USCIS Strengthens Guidance for Spousal Petitions Involving Minors

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced additional guidance (PDF, 222 KB) regarding the adjudication of spousal petitions involving minors, following up on the agency’s February update to its policy.

The guidance, published as an update to the USCIS Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM), instructs officers to conduct an additional interview for certain I-130 spousal petitions involving a minor. Generally, the bona fides of the spousal relationship are assessed in person by USCIS when the alien spouse applies to adjust status, or by the Department of State when the alien spouse applies for an immigrant visa. Howe

USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2020 and Reaches the Advanced Degree Exemption Cap

On April 10, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated regular cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption for fiscal year (FY) 2020. After completing the random selection process for the regular cap, USCIS also determined that it has received a number of petitions projected as sufficient to meet the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap.

USCIS received 201,011 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. USCIS announced on April 5 that it had received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-1B regular cap of 65,000.

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May 2019 Visa Bulletin Analysis

For May 2019 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-may-2019.aspx

Please see below analysis of May 2019 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	+1 Month 7 Days	+1 Month 7 Days	+1 Month 7 Days	No Change	+1 Month 7 Days
F2A	+2 Months 14 Days	+2 Months 14 Days	+2 Months 14 Days	+2 Months 14 Days	+2 Months 14 Days
F2B	+3 Months 10 Days	+3 Months 10 Days	+3 Months 10 Days	+2 Months 14 Days	+2 Months
F3	+1 Month 16 Days	+1 Month 16 Days	+1 Month 16 Days	+7 Days	+4 Months 7 Days
F4	+1 Month 14 Days	+1 Month 14 Days	+17 Days	No Change	+9 Months

"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	+1 Month 21 Days	+1 Month 21 Days	+1 Month 21 Days	+7 Days	+7 Days
F2A	+24 Days	+24 Days	+24 Days	+24 Days	+24 Days
F2B	+1 Month	+1 Month	+1 Month	+3 Months	+2 Months 14 Days
F3	+2 Months	+2 Months	+2 Months	+7 Days	+1 Month
F4	+2 Months	+2 Months	+1 Month	+7 Days	+1 Month

May 2019 Visa Bulletin Special Notes

For the official May 2019 Visa Bulletin and analysis, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-may-2019.aspx

Apart from posting current dates, State Department has also added special notes to Visa Bulletin mentioned above. Please see full details below:

D. CHINA-mainland born AND INDIA EMPLOYMENT-BASED FIRST (E1) PREFERENCE VISA AVAILABILITY

Despite the final action date for these two countries having been held in recent months, there continues to be an extremely high rate of demand for E1 numbers, primarily for USCIS adjustment of status applicants. This situation may require the retrogression of this final action date in an effort to limit future number use.

May 2019 Visa Bulletin

For April 2019 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-april-2019.aspx

For analysis of May 2019 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-analysis-may-2019.aspx

May 2019 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from May 1 to May 31 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	08JAN12	08JAN12	08JAN12	08AUG97	15MAY07
F2A	15MAY17	15MAY17	15MAY17	01MAY17	15MAY17
F2B	01FEB13	01FEB13	01FEB13	15FEB98	01OCT07
F3	08NOV06	08NOV06	08NOV06	15FEB96	08OCT96
F4	15FEB06	15FEB06	01AUG04	08FEB98	01MAR97

"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	22AUG12	22AUG12	22AUG12	08OCT99	15APR08
F2A	08JAN18	08JAN18	08JAN18	08JAN18	08JAN18
F2B	01AUG14	01AUG14	01AUG14	01OCT98	15MAY08
F3	22JUN07	22JUN07	22JUN07	22JUN00	01OCT97
F4	01OCT06	01OCT06	15MAR05	22NOV98	15FEB98

Tools Outage

USCIS will conduct a widespread system maintenance on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, from 9 p.m. until 12 a.m.(Eastern).

During this time you may experience technical difficulties and many of our online tools may be unavailable, including:

• Check My Case Status
• e-Request
• Change of Address Online
• Check Processing Times
• Civil Surgeon Locator
• FOIA Status Check
• Office Locator
• File Online
• myUSCIS Online Account 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

USCIS Partners with Joint Task Force-West to Stop Transnational Criminal Organizations

MCALLEN, Texas—Since the creation of the Southern Border and Approaches Campaign in December 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been an active partner within Joint Task Force-West (JTF-W) South Texas Corridor, providing assistance in intelligence and investigative efforts involving our immigration laws.

JTF-W seeks to enforce our immigration laws and interdict individuals seeking to illegally cross our land, sea and air borders. The JTF-W STC is comprised of inter-agencies working to stop transnational criminal organizations along the south Texas-Mexico border.

“It is important that USCIS plays a role in providing support to our law enforcement partners in the South Texas Corridor,” said District Director Mario Ortiz. “Our knowledge of immigration benefits helps in the efforts to disru