Author: Breanne Johnson

USCIS announced yesterday that beginning on October 1, 2024 biometrics fees will be waived for all applicants who file Form I-539. This form is used to petition USCIS to extend or change nonimmigrant status in the United States. Applicants do not need to pay the $85 biometrics fee if their application is postmarked Oct. 1 or later. However, certain applicants who file Form I-539 before Oct. 1 will need to include this $85 fee. These applicants will still be scheduled for an ASC appointment and should still attend this appointment. Please reach out to your CYA attorney for any questions about this welcome development.

In the complex world of U.S. immigration, the Visa Bulletin is a complicated and ever-changing tool that outlines the availability of immigrant visas, offering insight into the waiting times faced by prospective immigrants. The Visa Bulletin is a crucial component of the United States immigration system, serving as a monthly guide that determines when eligible individuals can move forward in their journey to obtain a green card. Published by the U.S. Department of State, the Visa Bulletin categorizes applicants into different preference categories based on their family relationships or employment-based qualifications. These categories are further subdivided by country of origin due to the limited number of visas available each fiscal year.  

The Visa Bulletin displays a “priority date” which has been assigned to each applicant and corresponds to the date when their application was initially filed. The Visa Bulletin’s main function is to publicize processing status for each preference category and country. If an applicant’s priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed in the Visa Bulletin for their category and country, they can proceed with the final steps in their immigration process. However, due to the limited number of visas available in certain categories from certain countries, waiting times can vary widely and can be quite significant. While maddening at times, the Visa Bulletin shows current immigrant processing wait times and helps applicants anticipate potential delays in the progression of their case. Regularly checking the Visa Bulletin and staying informed about anticipated changes and trends in priority dates is essential for immigrants striving to navigate the complex path to permanent residency in the United States.

In a highly anticipated event, last week USCIS announced that the agency would be conducting a second H-1B lottery for the 2024 fiscal year. The second H-1B cap lottery was conducted over the weekend, and now appears to be completed. All registrants chosen in this second lottery have been notified, and all other registrants not selected remain eligible for selection in any further FY2024 lottery. All H-1B registrants chosen in the second lottery must submit their H-1B petition within the filing period and at the service center indicated on the selection notice. For any questions or help with an H-1B petition, reach out to a CYA attorney.

In happy news for H-1B hopeful beneficiaries and petitioners, USCIS announced today that it will be conducting a second round of the H-1B lottery. Woo! Individuals who timely submitted their H-1B registration for FY 2024 will be automatically considered for the second lottery. We don’t know exactly when the second lottery will be conducted, but expect it to happen soon. This is very welcome news for the many H-1B registrants who were not selected in this years’ initial H-1B cap lottery. Stay tuned for further updates on this evolving process.

Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the expansion of premium processing for change of status applications where individuals are looking to change to F, M, or J nonimmigrant status.

Premium processing will be implemented in the following phases:

• Beginning June 13, USCIS will accept premium processing requests, filed via paper form or online, for applicants seeking a change of status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status, who have a pending Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status.
• Beginning June 26, USCIS will accept premium processing requests, filed either via paper form or online, for applicants seeking a change of status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status, when filed together with Form I-539.

A few notes about this change:

1. Premium processing is only available for change of status requests at this time.
2. Applicants must submit their biometrics before premium processing can begin. Even if USCIS accepts an applicant’s Form I-907 and accompanying fees, the time limit for premium processing will not start running until the applicant and all co-applicants included on the Form I-539 submit their biometrics.

Please reach out to a CYA attorney with any questions about this new expansion to premium processing.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is moving forward with its “stampless entry program.” Last year, CBP initiated a streamlined arrival process at all 238 arriving airports, 34 seaports, all southern pedestrian ports, and most northern secondary land ports. The objective of this streamlined process is simple – to fully digitize the process of entering the United States. As part of this digitized process, CBP piloted a project to eliminate ink stamps in passports at entry. This fall CBP confirmed that this program will become permanent and expanded to all ports of entry. While CBP officers may stamp passports on request, many will not as a discretionary matter. Similarly, all I-94s are electronically issued – no paper I-94s will be issued.

This digitized change in process will have a practical impact on nonimmigrants and noncitizens. Specifically, now the only record of a noncitizen’s admission into the United States is an electronic I-94 record that is not reviewed by the applicant for admission until after admission and only if the applicant takes it upon him or herself to check their records. Errors in admission status and duration are common, and any negative consequences of an overstay due to CBP error are borne fully by the noncitizen applicant. Because of this, CYA strongly encourages all noncitizens entering the US to promptly check and download their I-94 after each re-entry into the U.S. Any errors should be taken seriously and promptly corrected. Maintaining thorough and complete records of entries and exits is often critical for recapturing nonimmigrant status, proving maintenance of status, and eligibility for naturalization.

Today at 12pm EST the H-1B Cap Registration widow will close, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will conduct the FY2024 H-1B lottery. By April 1^st, USCIS will electronically notify winners, and winners will have 90 days (until June 30^th) to submit their substantive H-1B petition to USCIS for consideration.  Yesterday afternoon registrants and attorneys were experiencing difficulty completing the H-1B registration process and many were receiving an error message when attempting to pay the $10 filing fee. This understandably created much stress and anxiety for all parties as the H-1B registration deadline is today. USCIS has acknowledged this issue and is working on a fix. USCIS states on its website that USCIS will extend the registration deadline to account for these technical difficulties, but has not released further information at this point in time. Stay tuned for more details and see this link for the most up-to-date information.

Fingers crossed for all of our H-1B cap applicants to be selected in the lottery! If you submitted the H-1B cap registration on you own and would like assistance preparing the substantive petition to USCIS please feel free to reach out to us for a consultation.

In a very exciting development, Bloomberg law reported late last week that the U.S. Department of State is planning to launch a pilot program later in 2023 to offer visa renewals from within the United States for individuals in H-1B and L-1 status. Stateside processing of visa renewals used to be offered by the U.S. Department of State but was discontinued in 2004. Revitalizing this stateside renewal process would be a very welcome change to an immigration process that currently requires everyone who needs to renew a visa to travel abroad to a U.S. consulate or embassy. While the pilot project will begin with just individuals in H-1B and L-1 status, it may be expanded to include other visa categories. Stay tuned for more information as this exciting new pilot program continues to be rolled out.

House Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-W.A.) recently reintroduced the Access to Counsel Act to ensure that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status are able to consult with legal counsel, relatives, or other interested parties to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more than one hour at ports of entry, including airports. Companion legislation will be introduced in the Senate in the coming weeks by Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA).

The Access to Counsel Act would:

• Require the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that people with valid travel documents who present themselves at the border, airports, or other points of interaction can communicate with counsel and other interested parties if they are subjected to prolonged inspection by CBP. 
• Allow counsel or a covered interested party the ability to advocate on behalf of the individual by providing information or documentation in support of the individual.
• Invalidate any effort by CBP to persuade someone to relinquish their legal status (by executing an I-407 or Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status) if that person has been denied access to counsel.

The Access to Counsel Act was originally introduced by Representative Jayapal in 2017 as a response to Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban.