Announcements, News & Comments

I received calls from Chinese speaking callers impersonating the Chinese Consulate and actually almost fell into the trap. After talking to him for a few minutes, I found his statements were conflicting. Further research has confirmed that it was a scam.

In United States immigration news this week, a long-awaited White House report recommended wide-ranging administrative improvements to the U.S. legal immigration system, including plans to improve the manner in which employment-based immigrant visas are allocated. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reinstated premium processing for H-1B extension petitions received by the agency on or after July 13, 2015. The suspension was originally set to end on July 27. While USCIS continues to process receipted FY 2016 H-1B cap petitions, the agency estimates that all H-1B cap petitions not selected in the lottery will be returned by July 20, 2015.

Reprinted with permission from Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP

USCIS today announced that it has finished returning H-1B petitions that were not selected in the FY 2016 cap lottery.  Employers with cases not chosen for processing should receive their returned petition packages and fee checks by July 20, 2015.
Reprinted with permission from Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP

USCIS announced today that it has reinstated premium processing for H-1B extension petitions – two weeks earlier than anticipated. Beginning today, the agency will accept Form I-907 premium processing requests for any H-1B petition requesting an extension of stay, but any request to premium process an H-1B extension received prior to July 13, 2015 will be rejected.  

The premium processing suspension was put in place on May 19 to allow USCIS to devote resources to the new H-4 employment authorization program, which opened on May 26. The suspension was originally set to end on July 27, but has been lifted early because the agency's H-4 EAD workload was not as onerous as expected.   

What This Means for Employers and Foreign Nationals?

Employers who were unable to submit a premium processing request or whose earlier request was rejected for the underlying H-1B extension petition can now upgrade to premium processing by submitting Form I-907 and its required fee.  New H-1B extension petitions with a request for premium processing will also be accepted as of today.  

Reprinted with permission from Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP

USCIS will suspend premium processing for H-1B extensions from May 26 through July 27 in order to devote resources to the upcoming H-4 employment authorization program. The unexpected announcement is likely to have a significant negative impact on employers, H-1B foreign nationals and their H-4 dependents. Fragomen and other immigration stakeholders are working to obtain clarification from USCIS and to communicate the effect of the suspension on U.S. businesses.