Update – January 21, 2022
On January 21, 2022, USCIS released new guidance on requests to transfer the underlying basis of an I-485 to a different employment-based immigrant category based on another Form I-140. The guidance states that USCIS may, in its discretion grant a transfer of underlying basis if the following criteria are met:
Thank you for reading and supporting The Insightful Immigration Blog. Listed below are the blogs that were published in 2021. While President Biden’s presidency ushered in new hope, former President Trump’s restrictive immigration policies still reared their ugly heads into the early weeks of 2021. On the last day of 2020, President Trump extended two […]
The State Department has given much needed holiday gifts to ease delays in visa processing brought about by the evisceration of consular operations due to Covid-19. According to a December 22, 2021 article in Roll Call, visa applicants in London, Paris and Mexico City, for instance, must wait about two months for a nonimmigrant visa […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta Several children who filed I-485 applications as derivatives of their Indian born parents under the October 2020 Visa Bulletin are being denied because they turned 21 years before the Final Action Dates became current. The backlogs for India in the employment-based second and third preferences have already caused untold suffering to […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta & Kaitlyn Box* On November 26, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential Proclamation entitled “A Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease 2019” in response to a report made by the South African government to the World […]
Cyrus D. Mehta The USCIS has been processing employment authorization requests for H-4 and L-2 spouses so slowly that they have been rendered virtually useless. By the time the applicant receives the employment authorization document (EAD) after 10 months, the job offer no longer exists. The experience is even more harrowing when the spouse begins […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta & Jessica Paszko* Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), U.S. employers wishing to sponsor a foreign worker for employment and permanent residence must first prove to the Department of Labor (“DOL”) that there are no sufficient workers who are able, willing, qualified and available for the prospective job and that […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On October 19, 2021, the U.S. DOJ and DOL announced that they had reached separate settlement agreements with Facebook regarding the company’s purportedly discriminatory PERM labor certification practices. These settlement agreements stem from a December 2020 DOJ complaint, in which the government alleged that Facebook had discriminated against […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Brad Banias* Immigration lawyers have filed lawsuits on behalf of several hundred plaintiffs challenging various immigration policies. These lawsuits have involved demanding that the government speed up the processing of work permits, or asking the government to reserve visas before the expiration of the program. Many of the lawsuits have […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On Thursday, October 14, 2021, the Department of State released the November 2021 Visa Bulletin, which has brought significant retrogression in employment-based third preference (EB-3) India dates, among other significant changes. The EB-3 India Date for Filing (DFF) retrogressed to January 22, 2012 and the Final Action Date […]
