Articles Posted in U.S. Employers

by

Have you ever been confused about how to read the Visa Bulletin or wanted to learn more about how it works? Then you won’t want to miss this important video.

In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick breaks down everything you need to know about how to read and understand the Visa Bulletin issued by the State Department.

Overview

What is a Priority Date?

First, let’s discuss what a priority date is in immigration law.

A priority date is the date that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received your I-130 immigrant petition for alien relative, or I-140 immigrant petition for alien worker. For employment-based cases, where a labor certification application is required, the priority date is the date on which the labor certification was received by the Department of Labor.

Essentially, a priority date determines a person’s place in line in the immigrant visa queue because there are a limited number of green cards available in a given year. The limited number of visas is also referred to as an annual numerical limitation or “visa cap,” set by the U.S. Congress.

A priority date is critically important because it determines when you can apply for your green card (if you are in the U.S.), or your immigrant visa at a consulate overseas.

Continue reading

by

Are you waiting for your priority date to become current on the visa bulletin? Then you won’t want to miss this blog post covering the release of the August 2024 visa bulletin.

In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick explains what you can expect to see in terms of the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based visa categories in the month of August.

USCIS Adjustment of Status

For employment-based preference categories, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that in August it will continue to use the Final Action Dates chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence.

For family-sponsored preference categories, USCIS will continue to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence.

Highlights of the August 2024 Visa Bulletin

Employment-Based Categories

Final Action and Dates for Filing EB-2 and EB-3 India Advancement 

  • The Final Action date for EB-2 India will advance to July 15, 2012 and the Date for Filing to July 22, 2012
  • The Final Action date for EB-3 India will advance to October 22, 2012 and the Date for Filing to November 1, 2012

Other Categories

  • The Final Action dates and Dates for Filing for the remaining employment-based categories remain the same as the July Visa Bulletin

Continue reading

by

Are you interested in self-petitioning for a green card (permanent residence) in 2024? If so, you won’t want to miss this important video.

Overview

Did you know that it is possible to apply for a green card on your own through a self-petition and avoid the process of getting a U.S. job offer? In this video, we discuss the top three ways you can apply for permanent residence without a U.S. company sponsoring you and without a U.S. job offer.

Option #1: Employment-Based First Preference Category, EB-1A Aliens of Extraordinary Ability

The first immigrant visa classification we will discuss is the EB-1A visa. This immigrant visa is suitable for individuals who have attained “extraordinary ability” in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim in their field.

Those who qualify for the EB-1A category can self-petition for their visa on their own. They do not need a U.S. job offer nor employment sponsorship to apply for permanent residence.

EB-1A is Current on the Visa Bulletin 

Additionally, as of June 2024 the EB-1A category remains current on the Visa Bulletin for all countries except India and China, which means that most applicants will not need to wait to apply for adjustment of status to permanent residence so long as the category remains current. For nationals of India and China please see the EB-1A wait times on the June 2024 Visa Bulletin.

Continue reading

by

Did you know that you can apply for a green card without a job offer or even sponsorship from a U.S. employer?

In this video attorney Jacob Sapochnick tells you all you need to know about the EB-2 National Interest Waiver, an employment-based green card option for professionals who are working in an area of national importance to the United States government.

This video focuses specifically on how engineering professionals can qualify for the National Interest Waiver, which is one of the most popular ways to obtain permanent residence in the U.S.

For more information, please keep on watching.

Overview

If you are an engineer that has earned an advanced degree (baccalaureate or higher) or have exceptional ability in your field of engineering, then you may be eligible to self-petition for a green card by applying for the EB-2 National Interest Waiver.

Unlike the EB-3 employment-based green card which requires employment sponsorship, the EB-2 National interest Waiver allows an individual to self-petition for their green card.

This provides applicants with the freedom and flexibility to apply for permanent residence on their own without having to undergo the lengthy labor certification process with a U.S. employer.

Continue reading

by

In this video attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses the State Department’s release of the June 2024 Visa Bulletin. Learn all about the changes we are seeing in the family-sponsored and employment-based categories for the month of June in this video.

Adjustment of Status Filing Chart June 2024

For the month of June 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will continue to use the Dates for Filing Chart for all family-sponsored preference categories, and the Final Action Dates Chart for all employment-based preference categories, when applying for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the United States.

Top Highlights of the June Visa Bulletin

Employment-Based Categories

Unfortunately, for the employment-based categories, the June Visa Bulletin shows no movement.

  • The Dates for Filing chart in June remains unchanged from the previous months.
  • The Final Action Dates for EB-1, EB-2, and EB-5 remain unchanged.
  • Only EB-3 India will advance by one week.

Family-Sponsored Categories

Continue reading

by

New H-1B rules are changing the immigration landscape for U.S. employers and foreign workers in the United States.

In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick shares all you need to know about these important changes.

Did you Know? In February of this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule in the Federal Register that changed the H-1B registration process and enhanced the H-1B program’s integrity to safeguard against fraud. These changes resulted in a significant drop in the number of eligible H-1B registrations for fiscal year 2025 by 40%.

Overview

The H-1B visa is one of the most popular work visas used by professionals with U.S. job offers to work in specialty occupations. To be eligible for this visa category, applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree or higher, or the equivalent work experience in the specialty occupation.

Current laws limit the annual number of qualifying foreign workers who may be issued the H-1B visa to 65,000 with an additional 20,000 reserved for the H-1B advanced degree exemption for those with U.S. master’s degrees (or higher). Unfortunately, the high demand for the H-1B visa, makes the lottery process extremely competitive considering that thousands upon thousands of employers compete for the very limited number of visas available every year.

Continue reading

by

Welcome back to ImmigrationLawyerBlog! In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses a new rule from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that will provide relief to nearly 800,000 applicants seeking a renewal of their employment authorization document also known as a work permit by automatically extending certain EADs from 6 months to 18 months.

Overview

On April 4, 2020, USCIS announced a temporary final rule (TFR) that increases the automatic extension period for employment authorization and EADs available to certain EAD renewal applicants from up to 180 days (6 months) to up to 540 days (or 18 months) from the printed expiration date of a previously issued EAD. 

Effective April 8, 2024, this temporary final rule will apply to two categories of EAD applicants:

(1) applicants who timely and properly filed their Form I-765 applications on or after October 27, 2023, if the application is still pending on April 8, 2024; and

(2) applicants who timely and properly file their Form I-765 application on or after April 8, 2024 and on or before September 30, 2025 (540 days after publication of this temporary final rule in the Federal Register).

Applicants must have one of these qualifying eligibility categories to receive an automatic extension of their employment authorization and/or EAD validity: A03, A05, A07, A08, A10, A12, A17*, A18*, C08, C09, C10, C16, C19, C20, C22, C24, C26*, and C31.  These eligibility categories are published on the USCIS Automatic EAD Extension webpage.

Continue reading

by

Did you know? The May 2024 Visa Bulletin was recently released by the Department of State. In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick talks about the exciting movement we are seeing in almost all the family-sponsored categories in the month of May, and what we can expect to see for the employment-based categories in the coming months.

Adjustment of Status Filing Chart May 2024

For the month of May 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will continue to use the Dates for Filing Chart for all family-sponsored preference categories, and the Final Action Dates Chart for all employment-based preference categories, when applying for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the United States.

What Can We Expect to see in the Month of May?

Family-sponsored categories

FINAL ACTION DATES FOR FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCE CASES

The Final Action Dates Chart for the family-sponsored categories advanced for nearly all categories as follows:

  • F1 Mexico will advance by 5.5 months to October 15, 2001
  • F1 Philippines will remain the same at March 1, 2012
  • F1 All other countries will advance by 4.9 months to July 8, 2015
  • F2A Mexico will advance by 2.8 months to November 8, 2020
  • F2A Philippines will advance by 8.7 months to June 1, 2021
  • F2A All other countries will advance by 8.7 months to June 1, 2021
  • F2B Mexico will advance by 4.3 months to March 1, 2004
  • F2B Philippines will remain at October 22, 2011
  • F2B All other countries will advance by 4.3 months to April 1, 2016
  • F3 Mexico will advance by 10.4 months to July 22, 1999
  • F3 Philippines will advance by 1.8 months to August 1, 2002
  • F3 All other countries will advance by 3 months to January 1, 2010
  • F4 Worldwide and China will advance by 1.4 months to July 22, 2007
  • F4 India will advance by 1 month to January 15, 2006
  • F4 Mexico will advance by 3.3 months to January 22, 2001
  • F4 Philippines will advance by 2.8 months to September 8, 2003

Continue reading

by

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZ6U-Wasd4

The H-1B cap season is now in full swing. Electronic registrations for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B work visa lottery opened on March 6th and will close at noon eastern time on March 22nd.

If you want to know how you can prepare for the upcoming lottery and learn about the recent changes made to the program, we invite you to watch our video.

Overview

The H-1B visa program is one of the most common work visas for professionals seeking to work for U.S. employers in specialty occupations that require a bachelor’s degree or the foreign equivalent. Every year, during the month of March, 65,000 H-1B work visas are up for grabs, and an additional 20,000 visas are available for those holding a U.S. advanced degree (master’s degree or higher from accredited U.S. institutions of higher education).

Those who wish to have a chance of being selected must submit an online electronic registration before the deadline of March 22nd.  Once the registration period has closed, USCIS will select enough registrations to meet the annual H-1B visa cap from the pool of applicants who have registered.

About the Electronic Registration System

The online electronic registration system was first introduced by USCIS in 2019 to streamline the H-1B selection process, without requiring U.S. employers to first submit complete paper filings by mail.

The electronic registration process allows U.S. employers and their prospective employees to first compete for the limited number of H-1B visas available, and once selected U.S. employers can submit complete filings to USCIS on behalf of the foreign worker.

Continue reading

by

Every month the Department of State releases the Visa Bulletin, which tells visa applicants how long they must wait before they can apply for their green cards to immigrate to the United States.

Unfortunately, the Dates for Filing chart of the Visa Bulletin has not seen any forward movement in recent months, and the Final Action Dates have moved very slowly for most employment-based preference categories.

What does this mean for employment-based categories experiencing long delays such as EB-2? Keep on watching to find out more.

Overview

For employment-based visa applicants stuck in the lengthy backlogs, there is an effective way to combat the visa backlog by downgrading to the employment-based third preference category (also known as EB-3), which is currently moving faster than the other employment-based preference categories on the Visa Bulletin.

What is an EB-3 downgrade?

The EB-3 downgrade refers to the process of strategically moving from another employment-based category (one that is moving slowly), to the employment-based third preference category (EB-3) to take advantage of the faster movement of the category on the Visa Bulletin. This is particularly helpful for nationals of countries facing very high demand for immigrant visas such as India and China.

Continue reading