H1B Visa Lawyer Blog

February 26, 2021

Biden Lifts Ban Blocking Legal Immigration to US

Last spring at the beginning of the Pandemic, former President Trump stopped the issuance of green cards until the end of the year citing American job loss, this basically blocked legal immigration. Just before leaving office he extended the ban until the end of March 2021. On Wednesday, President Biden lifted that order!

In his proclamation, President Biden states that shutting the door on legal immigrants “does not advance the interests of the United States.” The proclamation also states, “To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world,”.

Presidential Action: A Proclamation on Revoking Proclamation 10014

February 25, 2021

USCIS Reaches the H-2B Cap for the Second Half of Fiscal Year 2021

by Kellie N. Lego

USCIS announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-2B petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap (33,000) for the second half of FY 2021. February 12, 2021 is now the “final receipt date” for cap-subject H-2B worker requesting employment start dates before October 1st. The “final receipt date” is the date on which USCIS determined that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the second half of FY2021, for a total of 66,000 for the year.

USCIS will reject new H-2B petitions that were received after February 12, 2021 and that request an employment start date before October 1, 2021, but there are some exceptions!

The exceptions are listed below:

February 24, 2021

Visa Bulletin – March 2021

by Kellie N. Lego

The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.

Click the link to view the March 2021 Visa Bulletin

The monthly Visa Bulletin has changed. The bulletin now summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during the reported month for: “Application Final Action Dates” (consistent with prior Visa Bulletins) and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center using Consular Processing (outside of the US) or file on their own with USCIS Form I-485 (within the US).

February 23, 2021

USCIS Reverts to the 2008 Version of the Naturalization Civics Test

by Kellie N. Lego

The USCIS is returning to the Citizenship Testing and Testing Procedure to the 2008 version! This is the version used before the Trump Administration changed it in the last month leading up to the new Biden Administration taking office! This action by the USCIS is following President Biden’s Executive Order, “Executive Order on Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans”!

For complete details, please review USCIS News Release, “USCIS Reverts to the 2008 Version of the Naturalization Civics Test”.

Source of Information:

February 22, 2021

USCIS Reaches FY 2021 H-1B Regular Cap

by Kellie N. Lego

On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, USCIS announced that it had reached enough H-1B petitions to fill the 65,000 H-1B regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2021.

*We have completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts. The status for registrations properly submitted for the FY 2021 H-1B numerical allocations, but that were not selected, will now show: “Not Selected: Not selected for this fiscal year”. *USCIS

Please review USCIS News Alert, “USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B Regular Cap” for more details.

February 19, 2021

MVP “Immigration Q & A Forum” – February 19, 2021

by Kellie N. Lego

MVP Law Group, P.A. makes available the information and materials in this forum for informational purposes only. The information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice or any contractual obligations. Further, the use of this site, and the sending or receipt of this information, does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. Therefore, your communication with us through this forum will not be considered as privileged or confidential.

Question #1 – Visa Interview

If I do not speak English, when I go to my interview for my visa, will a translator be provided for me or will I need to provide one myself?

February 18, 2021

USCIS Notice of E-Verify Records Disposal

by Kellie N. Lego

USCIS has announced that on Friday, May 14, 2021, they will dispose of all E-Verify records that they have stored that are more than 10 years old! All E-Verify records stored on or before December 31, 2010 will be removed. Employers using E-Verify have until May 14, 2021, to download case information if they would like to retain specific E-Verify case information.

USCIS Notice of E-Verify Records Disposal

Source of Information:

February 16, 2021

Presidential Action: Preserving and Fortifying DACA

by Kellie N. Lego

On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential Action in the form of an Executive Memorandum directing Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, consulting with the Attorney General (not confirmed), to take appropriate actions to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), consistent with applicable law. The memorandum, entitled, “Preserving and Fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)” lays out the President’s request to the Executive Branch for action!

Note: Executive Actions carry no legal weight, they are normally a request made by the President to Congress or the Executive Branch for specific actions.

Source of Information:

February 15, 2021

MVP “Immigration Q & A Forum” – This Friday, February 19, 2021

by Kellie N. Lego

We wanted to find a new way to engage our reader base. Every other Friday, we will post the ten (10) best/most frequently asked questions received during the week from our h1bvisalawyerblog, Facebook, and Twitter readers. We will answer those questions and provide the Q&A on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.

If you have a burning question, are seeking assistance with a difficult immigration related case, wish to discuss your views on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, DREAMers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, priority dates, the monthly visa bulletin, adjustment applications, etc., please contact us by submitting your question/comment/viewpoint in our comment box provided on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.

Our next “Q & A Forum” will take place this Friday, February 19, 2021. Act now and submit your questions!

February 11, 2021

Immigrants in each State (fact sheets): MA, MI and MN (Update 8-6-20)

by Kellie N. Lego

The American Immigration Council (AIC) has released all fifty states and the District of Columbia, for a total of fifty-one updated state-by-state fact sheets highlighting immigration data and facts. These fact sheets highlight the demographic and economic impact of Immigrants in each state.

With national immigration policy being discussed, we thought that it would be a good time to provide some statistics on the Immigrant population in the United States as provided by this AIC research. Once a week we will be posting a blog with information on three states at a time. This week we will highlight; Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota!

The AIC has compiled research which shows that Immigrants are an essential part of each of these states’ economy, labor force and tax base. As our economy continues to grow, Immigrants and their children are a growing economic and political force as consumers, taxpayers and entrepreneurs. As United States economic continues to grow, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in shaping the economic and political future of each of these states.