Business Immigration Insights

In a move reflective of the agency’s current approach to rulemaking and policy changes, US Citizenship and Immigration Services has provided less than one business day’s notice that it is almost doubling the popular “premium processing” fee that allows US employers to receive decisions on their petitions to sponsor foreign workers in a matter of days, instead of waiting the many months these petitions currently take to be processed at USCIS without the premium fee.

UPDATE - In October, USCIS will accept I-485 applications based on the Department of State’s more favorable Dates for Filing chart. If the applicant’s priority date is before the date listed in the Dates for Filing chart for the applicable preference category and country of birth, an I-485 application can be filed.  However, the case will not be adjudicated until the applicant’s priority date is current based on the Final Action Dates chart.

In the 10 weeks since we last wrote about international travel, some countries have moved to allow more fluid international travel.  For example, the United Kingdom has introduced a set of quarantine exceptions and the United States clarified who is eligible for exemptions to the Presidential Proclamations limiting visa issuance and travel.

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process, or if already pending, when the final step can be adjudicated.

Foreign nationals are experiencing delays of more than a month in receiving approved work permits and green cards that are normally issued and mailed within days of approval.  Applicants are also experiencing extended delays in the time it takes USCIS to adjudicate these applications.  These delays have a major impact on foreign nationals and their US employers.

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process, or if already pending, when the final step can be adjudicated.

As we explained on May 4 and March 12, the Department of Homeland Security has relaxed normal in-person verification requirements for Form I-9 during the pandemic.

In the ten days since we reported on presidential Proclamation 10052, certain questions we and other immigration attorneys had about the proclamation have been clarified.  The proclamation established a ban on admission to the United States for people in the H, L, and J nonimmigrant visa categories for the rest of calendar year 2020.  We now have the following additional answers to the questions we asked on June 23:

If I am Canadian and do not require a U.S. visa, am I banned from entering?

No.  Canadian citizens are not subject to the ban.  The pretext for the proclamation is preventing entry ...

UPDATES as of July 1, 2020:  Please see our new piece, Entry Ban Update, for additional information that has become available about how the proclamation is being enforced for Canadians, visa renewals, and exceptions.

We last wrote about international travel during COVID-19 in March, with a general overview and a separate article about travel in North America.  Since then, many changes have occurred (for example, those traveling to Canada and the United Kingdom must now quarantine for 14 days after arrival), while other elements of travel have remained the same (U.S. consulates around the world remain closed). As of June 18, 2020, countries are continuing to respond with travel warnings, travel restrictions, health screenings, quarantines, and extensions of immigration status for affected ...