The Department of State's Visa Bulletin for February 2022 notes that high demand in the employment fourth preference category may necessitate the establishment of a worldwide final action date in the coming months to hold number use within the maximum allowed under...
Topic: Immigration Updates
USCIS Clarifies Guidance on O-1 Nonimmigrants in Arts vs. Motion Pictures and Television
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarified guidance on how the agency determines whether an O-1B beneficiary will be evaluated as a person of extraordinary ability in the arts or as a person of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or...
USCIS Plans E-Verify Records Disposal for April 1, 2022
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to dispose of E-Verify records that are more than 10 years old on April 1, 2022. (USCIS defined "more than 10 years old" as "those dated on or before Dec. 31, 2011.) E-Verify employers have until March 31, 2022,...
State Dept. Announces Diversity Visa Reassignment Procedures for Kabul and Baghdad
The Department of State announced on January 5, 2022, that those who are Diversity Visa (DV) selectees for the 2022 DV program year with a case assigned to the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, or Baghdad, Iraq, should request reassignment of their DV cases to...
EOIR Mandates E-Filing as of February 11, 2022
Effective February 11, 2022, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) will require electronic filing and records applications for all cases before the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Users can view training materials on EOIR's...
OFLC Completes Random Assignments of H-2B Applications Submitted for Work Starting April 1, 2022
The Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has completed randomly assigning all H-2B applications submitted during the initial filing window, January 1-3, 2022, requesting an April 1, 2022, work start date for the second half of the fiscal...
DHS OIG Finds That Manual Processing Slowed USCIS Benefits Delivery During Pandemic
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report on December 28, 2021, finding that continued reliance on manual processing slowed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' benefits delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. OIG...
US Department of Homeland Security Withdraws its Appeal of Behring Regional Center Lawsuit
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) yesterday withdrew its appeal of the Behring Regional Center lawsuit. This action should clear up any lingering questions regarding the qualifying investment amount and TEA determination of current and future direct EB-5...
Miller Mayer’s Steve Yale-Loehr Quoted re Biden’s Immigration Reform Plans
Miller Mayer immigration attorney Steve Yale-Loehr was quoted by several Brazilian newspapers about President Biden's immigration reform plans. As an example, Steve was quoted by Diario do Grande ABC Internacional in "Biden Faces Pressure From Companies to Reform...
Certain Healthcare Workers Can Request Expedited Work Permits, USCIS Says
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that qualified healthcare workers who have pending employment authorization document (EAD) renewal applications and EADs that will expire in 30 days or less, or that have already expired, can request...
