By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN The Biden administration will make an additional 20,000 seasonal, guest-worker visas available for the winter season for the first time, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday. DHS has previously upped the number of available visas for the summer season, which is among the busiest for bringing in workers, citing labor […]
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) joined by Congresswoman Grace Meng (NY-06), Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), and 46 of their colleagues, sent a letter to Secretary Antony Blinken urging him to either rescind or amend the Diversity Visa Program and remove the unnecessary restrictions of the Passport Rule: “The Diversity Visa Program was […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State (DOS), has announced the lists of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs in the next year. The notice listing the eligible countries will be published in the Federal Register on Nov. 10, 2021. For the next […]
By Leslie Dellon, Immigration Impact Annual limits on immigrant visa numbers, combined with processing delays and wasted numbers, mean even longer waits for people to become U.S. permanent residents. In November, the “cut off” date for visa eligibility retrogressed (moved backward in time) for people born in India who are in the employment-based (EB) third […]
The Green Card or Resident Alien Card or Form I-551, is the permanent work and residence permit for foreign nationals who reside legally in the U.S. What are the basic requirements? Employment-based immigrant visas typically involve three main steps (the entire process can take several years): First, the employer files a Labor Certification application with […]
USCIS today announced that it is issuing updated policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding applications for T nonimmigrant status (or T visas) for victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons. Policy Highlights This updated and comprehensive guidance: Provides updated and consolidated information on eligibility requirements, admissibility determinations, evidentiary standards, burdens of proof, travel considerations, […]
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2022. Sept. 30 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2022. USCIS will reject […]
By Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact For the second year in a row, many winners of the diversity visa lottery face the prospect of losing their chance to come to the United States because the federal government can’t—or won’t—issue their visas in time. The 2020 lottery winners are still suffering the effects of restrictive Trump-era policies. […]
By Documented NY This explanation is part of Documented’s Glossary that will help readers understand the U.S. immigration system. What is the EB-5 visa and how investing in the US can get you one The EB-5 is an employment-based visa available to non-American investors who wish to open a business in the United States. Congress […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is updating the USCIS Policy Manual to implement a new process, referred to as Bona Fide Determination, which will give victims of crime in the United States access to employment authorization sooner, providing them with stability and better equipping them to cooperate with and assist law enforcement investigations and prosecutions. […]