As some of you know, recently H1B, PERM wage levels rule that was submitted to OMB and later withdrawn. It was published as an interim final rule to Federal register on Oct 8th, 2020 and effective now. We will review the background, current wage levels, new wage levels, and impact in this article. Update : The below rule is not …
USCIS Cancels Strengthen H1B Program Rules as per Court Order[Dec 2020]
As some of you know DHS submitted Strengthen H1B Visa Program Rule as interim final stage rule for OMB to review. On October 8th, 2020 DHS published the rule in Federal Register. There were quite a few new changes that are part of the new interim final rule that is published by DHS. Update : A court in California gave …
USCIS Premium Processing for H4, L2, EAD. $2500 for H1B
Today Senate passed & president signed a big stopgap spending bill to stop shutdown of the US government agencies. As part of that Govt. spending bill, changes to USCIS Premium Processing fee & categories were included. The changes include new options for H1B, L1 dependents like H4, L2 and also EAD. Also, the premium processing fee is going to increase. …
Process for USCIS Biometrics at ASC with Special Needs – Experience
As most of you know, you would need to give Biometrics with Form I-539 at ASC under revised requirements from March 2019. If you do not have special needs, it is very straightforward all you need to do is go to ASC on the day of appointment. You can read USCIS Biometrics Experience during COVID-19 to get an idea. It …
Visa Bulletin – Filing Date vs Final Action Dates? How does it work?
As many of you know, the October 2020 Visa Bulletin is out and there is some significant movement of priority dates in Employment based category for EB3, especially for Indian nationals under the “Dates for Filing” chart. There was some confusion created by USCIS first telling you need to use the “Final Action Date” and later updating that you can …
I-94 Extension at San Ysidro Border CBP ( US, Mexico) – Experience
As most of you know, at US Port of Entry, you would get shorter I-94 duration, if your passport was expiring before your H1B or L1 petition expiration. You need to extend your I-94 after your passport is renewed. There are 5 Options to Extend I-94 in US, one of them is to cross border. One of our readers Arati …
Changes to H1B, PERM Wage Levels – Rule Withdrawn [Oct 2020]
US Department of Labor submitted a new regulation that is aimed at changing the H1B and PERM Wage Levels. It was submitted on, September 16th to OMB for review. Ultimately, it was withdrawn on Sep 30th. Below article covers all the details of the same in this article. Latest Update : Rule Withdrawn by US Dept of Labor October 7th, …
US Visa issued under NIE – Travel within 30 Days ? India Consulates?
As most of you know, Trump Travel ban on H1B, L and other visa holders has separated many families and many are stuck in their home countries and not able to travel to US. They announced National Interest Exceptions(NIE) for H1B, H4, L and other visa holders, who could get US Visa stamping done and also can travel to US. …
DHS submits Strengthen H1B Visa Rule to OMB as Interim Final Rule
The long awaited DHS regulation that has been on Spring 2020 Regulatory agenda under H1B category was submitted to OMB for review today under “Interim Final Rule” stage. Many of you may wonder, what does this “interim final rule” stage mean and what impact it can have on H1B program, including option for lawsuit in court. In this article, we …
H1B 2021 RFE: F1 Maintenance of Status (STEM OPT), Approval Docs
Most of the users, who were lucky in this year’s H1B Registration Lottery would have applied H1B Visa 2021 petition with USCIS. As per USCIS 2020 Report, there were about 35% of H1B petitions that ended up in Request for Evidence (RFE). One of our readers, who applied for H1B 2021 petition as Change of Status, received an RFE that …