Department of State Expands Interview Waiver Eligibility

The Department of State (“DOS”) has announced that it has has temporarily expanded the ability of consular officers to waive the in-person interview requirement for certain individuals applying for a nonimmigrant visa. Under the new policy, which will be in effect until December 31, 2021, applicants whose nonimmigrant visa expired within 48 months will be eligible for an interview waiver when applying for a new nonimmigrant visa in the same classification. Previously, only those applicants whose nonimmigrant visa had expired within 24 months were eligible for an interview waiver. DOS has indicated this change will reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission as it will further limit the number of applicants who must appear at a consular section.

Applicants are encouraged to review the website of the specific U.S. embassy or consulate where they wish to apply for eligibility information and instructions on applying for a visa without an interview or to contact their D&S professional prior to booking travel.

Department of State March 2021 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the March 2021 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. USCIS has advised that, in March 2021, it will accept adjustment of status applications for employment-based petitions based on the March Bulletin’s final action dates. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, with the exception of India and China, all other EB-1 categories will remain current. EB-1 China and EB-1 India will advance seven months to August 1, 2020. With the exception of India and China, all other EB-2 countries of chargeability will remain current. EB-2 China will advance one month to July 15, 2016 and EB-2 India will advance over three months to January 15, 2010. All EB-3 categories except India and China will remain current. EB-3 China will advance five weeks to February 8 2018, and EB-3 India will advance three months to July 1, 2010. 

The EB-5 Regional Center program has been reauthorized by Congress until mid-2021.  As a result, final action dates remain current for March for all countries of chargeability except for China, which remains  subject to an August 15, 2015 final action date, and for Vietnam, which advances three weeks to an October 22, 2017 final action date. Final action dates for the EB-5 Non-Regional Center program remain current for all countries of chargeability except China, which will remain unchanged at August 15, 2015, and Vietnam, which will advance three weeks to October 22 , 2017. 

With respect to Application Filing Dates, EB-1 China and EB-1 India will become current. All other categories (with the exception of the “Other Workers”, EB-4 special immigrants, and “Certain Religious Workers” categories) will remain unchanged from February.

Biden Administration Lifts Immigrant Visa Ban

The White House announced today, February 24, 2021, that the ban on the issuance of certain Immigrant Visas has been rescinded by President Biden. The ban, which prevented the issuance of certain employment-based, family-based, and Diversity Lottery immigrant visas was put in place on April 23, 2020 by the prior administration and subsequently extended. In lifting the restrictions, President Biden indicated that the ban "does not advance the interests of the United States" citing the harmful impact in individuals, businesses, and families, and to the United States as a whole.

Other visa bans put in place by the prior administration remain in effect, including a ban on certain employment-based nonimmigrant visas, and it remains to be seen whether President Biden will rescind those through a separate Presidential Proclamation.

USCIS Expands Premium Processing Service to E-3 Filings

USCIS announced today, February 24, 2021, that the agency has extended Premium Processing service to the E-3 visa classification.

Beginning immediately, petitioners filing Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, requesting a change or extension of status to E-3 classification (reserved for nationals of Australia coming to the United States to perform services in a "specialty occupation.") will have the option to request Premium Processing service for their petition.

USCIS' Premium Processing service, which was previously unavailable for E-3 filings, allows petitioners to pay an additional filing fee of $2,500 to expedite the adjudication of the case to 15 calendar days, a significant improvement over the current adjudication time frame of 6 to 7.5 months.

USCIS Announces Implementation of H-1B Electronic Registration Process for Fiscal Year 2022 Cap Season

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the initial registration period for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 H-1B cap will open at 12 (noon) Eastern on March 9, 2021 and run through 12 (noon) Eastern on March 25, 2021.

Under this registration process, employers or their authorized representatives will be required to complete a registration for each requested worker during the registration window, providing initial information about their company and each requested worker. Employers must also pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each registration. The H-1B random selection process will then be run on those electronic registrations. Only those with selected registrations will be eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions.

USCIS indicates the agency intends to notify account holders of the results of the selection process by March 31, 2021.

D&S will post additional guidance as it becomes available.

Biden Administration Expands COVID-19 Related Travel Restrictions

This week, President Biden signed a proclamation continuing the suspension of entry of certain travelers from the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Brazil, China, and Iran, and expanding these restrictions to include travelers from South Africa.

As with the previous suspensions, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are not subject to the proclamations and certain other exemptions and exceptions still apply.

The expanded rule will become effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on January 30, 2021.

D&S will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.

State Department February 2021 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the February 2021 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. USCIS has advised that, in February 2021, it will continue to accept adjustment of status applications for employment-based petitions based on the February Bulletin’s final action dates. 

With respect to Final Action Dates, all countries of chargeability, except India and China, will remain current. EB-1 China and EB-1 India will advance four months to January 1, 2020. With the exception of India and China, all other EB-2 countries of chargeability will remain current. EB-2 China will advance two weeks  to June 15, 2016 and EB-2 India will advance four days to October 12, 2009. All EB-3 categories except India and China will remain current. EB-3 China will advance two weeks to January 1, 2018, and EB-3 India will advance ten days to April 1, 2010. 

The EB-5 Regional Center program has been reauthorized by Congress until mid-2021.  As a result, final action dates  have become current for January for all countries of chargeability except for China, which is  subject to an August 15, 2015 final action date, and for Vietnam, which is subject to an October 1, 2017  final action date. Final action dates for the EB-5 Non-Regional Center program remain current for all countries of chargeability except China, which will remain unchanged at August 15, 2015, and Vietnam, which will advance two weeks to October 1 , 2017. 

With respect to Application Filing Dates, all categories (with the exception of the “Other Workers”, EB-4 special immigrants, and “Certain Religious Workers” categories) will remain unchanged from January.

USCIS Advises of Extensive Receipting Delays at Certain Lockbox Facilities

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has advised stakeholders that due to numerous factors including COVID-19, staffing shortages, and an increase in the volume of filings, it is experiencing significant delays in intake of cases and issuance of receipt notices for filings made with USCIS lockbox facilities. In most cases these delays are expected to be between 4-6 weeks but but can vary across lockboxes and case types. The agency has further advised that certain cases, including employment-based adjustment of status applications and certain student work permits (EADs), may experience even more significant receipting delays.

USCIS further clarified that these receipting delays will not impact the receipt date of the case, which will in all instances be the date on which a correct and complete submission is actually received at the proper filing location.

D&S will continue to monitor the pace of lockbox receipts and provide relevant updates.

U.S. to Require Proof of Negative COVID Test for International Travelers

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) announced that a negative Covid-19 test will be required from all air passengers entering the United States.

Under the rule, which will go into effect on January 26, all air passengers will be required to get a test within three days prior to their flight to the U.S., and to provide written documentation of their lab results, or documentation of having recovered from Covid-19 within the preceding three months. The rule will apply regardless of vaccination status and proof of immunization will not be sufficient to exempt a traveler from these requirements.

Airlines will be required to confirm all passengers are in compliance with the new rule prior to boarding, and where a passenger chooses not to take a test or cannot provide documentation of a negative test or recovery, the airline must not permit the passenger to board the flight.

State Department January 2021 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the January 2021 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. USCIS has advised that, in January 2021, it will accept adjustment of status applications for employment-based petitions based on the January Bulletin’s final action dates, for the first time in several months.

With respect to Final Action Dates, all countries of chargeability, except India and China, will remain current. EB-1 China and EB-1 India will advance five months to September 1, 2019. With the exception of India and China, all other EB-2 countries of chargeability will remain current. EB-2 China will advance one month to June 1, 2016 and EB-2 India will advance one week October 8, 2009. All EB-3 categories except India and China will remain current. EB-3 China will advance one and a half months to December 15, 2017, and EB-3 India will advance one week to March 22, 2010. 

As the EB-5 Regional Center program is set to sunset on December 28, 2020, the category will be unavailable in January pending reauthorization of the program by Congress. If there is further legislative action extending this category, final action dates would immediately become current for January for all countries of chargeability except for China, which would be subject to an August 15, 2015 final action date, and for Vietnam, which would be subject to a September 15, 2017 final action date. Final action dates for the EB-5 Non-Regional Center program, which will not be affected, remain current for all countries of chargeability except China, which will remain unchanged at August 15, 2015, and Vietnam, which will advance two weeks to August 15, 2017. 

With respect to Application Filing Dates, all categories (with the exception of the “Other Workers”, EB-4 special immigrants, and “Certain Religious Workers” categories) will remain unchanged from December.

State Department December 2020 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the December  2020 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. USCIS has advised that, in December 2020, it will once again accept adjustment of status applications for both employment-based and family-based petitions based on the November Bulletin’s application filing dates for all categories except for the F2A family-based category, which may file based on final action dates

With respect to Application Filing Dates, for China all categories will remain unchanged from November, with the exception of EB-1, which advanced two months to November 1, 2020. For India, EB-1 also advances by two months to November 1, 2020, but both EB-3 and "Other Workers" retrogressed by one year to January 1, 2014. For all other countries of chargeability, all EB-1 to EB-3 and “Other Workers” categories remain current. 

As for Final Action Dates,  for both China and India EB-1 advances four months to April 1, 2019.  EB-2 China advances nine days to May 1, 2016,  EB-3 China advances one month to November 1, 2017, and China “Other Workers” advances over a month to February 15, 2009.  For India, EB-2 advances 9 days to October 1, 2009, while both EB-3 and “Other Workers” advance 15 days to March 15, 2010, while all other categories  remain current.  For all other countries of chargeability, all EB-1 to EB-3 and “Other Workers”  categories remain current. 

The EB-5 Regional Center program has been extended by legislation until December 11, 2020.  As such, final action dates for both the EB-5 Regional and Non-Regional Center programs for all countries of chargeability except for China and Vietnam will remain current. EB-5 China will remain unchanged at August 15, 2015, and EB-5 Vietnam will advance two weeks to September 1, 2017.