International medical graduates (IMGs) often overcome the two-year home residence requirement (HRR) through a waiver based on the support of an Interested Government Agency (IGA). These waivers require three years of service as a physician in certain designated underserved areas. The grant of this waiver...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that temporary flexibilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic allowing an employer to perform remote document inspection and deferring the physical presence requirements for employment eligibility verification (form I-9), will end on July 31, 2023. After this...
The annual cap on the H1B category, combined with tremendous demand, has forced many employers and foreign national professionals to seek out reasonable alternatives. One such option for citizens of Chile or Singapore is the H1B1 visa category. This nonimmigrant category is very similar to...
The U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initiated a “stampless” entry pilot program in April 2022, and is now in the process of implementing the program at all airports, seaports, and land ports of entry (POEs) as part of a larger effort to streamline the...
Today, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the June 2023 Visa Bulletin. Most cutoff dates in the employment-based categories remain unchanged. All cutoff dates listed refer to those in the final action chart (i.e., Chart A), unless otherwise specified. Visa Bulletin Summary Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1)...
Today, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced that it is postponing the implementation date for using the new Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system until June 1, 2023. The full announcement reads as follows: "Following up on the announcements of April 21, April 27,...
The U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended the suspension of the biometrics requirement for certain I-539 applicants through September 30, 2023. The prior policy had suspended the biometrics requirement through May 17, 2023. Biometrics Suspension to Aid in Processing Backlogs Prior to May 17, 2021,...
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) soon will cease accepting form ETA 9089, application for permanent employment certification (PERM), via the legacy PERM online filing system, and instead will require all such applications to be submitted through the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system....
The concept of priority dates is confusing for many. There are statutory limits to the number of foreign nationals who may be granted permanent residency (commonly, green cards) under all employment-based (EB) and most family-based (FB) categories. For these types of green card cases, priority...
This morning, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released data relating to the FY24 H1B registration lottery in an eMail to stakeholders and on its H1B Electronic Registration Process website. While the USCIS announced on March 27, 2023, that enough initial registrations were submitted...
