Healthcare Blog

TheDepartment of State has just issued the July2020 Visa Bulletin.  This is thetenth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2021. This blog post analyzes this month'sVisa Bulletin.

VisaBulletin

Table A:Final Action Dates --Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (PermanentResidency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

Table B:Dates of Filing

The USCISwill be using the Table A: Final Action Dates chart for I-485 employment-basedfilings. A beneficiary must be current on the above Table A chart in order tofile their I-485, Adjustment of Status applications.  USCISVisa Bulletin Dates

MU LawAnalysis

Both the Philippinesand Worldwide (All Other) EB-3 continue to be current. Our opinion remainsthat these categories will stay current for the foreseeable future and into2022.

India EB-1 remains current, which continues tolead to extra visas will flowing down to India EB2 and EB3.  India EB-2 again moved ahead, thistime by 6 months, a positive trend that has continued and can be expected tocontinue.  Similarly, India EB-3 leaptahead 14 months.  We will see favorableprocessing times for the rest of 2021 and into 2022.

China EB-2and EB-3 again bothmoved forward by seven and four months, respectively.  This trend should continue into 2022.  China EB-1 remains current.

In 2013 USCIS issued a policymemorandum that allowed USCIS officers to issue a Request forEvidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) for a case that includedinsufficient evidence, before denying the case. 

In 2018 USCIS rescinded this 2013 policyand issued a new policy, stating that USCIS officers could deny a case for lackof initial evidence without first sending an RFE or NOID.

On June 9, 2021 USCIS issued apolicy update, stating that the USCIS would revert back to the 2013policy. The USCIS will now issueRFEs and NOIDs where additional evidence could demonstrate eligibility for animmigrant benefit. This policy will give petitioners and beneficiaries theopportunity to correct mistakes and minor errors. This policy iseffective immediately.

USCIS announced that it hasreceived 308,613H-1B cap registration during the March 2021 filing period, includingpetitions filed for the advanced degree exemption.  About 48% of theregistrations were for foreign-national advanced degree students.

This is considerably more than the275,000 received last year (March 2020, FY 2021).  It is also farmore than the 201,000 during the April 2019 (FY 2020) filing period and 190,000H-1B petitions received during the April 2018 (Fiscal Year 2019) filing periodand.

USCIS is in the process ofnotifying H-1B cap lottery winners.  Based on the Congressional H-1Bcap of 85,000 H-1B cap winners, Petitioners should expect about 27% of theirH-1B cap filings to be H-1B cap winners because Congress only allows the USCISto approve H-1B cap petitions.  H-1B winners have 90 days to submit theirfull H-1B cap petition to the USCIS. 

As has been the case since thelaunch of the on-line registration system in March 2020, the USCIS willcontinue to update the H-1B cap winners list.  Therefore, additionalwinners may be added throughout the spring and summer.  USCIS is notexpected to contact any H-1B lottery losers until all 85,000 approval noticesare issued.

USCIShas announced new guidanceon when an application may be granted expedited processing.  Requests for expedited processing are consideredby USCIS, on a case-by-case basis, when premium processing service is notavailable.  Generally, expedited requestsare considered based on the following criterion:

-     Severe financial loss to a company or person;

-     Urgent humanitarian reasons;

-     Cultural and social interests of the UnitedStates; or

-     Clear USCIS error.

USCIShas clarified the criteria for requesting expedited processing. A company mayrequest expedited processing when it has suffered severe financial loss due to adelay in processing. Companies can successfully demonstrate severe financialloss if they are at risk of failing, losing a critical contract, or required tolay off other employees. They can also demonstrate severe financial loss if afailure to expedite would result in a loss of critical public benefits.

Nonprofitorganizations may now request expedited processing, even if premium processingis available. USCIS will grant nonprofit petitioners expedited processing, withouta fee, provided they are designated as a nonprofit organization by the IRSand their requests are made in furtherance of cultural and social interests ofthe United States.

USCISfurther reinforced that expedited requests for noncitizens with a final orderof deportation or noncitizens in deportation proceedings, are still coordinatedbetween USCIS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This updated policyis effective immediately.

TheDepartment of State has just issued the June 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the ninth VisaBulletin of Fiscal Year 2021. This blog post analyzes this month's VisaBulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with thesedates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) orImmigrant Visa appointment.

Table B: Dates of Filing

The USCIS will be using the Table A: Final Action Dates chart forI-485 employment-based filings. A beneficiary must be current on the aboveTable A chart in order to file their I-485, Adjustment of Status applications. USCISAdjustment of Status page.

MU Law Analysis

Both the Philippines and Worldwide (All Other) EB-3 continueto be current. Our opinion remains that these categories will stay current forthe foreseeable future.

India EB-1 remains current, which continues to lead to extra visas willflowing down to India EB2 and EB3.  IndiaEB-2 again moved ahead, this time by 4 months, a positive trend that hascontinued.  EB-3 also jumped up.  It moved 4 months.  We will see favorable processing times forthe rest of 2021.

China EB-2 and EB-3 again both moved forward by a few months, a trend that shouldcontinue. China EB-1 remains current, reflecting the paucity of visasthat were issued under the last year of the Trump presidency and the COVIDpandemic.

The USCIS has announcedthat it will temporarily suspend the biometrics requirements for H-4, L-2, E-1,E-2, and E-3 applicants. The suspension will last from May 17, 2021 until May 17,2023, and will apply to H-4, L-2, E-1, E-2, and E-3 applicants with a pendingForm I-539 who have not yet received a biometrics appointment notice as of May17, 2021, and new applications for H-4, L-2, E-1, E-2, and E-3 received byUSCIS from May 17, 2021 until May 17, 2023.

Applicants who receive a biometricsappointment notice before May 17, 2021 should plan to attend the appointment.Additionally, the USCIS retains the discretion to require biometrics on acase-by-case basis for any applicant. The USCIS is not expected to refund the$85 biometrics fee for applicants who are not required to attend the biometricsappointment.

The USCIS’s announcement comes as partof an ongoing lawsuit over long processing times for H-4 and L-2 employmentauthorization documents (EAD). It is hoped that the suspension of the biometricsrequirements will help to address the backlog of pending Form I-539s andassociated EAD applications.

U.S.embassies and consulates have begunusing a tiered approach to manage their substantial backlog of immigrantvisas.  Many embassies and consulatescontinue to have a significant backlog of all categories of immigrant visas.

Tier One: Immediate relative intercountryadoption visas, age-out cases (cases where the applicant will soon no longerqualify due to their age), and certain Special Immigrant Visas (SQ and SI forAfghan and Iraqi nationals working with the U.S. government)

Tier Two: Immediate relative visas; fiancé(e)visas; and returning resident visas

Tier Three: Family preference immigrant visasand SE Special Immigrant Visas for certain employees of the U.S. governmentabroad

Tier Four: All other immigrant visas,including employment preference and diversity visas

While the Posts willgenerally use these tiers in order, where possible, Posts are scheduling someappointments within all four priority tiers every month.  Still the State Department recognizes that visaapplicants, “particularly those in Tiers Three and Four, will face continueddelays.”

The Department of State has just issued the May 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the eighth Visa Bulletin of FiscalYear 2021. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approvedfor their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

Table B: Dates of Filing

The USCIS will be using the Table A: Final Action Dates chart forI-485 employment-based filings. A beneficiary must be current on the aboveTable A chart in order to file their I-485, Adjustment of Status applications.  USCIS Adjustment of Status page.

MU Law Analysis

Both the Philippines and Worldwide (All Other) EB-3 continueto be current. Our opinion remains that these categories will stay current forthe foreseeable future.

India EB-1 remains current, which continues to lead to extra visas willflowing down to India EB2 and EB3.  IndiaEB-2 again moved ahead, this time by 3 months.  EB-3 also jumped up.  It moved 6 months, into 2011.  We could see favorable processing times forthe rest of 2021.

China EB-2 and EB-3 again both moved forward by a few months, a trend that shouldcontinue.  China EB-1 remainsreflecting the paucity of visas that were issued under the last year of theTrump presidency and the COVID pandemic.

CGFNS has afast-track “CertifiedStatement” Visa Screen for foreign nurses who are educated in the US, and afew other English speaking countries (see below). 

FranklinUniversity, an Ohio college, offers graduate nursing degree, such as Bachelorsof Science in Nursing (BSN) to foreign nurses who received a 2 year degree inother countries, such as the Philippines. CGFNS was trying to force these BSNs to file for the more expensive andtime consuming regular Visa Screen, instead of the Certified Statement.  

FranklinUniversity tried to convince CGFNS that making these nurses apply for thecostlier and time-consuming process was contrary to the relevant USCIS’regulation.  When CGFNS refused to allowthese nurses to apply for the Certified Statement, Franklin Universitysued.  This week, the court heldthat CGFNS must issue Certified Statements to these US-graduates of BSNs.