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SpanishPursuant to the treaty investor agreement signed and executed between the United States and Israel, The US Department of State announced that from May 1, 2019, the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa became available for Israeli citizens wishing to make a substantial investment in or set up a business here in the United States. To qualify … Continue reading
Author: Fok Immigration Law
NEWS UPDATE ON H-1B 2020
USCIS announcement that the H-1B selection process is complete On April 11, 2019, USCIS announced that it had completed the computer-generated lottery to meet the statutorily mandated H-1B visas of 20,000 for master’s cap, and 65,000 for regular cap petitions. The total number of H-1B petitions received between April 1 and April 5 was 201,011, thus … Continue reading
What Are My Odds Of Being Selected For The H1B Lottery This Year?
By Justin G. Fok As many of our readers are aware, on January 30, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a final rule that modified the selection process for selecting H-1B petitions for the 2020 fiscal year (2019 calendar year) H-1B cap. While this was not the major change to the … Continue reading
Could Medicare Enrollment Affect Your Green Card Application?
When applying for legal permanent residency a “public charge” is an intending immigrant who is expected to primarily subsist off public cash assistance. These individuals are often denied green cards when they apply for residency, but the definition of a public charge could soon change. A proposal from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) … Continue reading
USCIS Increases I-907 Premium Processing Filing Fee on October 1, 2018
On October 1, 2018, USCIS increased the I-907 premium processing service filing fee to $1,410 from $1,225. USCIS also released a new Form I-907 (10/01/18 edition). The old version of Form I-907 (06/26/18 edition) can be filed until 12/02/2018. Premium Processing Service provides expedited processing for certain employment-based I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker) and … Continue reading
Extended Conditional Residence Validity Times for Removal of Conditions Petitioners
The USCIS has announced exciting news for Conditional Permanent Residents seeking to remove conditions on their conditional legal permanent residence. Starting June 11, 2018, USCIS will begin to issue receipt notices extending conditional residence for 18 months instead of 12 months due to increased processing times for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence and Form … Continue reading
Rapid H1B Approvals from the 2019 Cap
On May 7, 2018 our office received the first H1B approval for the 2019 cap. Since that time, we have received numerous approvals for the H1B’s that were submitted on April 1, 2018. While we have only received approvals for a portion of the cases we have submitted, we are delighted to see how quickly … Continue reading
The Fastest Way to Check If You Have Been Selected For the H-1B Lottery
We are pleased to announce that as of Monday, April 23, 2018, our office has begun receiving receipt notices for the H-1B’s we have submitted for the FY 2019 cap. Typically, we will receive additional receipt notices for at least the next few weeks. For this past month, we have received many phone calls and … Continue reading
FY 2019 H-1B Cap Reached – How Does This Years H-1B Cap Compare with Previous Years?
On April 12, 2018, USCIS announced that it had received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutorily mandated 65,000 regular cap, and the 20,000 master’s cap petitions, thus using the entire available cap quota for FY 2019. The total number of H-1B petitions received between April 2 and April 6 was 190,098. While it is … Continue reading
The Current Status of the International Entrepreneur Rule
In early July of 2017, the Trump administration delayed the commencement of the International Entrepreneur Rule, which would have allowed certain start-up founders to stay in the United States for 30 months (with possible extensions), so they could build and grow their businesses in the U.S. A lawsuit was filed in federal court to stop … Continue reading