to appropriate USCIS lockboxes on Dec. 15.

This change is part of our efforts to increase efficiency by reducing our footprint at the service centers and reducing costs related to Service Center intake of Forms I-140 and I-907. The change in filing location also allows USCIS to centralize digitization of these forms for downstream electronic adjudication. This is the second of three phases of this transition.

This change in filing location does not apply if you are filing Form I-140 concurrently with an associated application (such as Form I-485, I-765, or Form I-131). We will soon announce a filing location change for these

USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2024 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) 2024.

We will send non-selection notices to registrants through their online accounts over the next few days. When we finish sending these non-selection notifications, the status for properly submitted registrations that we did not select for the FY 2024 H-1B numerical allocations will 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 ag

DHS Publishes Federal Register Notice Announcing the Extensions of Re-Registration Periods for Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan

WASHINGTON – Consistent with its September announcement, the Department of Homeland Security today published a Federal Register notice reiterating the extensions of the periods to re-register for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under the existing designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. As previously announced, the re-registration period for each country is changing from 60 days to the full length of each country's current TPS designation extension.

The 18-month re-registration period for current TPS beneficiaries under the designation of:

• El Salvador is currently open and now runs through March 9, 2025;
• Haiti</stron

USCIS Updates Guidance and Clarifies Policy on Family-Based Conditional Permanent Residence

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is updating guidance on family-based conditional permanent residence in its Policy Manual. The update consolidates and updates guidance on eligibility, filing, and adjudication for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.

The update clarifies what noncitizens must do to change the basis of filing in cases of waivers based on battery or extreme cruelty. It also clarifies that if a noncitizen's conditional permanent resident status is terminated for failing to timely file Form I-751, they may be eligible to adjust permanent resident status on a new basis. This is true even if USCIS issues a notice of termination of conditional permanent resident status