Per a settlement agreement in effect since January 2023, USCIS has allowed for bundling of H-4 and L-2 applications for extensions, changes of status, and work authorization, along with a principal’s Form I-129 petition when concurrently filed.  This has meant that spouses could obtain faster processing time for changes of status and extensions of status, … Read more

The U.S. Department of State has announced a major update to the Exchange Visitor Skills List, effective December 9, 2024. This is the first significant revision in 15 years and removes the two-year home-residency requirement for J-1 visa holders from 34 countries, including China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The Exchange Visitor Skills List … Read more

Given the results of the recent election, we understand that our clients are concerned about how the change in Administration could impact foreign nationals. While we cannot be certain as to what changes will actually take place, based off of what occurred under the last Trump Administration, we have the following recommendations: International travel should be … Read more

USCIS today confirmed that they have received enough petitions 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) 2025. They will send non-selection notices to registrants through their online accounts over the next few days. When … Read more

  The State Department will begin accepting online registrations for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery starting Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at noon EDT. Foreign nationals who wish to enter the lottery have until Tuesday, November 5, 2024 at noon EST to file online. For FY 2026, the DV lottery program will make … Read more

USCIS has announced that the agency has now selected a sufficient number of registrations to reach the regular cap for the remaining FY 2025 H-1B lottery registrations. Our office has already notified all petitioners and employees of any newly selected registrations. Should there be any future developments, we will be sure to provide an update.   … Read more

USCIS has announced that the agency will conduct a second H-1B lottery for the FY 2025 regular cap numerical allocation. USCIS will select additional registrations from previously submitted electronic registrations using a random selection process. USCIS clarified that it will not be conducting a second selection for the advanced degree exemption (the master’s cap), as … Read more

  On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, President Biden announced executive actions that will allow certain noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens to obtain work authorization and lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. A second executive action will provide eligible DACA recipients and other Dreamers with a path to receive a work visa. The first will … Read more

USCIS has announced that the FY 2025 H-1B cap registration period will run from noon ET, March 6, 2024 to noon ET, March 22, 2024. This year, there will be a few changes to the registration process. A few key changes are noted below: USCIS will be introducing a new online organizational account system that will go live at noon … Read more

USCIS has published the final rule related to the anticipated filing fee increases. For a table summary of the fee increases, see here: USCIS Final Rule – Fees. The new fees will go into effect on April 1, 2024. A few important notes: USCIS will now charge different fees for Form I-129, Petition for a … Read more