Musillo Unkenholt Law | Healthcare Immigration Blog

March 18, 2020
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USCIS TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS PREMIUM PROCESSING FOR FY2021 CAP-SUBJECT PETITIONS

The USCIS will temporarilysuspend H-1B Cap petitioner’s ability to use the premium processingservice. On or before May 27, 2020, USCISwill resume processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions who hold F-1 student nonimmigrantstatus. This will allow F-1 studentsfirst priority at the premium processing service.

USCIS will allow allother cap-subject H-1B petitions to use the premium processing service no laterthan June 29, 2020.

March 16, 2020
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MUSILLO UNKENHOLT’S RESPONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUS

Musillo Unkenholt LLC continues to monitor theCoronavirus (COVID-19) situation closely and how it may impact our teams,clients, and operations. The health and safety of our staff is ofprimary importance. Here in Ohio, the governor has taken the extraordinarystep of not only closing all schools, but also closing all restaurants and bars. Theexperts are telling us that the one thing that we can all do to fight thespread of this disease is to reduce social contact.

Similar to many of the unprecedented changes takingplace here in Ohio and across the globe, MU is enacting a new work policy aimedat reducing social contact.

Starting Tuesday March 17, we are asking allemployees to mainly work from home. Employees will come to theoffice in 2-hour daily shifts in order to photocopy, scan, print, and fileimmigration petitions. By reducing our employees contact with eachother by two-thirds, MU is doing our part to emphasize social distancing.

Employees will still be working regular hours andso while some inefficiencies are inevitable, rest assured that all petitionswill be timely filed, with priority given to urgencies and legal deadlines. Wehope that all MU clients and friends stay safe during this unprecedented time.

March 13, 2020
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IF YOU FEEL ILL, RESCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT WITH USCIS

The USCIS has indicate that there will be nopenalty for rescheduling appointments due toillness because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

If you become ill for any reason, even if you werenot exposed to COVID-19, USCIS advises that you do not attend your appointmentat a USCIS office. You should follow the instructions on your USCIS appointmentnotice to reschedule an appointment with the USCIS.

You shouldreschedule your USCIS appointment if you:

Were in anycountry designated as a “level 3” by the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention (CDC) within 14 days of your appointment;
Believe thatyou may have been exposed to COVID-19 (even if you were not in a level 3 country);
Areexperiencing flu-like symptoms (such as a runny nose, headache, cough, sorethroat or fever).

USCIS wantsto ensure the safety of foreign nationals and USCIS employees. There is no penalty if you reschedule yourappointment at this time.

March 6, 2020
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MASSIVE CHANGES TO IMMIGRANTS CEAC STATUS FROM ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING TO REFUSED

The DOS’ CEAC webpage underwent amassive terminology change. As of March5, 2020, all CEAC status that had said “Administrative Processing,” now says“Refused.” According to anupdate on the DOS’ CEAC website indicates that this is a termination changethat is not an actual change to anyone’s visa applications’ status.

From their webpage: “There has been nochange in such applicants’ actual cases. This is an administrative change tomore accurately communicate case status to applicants.”

Here is the full statement:

Visas: CEAC Case Status Change

Last Updated: March 5, 2020

On March 3, 2020, the Department of State made an update to theConsular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) website, our online portal forvisa applicants. A visa applicant whose case previously displayed as being in“Administrative Processing” on his or her case status page now displays asbeing “refused.”

There has been no change in such applicants’ actual cases. Thisis an administrative change to more accurately communicate case status toapplicants.

Visa applicants whose case status on CEAC had previouslydisplayed as “Administrative Processing” had been refused under section 221(g)of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Although some refusals under INA section 221(g) can beoverturned, the change in the CEAC correctly reflects that the applicant’s visaapplication has been refused. That status may change if the applicant candemonstrate to a consular officer he or she is eligible for a visa or ifinformation comes to the attention of the consular officer from other sourcesthat resolve any outstanding issues relating to the applicant’s eligibility forthe visa.

The applicant should refer to the instructions the consularofficer gave at the end of the visa interview and to travel.state.gov/visas formore information about his or her case.

February 25, 2020
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DOS: NO EB-3 PROGRESSION UNTIL AT LEAST UNTIL MAY OR JUNE

TheDepartment of State’s Visa Bulletin guru, Charlie Oppenheim, hosts monthlymeetings with the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Mr. Oppenheim is the Department of State’sChief of the Control and Reporting Division. He is the officer who isresponsible for producing the Visa Bulletin each month.

Charlieoffered a number of interesting observations about the March Visa Bulletin,which resulted in aretrogression for EB-3.

-Becauseof the potential for USCIS to move resources to EB-1 and EB-2 and theunpredictability in processing times that will be caused by such a resourceallocation, Charlie does not expect any forward movement to the EB-3. The absolute earliest would be the May 2020or June 2020 Visa Bulletin, but EB-3 could remain at January 2017 until the endof the fiscal year. Charlie did assurereaders that

-Whileit is expected that the implementation of the public charge rules may slowUSCIS processing times, any potential slowdown at USCIS has not been factoredinto the March Visa Bulletin.

-DOSwas not surprised that the retrogression happened in March, in spite of theJanuary and February progression of dates in some EB-3 categories. DOS wanted to wait until it was certain thatthe increase in demand was not showing any signs of decline.

February 21, 2020
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STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH THE EB-3 RETROGRESSION

The March2020 retrogression of EB-3 has significant consequences for those who arein the immigrant visa process. It isexpected that between March 1 and September 30 of this year, immigrantvisas/green cards will only be issued to immigrants who have a 2016 prioritydate or earlier. When the first bulletinof the next fiscal year is released in late September, we expect the Rest ofWorld EB-3 to return to current and the Philippines EB-3 to have a roughly 18-24-monthretrogression.

Below are strategies for EB-3immigrant applicants in various stages of the immigrant visa process:

Immigrants who will be adjustingstatus

USCIS has indicated that the dates forfiling chart can be used in March. This means that the I-485 can only be filedif the immigrant has a priority date earlier than January 1, 2019. This applies to both Filipino and Rest ofWorld immigrant applicants.

Immigrants currently at NVC phase withfee bill

If the applicant has already receivedfee bills, then the case can continue to be processed until the documentarilyqualified notification is received from NVC. An embassy interview will not be scheduled until the immigrant’spriority date is current under the final action chart which for March isJanuary 1, 2017. This applies to bothFilipino and Rest of World immigrants.

Immigrants with approved I-140 but nofee bill

Immigrants should only receive the feebill if the priority date is earlier than the date for filing of January 1,2019, only we often see the NVC issue fee bills to those who have prioritydates later than the dates of filing chart. Those immigrants with 2019 and 2020 priority dates will receive a letterfrom NVC explaining that the case cannot move forward and a fee bill issueduntil the priority date is current under the date for filing chart. Rest of World immigrants will continue toreceive fee bills and be able to proceed through the NVC process but will notbe able to receive an embassy interview until current under the final actionchart.

Immigrants with embassy interviewsscheduled for March

We expect these interviews will berescheduled by the Embassy or Consulate until the priority date is currentunder the final action chart.

February 20, 2020
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WHAT DOES THE PHILIPPINE AND WORLDWIDE RETROGRESSION MEAN FOR EB-3 VISAS?

The March2020 retrogression of the EB-3 category means that the US government has”overshot” their usage of visas in Fiscal Year 2020 (Oct 2019 – Sept2020). In order to remedy this, thegovernment retrogresses the visas, which serves as a pause on the issuance ofnew visas. The Philippine EB-3 dateretrogressed because of increasing demand for Worldwide immigrant visas. The Worldwide cut-off date can never be lessfavorable than any other country’s date.

This happens every few years. Visa approvals will slow or stop starting inMarch, until the end of the fiscal year in September. In October 2020, new allotment 140,000 visasare released into the system. There is achance that more visas are released into the system before the end of theFiscal Year because, from time to time, the government’s pause has its intendedeffect and more visas can be released before year-end.

If you are in any part of the visaprocess and you do not have your visa issued before March 1, 2020, your casewill be held in abeyance at the Embassy or NVC, unless you have a priority dateearlier than January 1, 2017 (Worldwide and Philippines).

February 18, 2020
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MARCH 2020 VISA BULLETIN: RETROGRESSION FOR EB3

The Department of State has just issued the March 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the sixth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2020. Thisblog post analyzes this month’s Visa Bulletin.

March2020 Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates — Applications with these datesmay be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or ImmigrantVisa appointment.

Employment- based	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
1st	01MAR19	01JUN17	01MAR15	01MAR19
2nd	C	15AUG15	22MAY09	C
3rd	01JAN17	22MAR16	15JAN09	01JAN17

MU LawAnalysis

All Other: TheAll Other EB-1 had a four-month progression and the EB-2 category remainedcurrent. Both should stay in theircurrent ranges for the foreseeable future. The EB-3 is retrogressed backto Jan 2017. This retrogression occurredin all categories, except for China and India, where the retrogression isworse. No forward movement is expectedin EB3 for the rest of the fiscal year. Demand in All Other EB-3 Adjustment of Status cases is responsible forthe retrogression.

China: All Chinese EBsimproved slightly. Chinese EB-3 will notprogress beyond the January 2017 retrogression date in all other EB-3 categories.

India: There was virtually no progress for India. We continue to expect very little progress ineither category in future months.

Philippines: The Philippine EB-3 number continues toconfound. We were encouraged by the three-monthprogression in EB-3 in February, only to be surprised by the retrogression backto January 2017. Adding to thecomplexity is that virtually no Philippine EB-3s have been issued at Manilasince the beginning of the year

February 13, 2020
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H-1B CAP 2020: NEWS AND NOTES

The H-1B cap filing date will behere before you know it. New H-1Bs aresubject to the H-1B cap lottery and must be filed between March 1-20, 2020. The USCIS will notify us of H-1B cap lotterywinners by March 31, 2020. If you arepreparing to file an H-1B cap petition for 2020, please send MU the items onour checklist no later than March 10.

A variety of types of case aresubject to H-1B cap:

-International students working onan EAD card under an OPT or CPT program
after having attended a U.S. school;

-International employees working ona TN may need an H-1B filed for them in
order for them to pursue a permanentresidency (green card) case;

-Prospective internationalemployees in another visa status e.g. H-4, L-2, J-1,
F-1; H-1B workers with acap exempt organization; and

-Prospective internationalemployees currently living abroad.

These types of case are not subjectto H-1B cap:

-H-1B amendments/extensions/transfers

-When the employee has been in H-1Bstatus for less than 6 years

-Trade Visas (H-1B1, E-3, TN-1)Chile, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Mexico

-Institution of higher education(or its affiliated or related nonprofit entities), a
nonprofit researchorganization, or a government research organization.

Please contact us if you have any questionsor are looking for representation in filing H-1B cap petitions.

February 5, 2020
Uncategorized

TRAVEL BAN 4.0

On January 31,2020, the President issued a Presidential Proclamation expanding the existing travel ban toinclude the following countries: Burma (Myanmar), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria,Sudan, and Tanzania.

The new travel ban goes into effect February21, 2020 at midnight. Individuals fromcountries on the new travel ban who have received their visas before February21, 2020 can still enter the US. However, we recommend that individuals fromthe newly banned countries enter before the travel ban goes into effect onFebruary 21, 2020.

The government will be reviewing the bannedcountries on October 1, 2020, and annually thereafter. If the banned countriescomply with the US on information sharing, the country may be removed from thebanned list.

The full travelban now includes the following thirteen countries and different types of visasare banned for each country:

Eritrea	Suspends the entry of immigrants, except as Special Immigrants who have provided assistance to the U.S. government.
Kyrgyzstan	Suspends the entry of immigrants, except Special Immigrants who have provided assistance to the U.S. government.
Iran	Suspends the entry of immigrants and all nonimmigrants, except F (student), M (vocational student) and J (exchange visitor) visas, though they are subject to enhanced screening.
Libya	Suspends the entry of immigrants and temporary visitors on business or tourist visas (B-1/B-2).
Myanmar	Suspends the entry of immigrants, except Special Immigrants who have provided assistance to the U.S. government.
Nigeria	Suspends the entry of immigrants, except Special Immigrants who have provided assistance to the U.S. government.
North Korea	Suspends the entry of all immigrants and nonimmigrants.
Somalia	Suspends the entry of immigrants and requires enhanced screening of all nonimmigrants.
Sudan	Suspends the entry of Diversity Visa immigrants
Syria	Suspends the entry of all immigrants and nonimmigrants.
Tanzania	Suspends the entry of Diversity Visa immigrants
Venezuela	Suspends the entry of certain government officials and their family members on business or tourist visas (B-1/B-2).
Yemen	Suspends the entry of immigrants and temporary visitors on business or tourist visas (B-1/B-2).

Citizens of thebanned countries who are already present in the United States can file forextensions of status, changes of status, or for green cards (adjustment ofstatus).

If you are a citizenof one of the banned countries, please reach out to your MU attorney forfurther guidance.

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