Happy Fourth of July!
I have posted this before, but this is a good reminder on our Independence Day of who we are as a nation.
“All of us are like cards in deck. But without even 1 of them, the deck of cards doesn’t work and that’s what Mr. Matthews says is America.”
#newUScitizen
USCIS is celebrating the Fourth of July this year with 100 naturalization ceremonies throughout the country. The majority of naturalizations occur in the courtroom or at USCIS. A few naturalizations occur at special ceremonies such as the ones occurring throughout the country this weekend. The hashtag for the ceremonies is #newUScitizen.
Here are some of the largest naturalizations:
EB-1 Cut Off Expected for India and China
The Employment-Based 1 Category is usually one of the categories that you can rely on being current, meaning that someone with an approved I-140 in EB-1 can file for adjustment of status or for permanent residence through the consulate abroad. However, that is going to change for the remainder of the Fiscal Year for China and India. Charlie Oppenheimer, the guru of Department of State’s visa availability, forecasts that EB-1 for China and India is going to retrogress back to January 1, 2010 when the visa bulletin is released for August 2016. The EB-1 dates for China and India will reset on October 1, 2016, the first day of Fiscal Year 2017. The reason for retrogression is that there are strict visa quotas for each category and preference that cannot be exceeded each year.
A light at the end of the delayed processing tunnel?
It has been a year since the processing times for H-1B cases jumped from an approximate of 2 months to 7 and 8 months. The delays are not just a matter of inconvenience. They have meaningful effects on people’s lives and businesses. A 240 day extension of employment kicks in if an extension of status is filed before the expiration of the previous visa, but there are possible ramifications for renewing Driver’s Licenses and college tuition, among other practical things. The long delays constructively forced businesses and applicants to pay the $1,225 premium processing fee.
Recently many H-1B cases were transferred to the Nebraska Service Center. Our office recently had an H-1B extension case decided in 7 weeks. That seems to signal a return to normal processing times.
Unfortunately, many other kinds of cases are struggling with lengthy delays. Employment Authorization Document applications are not being adjudicated within 90 days, despite regulations that instruct adjudication within 90 days. This is also in spite of case transfers to other service centers. O and P visas are supposed to be adjudicated within two weeks. The Vermont Service Center is hovering at 2.5 months. U visas have finally started to move forward, but the adjudication of those cases has been at a standstill for a year.
Keep on Waiting:
Employment Authorization Document Processing Times
An Employment Authorization Document application is supposed to, by regulation, be adjudicated within 90 days. For first time asylum applicants, the regulation states it needs to be adjudicated within 30 days.
Processing times for applications to USCIS usually fluctuate between slow, medium, and quick. The trend for Employment Authorization Cards is that they have been taking the full 90 days. Recently, some applications have exceeded 90 days. This is in spite of the effort that USCIS has made to distribute the work through transfers to different service centers. You may receive a transfer notice from USCIS, which merely means that your case is being adjudicated at a different service center. The end result is that individuals who need to and are eligible to obtain work authorization are left waiting longer and longer. It makes renewing employment authorization difficult to do in a timely manner. An application cannot be submitted more than 120 days in advance. If the Service is exceeding 90 days to adjudicate, that means that applications need to be submitted upon eligibility. Another delaying factor is that it takes a few days for the cards to be produced and mailed.