USCIS has officially released Form I-140G, the immigrant petition for the new Gold Card Program established by Executive Order 14351. The form and instructions provide the first complete look at eligibility criteria, financial requirements, and extensive due-diligence obligations that applicants must satisfy. While public attention has focused on the program’s financial gift thresholds, the...
The landscape of U.S. immigration for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professionals has seen significant changes in recent years. In January 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revised its policy guidance, impacting two key visa categories: the EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) and the O-1A nonimmigrant status for individuals of extraordinary...
February 2024 USCIS determined that for November 2023, applicants in all family-sponsored preference categories and all employment-based preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart. The most notable change is in the F2A category, where the final action dates for most countries moved forward from November 2019 to February 2020. Categories in the employment-based preferences remained...
USCIS issued policy guidance to allow a more flexible review of whether or not an employer has demonstrated its ability to pay the proffered wage from the priority date. This is a huge relief to many employers whose ability may not be evident on a tax return but has other financial documents such as credit limit/bank lines to more than cover the wage commitment to the beneficiary.
September 2023 September 2023 Visa Bulletin Highlights Family-Sponsored Second Preference (F2A) Retrogression: A significant update has been made regarding the F2A category. A cutoff date of 09/01/2023 has been assigned to the dates of filing chart. This indicates that I-485 based on F2A should be filed within this month, August 2023. Steady Employment-Based Number Use: Employment-based number...
On August 19, 2022, the US Department of Education no longer recognizes the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an accrediting agency. On November 1, 2022, USCIS announced how the loss of recognition will impact certain immigration benefit applicants. Students from impacted schools should contact their DSO immediately and discuss how to maintain their status....
