USCIS announced on April 1, 2020 that H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY2021 may now be filed with USCIS if based on a valid selected registration. The filing period will last 90 days and must be filed by paper. USCIS noted that nearly 275,000 registrations were submitted during the initial registration period.
In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on Monday , March 30th, 2020, flexible measures to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to certain Requests for Evidence (RFE) , Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID), Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIR) and Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOIT) regional investment centers, as well as certain filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion. This flexibility applies to notices and requests issued between March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020. Any response to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, or NOIT received within...
USCIS offices will reopen on April 7, 2020 unless the public closures are extended further. Employees in these offices are continuing to perform mission-essential services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public. USCIS field offices will send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies impacted by the extended closure.
The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced on March 21, 2020 that the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. Taxpayers can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed. This deferment applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers as well as those who pay self-employment tax. Taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms to qualify for this automatic federal tax filing and...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today ( March 20, 2020) announced that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 National Emergency announced by President Trump on March 13, 2020, all benefit forms and documents with reproduced original signatures will be accepted, including the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, for submissions dated March 21, 2020, and beyond. USCIS already accepts various petitions, applications and other documents bearing an electronically reproduced original signature. This means that a document may be scanned, faxed, photocopied, or similarly reproduced provided that the copy must be of an original document containing an original handwritten signature, unless otherwise...
The initial H-1B electronic registration period closed today, March 20, 2020, at 12:00 pm EST . Selected registrants will be notified no later than March 31, 2020 and can then proceed to file the entire H-1B petition. The U.S. State Department is suspending visa services in most countries due to COVID-19. All routine nonimmigrant and immigrant visa appointments have been canceled as of March 18, 2020. The Canadian border is closed to non-essential traffic. The U.S. and Canada have made an agreement to partly shut down the U.S.-Canadian border. Key supplies will be able to travel between the two...
The State Department will announce a level 4 travel advisory for all international travel citing the coronavirus pandemic . That is its most severe warning. Americans would be instructed not to travel abroad. U.S. citizens will be instructed to repatriate to the U.S. If they don't return, they need to prepare to shelter in place. Mike Pompeo has approved it. Two State Dept officials have confirmed the pending advisory. Members of Congress are working on how to get Americans home. It was less than one week ago, the State Department raised the global travel advisory to level 3 : Reconsider travel.
All non-detained hearings, including merits hearings, are postponed through April 10. In addition, certain immigration courts are entirely closed. The Houston EOIR is not one of them, so they will be currently accepting filings. Below is the EOIR statement as well as an EOIR link, which provides information on which courts are entirely closed. EOIR Statement: Attributable to an EOIR spokesperson: Due to EOIR’s continuing evaluation of information from local, regional, state, and federal officials regarding the coronavirus pandemic, the agency is postponing non-detained hearings nationwide. As a result, the following immigration court locations are closed: Atlanta-W. Peachtree Street Charlotte...
U.S. immigration offices across the country will temporarily close to the public as a result of the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The move by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which will postpone naturalization ceremonies and citizenship and asylum interviews, among other functions, represents the biggest impact to the immigration system as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
ICE notes that as of 3/13/20, there are no confirmed COVID-19 cases in ICE detention facilities and is screening new detainees. ICE has temporarily suspended social visitation but non-contact legal visitations will continue to be permitted.
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