USCIS has announced that on Friday, May 14, 2021, they will dispose of all E-Verify records that they have stored that are more than 10 years old! All E-Verify records stored on or before December 31, 2010 will be removed. Employers using E-Verify have until May 14, 2021, to download case information if they would like to retain specific E-Verify case information.
USCIS Notice of E-Verify Records Disposal
Source of Information:
On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential Action in the form of an Executive Memorandum directing Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, consulting with the Attorney General (not confirmed), to take appropriate actions to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), consistent with applicable law. The memorandum, entitled, “Preserving and Fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)” lays out the President’s request to the Executive Branch for action!
Note: Executive Actions carry no legal weight, they are normally a request made by the President to Congress or the Executive Branch for specific actions.
Source of Information:
We wanted to find a new way to engage our reader base. Every other Friday, we will post the ten (10) best/most frequently asked questions received during the week from our h1bvisalawyerblog, Facebook, and Twitter readers. We will answer those questions and provide the Q&A on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.
If you have a burning question, are seeking assistance with a difficult immigration related case, wish to discuss your views on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, DREAMers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, priority dates, the monthly visa bulletin, adjustment applications, etc., please contact us by submitting your question/comment/viewpoint in our comment box provided on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.
Our next “Q & A Forum” will take place this Friday, February 19, 2021. Act now and submit your questions!
The American Immigration Council (AIC) has released all fifty states and the District of Columbia, for a total of fifty-one updated state-by-state fact sheets highlighting immigration data and facts. These fact sheets highlight the demographic and economic impact of Immigrants in each state.
With national immigration policy being discussed, we thought that it would be a good time to provide some statistics on the Immigrant population in the United States as provided by this AIC research. Once a week we will be posting a blog with information on three states at a time. This week we will highlight; Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota!
The AIC has compiled research which shows that Immigrants are an essential part of each of these states’ economy, labor force and tax base. As our economy continues to grow, Immigrants and their children are a growing economic and political force as consumers, taxpayers and entrepreneurs. As United States economic continues to grow, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in shaping the economic and political future of each of these states.
On Friday, February 5th, USCIS announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 H-1B cap will open Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at noon (Eastern) on March 9 and will stay open until Thursday, March 25, 2021 at noon (Eastern). This is the period that prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to fill out information and complete registration for petitioners.
*Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners or their representatives are required to use a myUSCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each registration submitted on behalf of each beneficiary. *USCIS
For complete details, please review USCIS News Alert, “FY 2022 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period Opens on March 9”.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Delays Effective Date of H-1B Selection Final Rule! The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on January 7th the H-1B Selection final rule, “USCIS Modifies H-1B Selection Process to Prioritize Wages“. This rule change amends the regulations governing the process by which USCIS selects H-1B registrations for filing the H-1B cap-subject petitions. To give the USCIS more time to review and prepare for the changes, DHS has delayed the effective date of this final rule from March 9, 2021 to December 31, 2021. For the upcoming H-1B cap season, USCIS will apply the current regulations of random selection for this registration period which will take place before effective date of Dec. 31, 2021.
Source of Information:
USCIS (USCIS.gov), 2/4/21, News Alert:
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) provides an updated ‘processing times’ in table form, with information on FY2021 first quarterly completions; October 2020 to December 2020. These figures indicate the time that it takes from the date the case is received at AAO coming from the Service Center or District Office to completion.
AAO Processing Times were released with processing dates as of 1/12/21. If you filed an appeal, please review the link below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
Note: Starting with the January 2017 Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times Report, the AAO has changed how it presents processing time data. The AAO will now provide, by form type, the total number of case completions for the fiscal year quarter and the percentage completed within 180 days, cases completed divided by their projected case goal.
MVP Law Group, P.A. makes available the information and materials in this forum for informational purposes only. The information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice or any contractual obligations. Further, the use of this site, and the sending or receipt of this information, does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. Therefore, your communication with us through this forum will not be considered as privileged or confidential.
Question #1 – H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa
Can I get a Social Security card if I am working in the US on H-1B status?
USCIS announced on Thursday, February 28th, that they were extending the flexibilities that they originally announced on March 30th. These flexibilities are for responding to certain requests from the USCIS, some are listed below:
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently affirmed the decision of a Certifying Officer (CO) to deny labor certification for the position of “Electronics Engineer.”
After receiving & reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification requesting evidence of the employee’s work experience. The Employer sent back its recruitment documentation as well as the worker’s educational information, among other documents.
Upon review of the Audit response, the CO denied the Labor Certification. The CO believed the applicant’s credentials did not match the position’s minimum job requirements recorded on the Labor application. He stated the worker did not have a Master’s degree or 60 months experience at the time of his hire and only received his Master’s degree after he started working for the company. Overall, the CO declared “the Employer’s job requirements listed on Form 9089 did not represent the Employer’s actual minimum requirements.”
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog