IMMIGRATION UPDATES
1. Continuation of EB-1 Worldwide Backlog, Mainland China Moved Forward 3.5 Months; EB-2 Rest of the World (ROW) Continues to be “Current”, Mainland China Moved Forward 3 Months
The U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) most recently released Visa Bulletin for December 2019 shows a continuation of worldwide backlog for EB-1, and cutoff dates for issuance of an EB-1 immigrant visa for Mainland China born applicants have moved forward 3.5 months to May 15, 2017.
On the other hand, the Visa Bulletin for December 2019 shows that EB-2 for Rest of the World (ROW) is “current”, and cutoff dates for issuance of an EB-2 immigrant visa for Mainland China born applicants have moved forward 3 months to June 22, 2015.
As with last month, apart from F2A Spouses and Minor Children of Green Card Holders, USCIS will accept adjustment of status applications for all other family-based cases and employment-based cases based on the “Dates for Filing” charts.
The December 2019 Visa Bulletin can be found here.
2. USCIS Implements $10 Visa Registration Fee for H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions Effective December 9, 2019
On November 8, 2019, DHS posted a final rule in the Federal Register for public inspection, amending regulations to require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration they submit to USCIS for the H-1B cap selection process, effective December 9, 2019.
As explained in the final rule, DHS will use pay.gov as the payment portal for the required registration fee, which may be paid by sponsoring employers or their representing attorneys. The registration system will permit payments to be made from a bank account (checking or savings), a credit card, or debit card.
This $10 registration fee will reduce some of the estimated cost savings for unselected H-1B cap-subject petitioners.
USCIS’ alert can be found here.
3. USCIS Proposes to Adjust Filing Fees for Certain Immigrant and Non-immigrant Applications
On November 14, 2019, USCIS announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that would adjust its filing fees for certain immigrant and non-immigrant applications. DHS proposes to adjust USCIS fees by a weighted average increase of 21 percent, add new fees for certain benefit requests, establish multiple fees for petitions for nonimmigrant workers, and limit the number of beneficiaries on certain forms.
USCIS’ alert can be found here.
ALG SUCCESS STORIES
EB-1C Petition Approved in 8 Months for Vice President of Global Project Management at Pharmaceutical Company
Ms. Z had been serving as Vice President of Integrated Management at a successful Chinese pharmaceutical company that specializes in product development and manufacturing for 1.5 years, where she directly oversaw and managed 17 employees, including 4 managers and 13 of their subordinated staff. The U.S. affiliate company, with over 80 employees and more than 30 million net revenue, hoped to transfer Ms. Z as Vice President of Global Project Management to expand its existing U.S. business.
ALG attorneys consulted with Ms. Z on the qualifying relationship of the two companies, carefully reviewed all probative documents, and drafted a detailed petition letter to incorporate all the supporting documents to prove the Chinese company’s thriving business and the genuine business need to expand to the U.S. market.
Under regular processing (note: USCIS does not accept premium processing for EB-1C applications), even with a request for additional evidence, which ALG attorneys swiftly responded to, USCIS approved this EB-1C petition in 8 months from initial submission.
Commentaires