The Department of Justice today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with A. Olivarez Harvesting LLC (Olivarez). The settlement resolves a claim that Olivarez discriminated against two U.S. citizens based on their citizenship status when it denied them crop harvesting positions it had promised them and instead filled the jobs with temporary visa …
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Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Final Rule
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) final rule, which has been posted for public inspection on the Federal Register’s website. The final rule generally codifies existing policies with limited amendments to preserve and fortify DACA. BackgroundOn Sept. 28, 2021, DHS published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for DACA. …
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USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2023 H-1B Cap
USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2023.We have completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts. The status for registrations properly submitted for the …
USCIS Will No Longer Accept Combined Fee Payments For EB-5, Immigrant Investor Program Applications or Petitions
Beginning Thursday, September 1, 2022 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will no longer accept a single, combined fee payment when an applicant or petitioner files Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor, or Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor, together with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Form 131, Application for Travel Document, or Form …
Extension and Redesignation of Syria for TPS
The Department of Homeland Security announced the extension and redesignation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, from Oct. 1, 2022, through March 31, 2024. The extension of TPS for Syria allows approximately 6,448 current beneficiaries to re-register to retain TPS if they continue to meet TPS eligibility requirements. It is estimated …
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Parolees Can Now File Form I-765 Online
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that certain parolees can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online. Most individuals paroled into the United States for urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit purposes under INA 212(d)(5) are eligible to seek employment authorization under category (c)(11). Please see the Form I-765 instructions for more information. Effective immediately, applicants …
USCIS to Implement Second Phase of Premium Processing for Certain Previously Filed EB-1 and EB-2 Form I-140 Petitions
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is implementing the second phase of the premium processing expansion for certain petitioners who have a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications. Similar to the first phase of the expansion, this phase only applies to certain previously filed Form I-140 petitions under an E13 …
Extension of TPS for Venezuela
The Department of Homeland Security announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuela for 18 months, from Sept. 10, 2022, through March 10, 2024. Venezuela’s 18-month extension will go into effect Sept. 10, 2022. DHS intends to publish a Federal Register notice which will explain how to re-register under Venezuela’s designation and to apply for an …
Justice Department Settles With IT Recruiter to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination Claims
The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Technology Hub Inc., an IT staffing and recruiting company based in Virginia. The settlement resolves claims that Technology Hub discriminated against both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens with permission to work in the United States, based on their citizenship or immigration …
Employment-based Adjustment of Status Applicants: Send in Your Medical Forms ASAP for More Efficient Processing
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plays a significant role in the processing of employment-based visas, and we want to ensure we use as many available visas as possible in fiscal year (FY) 2022, which ends on Sept. 30, 2022. We are still doing our part with the U.S. Department of State (DOS) in …
Ann Massey Badmus 