FEBRUARY 2020 VISA BULLETIN: ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS
January 20, 2020
The Department of State hasjust issued the February 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the fifth VisaBulletin of Fiscal Year 2020. This blog post analyzes this month's VisaBulletin.
February 2020 Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates-- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card(Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
| Employment- based | All Other | CHINA | INDIA | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | 15DEC18 | 22MAY17 | 01JAN15 | 01DEC18 |
| 2nd | C | 01JUL15 | 19MAY09 | C |
| 3rd | C | 01JAN16 | 08JAN09 | 01JUN18 |
MU Law Analysis
All Other: Although All Other EB-1has a slight retrogression, the EB-2 category remained current and is expectedto remain current for the foreseeable future. The EB-3 is current, but the DOS expects to implement a retrogression inMarch.
China: EB-2 did not move,although EB-3 progressed by a month. TheEB-2 and EB-3 each progressed about one month. Over the course of FY2020 we expect EB-2 and EB-3 to remain within a fewmonths of each other.
India: There was virtually no progress forIndia. We continue to expect very littleprogress in either category in future months.
Philippines: We wereencouraged by the three-month progression in EB-3. We remain surprised by the slow progress ofEB-3, although we were encouraged by this month’s progression. We think thatthere is a chance of continued progression in the next few months, although theenactment of All Other EB-3 retrogression may mean that fewer visas areavailable for the Philippines.
REMINDER: NEW H-1B CAP REGISTRATION SYSTEM AND STRATEGIES FOR THE UPCOMING H-1B SEASON WEBINAR
January 13, 2020
MU Law will be hosting a free webinar for our clients and friends on Wednesday January 29, 2020 at 2PM / 11AM PT. Interested clients and friends can register for our webinar by clicking on the link below.
This webinar will discuss the NEW H-1B cap registration system and strategies for the upcoming H-1B season.
Webinar Agenda:
· NEW H-1B Cap Registration System
· H-1B Cap Projections
· What is a Specialty Occupation?
· H-1B Dependency
· Special Issues for Staffing Companies and Third Party Placements
· What is Third- Party Placement v. In-House work?
· Employer-Employee relationships, how to maintain them
· Cap-gap for F-1s as well as CPT/OPT maintenance -
· Top 10 things H-1B employers can do to stay compliant
· Q&A
PLEASE JOIN US!
BUSINESS IMMIGRATION OUTLOOK FOR 2020
January 9, 2020
There are some obvious areas where wecan expect to see activity in business immigration 2020. Here are a few topics that we will keepingour eye on this year:
New H-1B Cap Process
The USCIShas confirmed that it will use an electronic pre-registration systemfor 2020 (Fiscal Year 2021). Under thisprogram, H-1B petitioners and beneficiaries must be registered between March1-20, 2020. Please join us for ateleconference on the new H-1B registration system to learn more. REGISTER.
H-1B Specialty Occupation Rule
The USCIS recently publishednotice that it intends to revise the definition of specialtyoccupation, with an aim to restricting the number of people who qualify for theH-1B visa. It remains to be seen whatthe revised definition says and whether or not the USCIS oversteps itsauthority with a new rule. TheUSCIS continually is sued on these issues and usually settles thecase by reopening and approving the H-1B petition.
H-1B Employer-Employee Rule
Likewise, USCIS will also seek torevise the H-1B rule by creating a stricter law on who can be an H-1Bemployer. USCIS’ own regulation saysthat its aim is to “to better protect U.S. workers and wages,” which hastraditionally been the Department of Labor, not the USCIS’ role. Again, we expect to see lawsuits if the USCISexceeds the rules set forth by Congress.
Recession of the H-4 / EAD rule
The Trump Administration has, foryears, sought to eliminate the H-4/EAD rule. A recentUSCIS court filing indicates that the rule rescinding workauthorization could happen in March.
NEW H-1B CAP REGISTRATION SYSTEM AND STRATEGIES FOR THE UPCOMING H-1B SEASON WEBINAR
January 2, 2020
MU Law will be hosting a free webinar for ourclients and friends on Wednesday January 29, 2020 at 2PM / 11AM PT. Interested clients and friends can register for our webinar by clicking on the link below.
This webinar will discuss the NEW H-1B cap registration systemand strategies for the upcoming H-1B season.
Webinar Agenda:
· NEWH-1B Cap Registration System
· H-1BCap Projections
· Whatis a Specialty Occupation?
· H-1BDependency
· SpecialIssues for Staffing Companies and Third Party Placements
· Whatis Third- Party Placement v. In-House work?
· Employer-Employeerelationships, how to maintain them
· Cap-gapfor F-1s as well as CPT/OPT maintenance -
· Top10 things H-1B employers can do to stay compliant
· Q&A
PLEASE JOIN US!
JANUARY 2020 VISA BULLETIN: PREDICTIONS AND ANALYSIS
December 19, 2019
The Department of State hasjust issued the January 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the fourth VisaBulletin of Fiscal Year 2020. This blog post analyzes this month's VisaBulletin.
January 2020 Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates-- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card(Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
| Employment- based | All Other | CHINA | INDIA | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | 15OCT18 | 22MAY17 | 01JAN15 | 01OCT18 |
| 2nd | C | 01JUL15 | 18MAY09 | C |
| 3rd | C | 01DEC15 | 01JAN09 | 15MAR18 |
MU Law Analysis
All Other: Although All Other EB-1has a slight retrogression, the EB-2 and EB-3 categories remained current andare expected to remain current for the foreseeable future.
China: EB-2 did progress by threemonths. The EB-2 and EB-3 eachprogressed about one month. Over thecourse of FY2020 we expect EB-2 to catch up to EB-3 and the two categories tostay roughly equal.
India: As with China, the EB-2and EB-3 dates remain inverted. Therewas just three days’ progress in EB-2 and no progress in EB-3. We continue to expect very little progress ineither category in future months.
Philippines: Weremain surprised by the slow progress of EB-3. The DOS indicates that the Philippine EB-3will only be moving one month at a time for the next 3 calendar months, whichis slower than our internal metric indicate should be happening. We are no longer predicting as rosyprogressions in early 2020.
FAIRNESS FOR HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS ACT VOTE TABLED UNTIL 2020
December 18, 2019
Sen. Lee and Durbin have agreed topostpone S. 386 (Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act) until 2020. It seemsthat Sen. Lee may not have had all of his Republicans on board with some of thelatest amendments.
Musillo Unkenholt's analysis on what is in the current version of Act is on our December 17, 2019 blog post.
FAIRNESS FOR HIGH SKILLED IMMIGRANTS ACT COULD PASS SOON
December 17, 2019
The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act has been a hot legislative item all year. On several occasions, the bill has looked to be set into law, until a last minute Senate hold out has blocked the law’s progress. One of the final holdouts, Sen. Durbin (D-IL), has just agreed to a compromise with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). Sen. Lee is bill’s lead sponsor.
The bill, including Sen. Durbin’s amendments, would make these changes to Employment-Based Immigration:
Changes to the Green Card Quota and Process
- Eliminate the per-country visa caps on employment-based workers over a three-year phase in period. This will speed up processing Indian EB2 and EB3 retrogressed immigrants.
- Allow all nonimmigrants in the US to file an I-485 Adjustment of Status 270 days (9 months) after the filing of their I-140, Petition for Alien Worker. This will allow more job flexibility and protect Indian and Chinese H-1B and L-1 workers and their immediate families. These Adjustment applicants must maintain qualifying employment and the entire family will retain their priority dates even if they would otherwise age-out. This provides a great relief to long-retrogressed families.
- There is a 4,400 visa carve-out for Schedule A workers. As with current law, their immediate family members also take visas at the same time. This provision will end in 2026.
- There is also a second carve-out for non-Indian and Chinese nationals who have not worked in the US. Our sense is that this will largely be used by non-H-1B occupations, such as Registered Nurses. This provision ends in nine years.
Changes to the H-1B visa
- Employers with more than 50% H-1B / L-1 workers would be barred from the H-1B program.
- H-1B Cap petitions must be posted on an on-line government job board prior to the filing of the H-1B cap petition.
- Elimination of the B-1 in Lieu of H-1B business visa rule.
- Additional wage protection for H-1B workers.
- Additional protections for H-1B whistleblowers.
Next Steps
Sen. Lee is expected to try to pass the bill in the Senate this week, perhaps as soon as today. The bill will need to go back to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to pass, perhaps before the end of the year. After that the President will need to sign the Bill into law, which is expected.
H-1B CAP SEASON 2020: MUST FILE MARCH 1-20, 2020
December 9, 2019
The USCIShas confirmed that it will use an electronic pre-registration systemfor 2020 (Fiscal Year 2021). Under thisprogram, H-1B petitioners and beneficiaries must be registered between March1-20, 2020. Accordingly, all MU clients should begin to identify thebeneficiaries that they would like to sponsor for the 2020 H-1B capseason.
TheUSCIS has not yet announced the specific data that will be required forregistration, although they have assured the public that the requiredinformation will be “basic.” There willbe a nominal $10 fee for each registration. After the New Year, MU will hold a webinar teleconference to outline theprocess for our clients.
PWDs WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE 4 MONTHS (AND OTHER NOTES FROM DOL)
December 3, 2019
On November 5, 2019 the Department ofLabor held a presentation and gave updates to a number of their programs. AILAhas reported on the update. The updates include:
-DOL expects that PWD processing timeswill remain at 4 months, despite its goal to get the processing time down to 90days.
-The Form 9141 (PWD) has been updatedand postedto the OMB webpage. Theexpectation is that it will go live in mid-2020. Until that time, the currentForm 9141 remains valid, even though it lists an expired 10/31/2019 date.
-With the October launch of LCAs onthe PERM system, iCert will soon be decommissioned.