USCIS Ombudsman Says EAD Help Requests Constituted Single Largest Source of Work in 2018, Recommends Changes to H-1B Program Implementation Under BAHA

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Ombudsman recently released its 2019 Annual Report. The report notes that requests for help related to employment authorization documents (EADs) constituted the single largest source of work for the Ombudsman’s Case Team in calendar year 2018—over a third of its total case load. During a four-month period between December 2017 and March 2018, the number of incoming EAD cases spiked 400 percent, most related to processing delays. The Ombudsman also noted that it explored in depth the H-1B visa program. The lengthy, detailed H-1B section includes 290 footnotes and several recommendations for changing implementation of the H-1B program by USCIS and the Department of Labor to align with President Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” (BAHA) executive order.

Related Links:

• USCIS Ombudsman’s Annual Report for 2019
• BAHA Order