We knew it since January 2023: USCIS had plans to increase processing fees all across the board. The final rule is now public and in this article we will discuss the main changes and how the fee increase affects EB2 NIW green card in particular. USCIS has tamed some of the initially proposed increases, but […]
USCIS increases all fees: the effect on EB2 NIW Read More »
USCIS has issued the data for I-140 approvals for the full Fiscal Year 2023 that ended in September 2023. The agency publishes this data on a quarterly basis and it is a good way to follow trends on percentage approvals and denials, as well as absolute numbers of approvals and denials for the different categories
EB2 NIW Approval Rates are going down Read More »
Good news for EB-2 (which includes EB2 NIW) in the upcoming January 2024 visa bulletin you can consult here. Dates move forward significantly and that means that applicants waiting to adjust status or complete their process from abroad using Consular Processing are getting closer to receiving their green cards. Why is January an important month? January
EB2 dates advance in January 2024 Visa Bulletin Read More »
In the recent few months, the United States is going through a layoff wave that has affected hundreds of companies and thousands of workers. According to the website layoffs.fyi, more than 68,000 employees were laid off in January 2023 from 200+ companies in the tech sector alone. Some of the most well-known organizations engaging in these
Layoffs and H-1B visas: how to protect yourself Read More »
USCIS announced on January 12, 2023 that they are making Premium Processing fully available for green card applicants filing under the EB2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) category, as well as those under the EB-1C category for Multinational Executives and Managers. Premium Processing for EB2 NIW costs $2,805 and will guarantee a decision in 45 days. Premium
USCIS fully implements Premium Processing for EB2 NIW Read More »
The United States Immigrations and Citizenship Services (USCIS) agency has published a proposal that would increase the fees most immigration applicants pay. Among the reasons for this increase, USCIS cites the insufficient revenue collected from petitioners to cover the high workload they have. USCIS funds 96% of their operations through costumer fees and not from Congressional funds,
USCIS fees to increase in 2023 Read More »
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released their annual report “Fiscal Year 2022 Progress Report”. In this document they summarize the main challenges and progress achieved during the fiscal year, which ran from October 2021 to September 2022. Key Takeaways from the report The report is an easy-to-read 14 page document that is full
USCIS processed a record number of green cards in 2022 Read More »
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is not only aware of the backlogs that many applicants suffer, but is committed to find solutions to tackle this problem. Last month, the USCIS Director Ms. Ur Jaddou, and the CIS Ombudsman, Ms. Phyllis Coven, sat down for a rare Fireside chat. This one-hour long conversation was
USCIS committed to reduce backlogs – but fees may go up soon! Read More »
September 2022 – A few months ago we were talking in this blog about how USCIS was aiming for an expansion of Premium Processing to categories of green card that did not have this option. EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) falls in this category. Last week, on September 15, USCIS moved to the next phase of this
USCIS expands Premium Processing for EB2 NIW further Read More »
One of the drawbacks of filing an EB-2 NIW application until now was that there was no premium processing for this category of green cards. However, this has changed slightly recently. Indeed, there is EB2 NIW Premium processing in 2022, but it is only available for certain cases for now. In May 2022, the US government
Premium processing for EB-2 NIW in 2022 Read More »
