U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the filing period for certain Liberian nationals and family members to apply for adjustment of status under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness provision has been extended until December 20, 2021.
The provision provides an opportunity for certain Liberian nationals and family members to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the United States.
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By Nathan Grow On February 2, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule titled Improving the H-1B Registration Selection Process and Program Integrity. The final rule, which will become effective March 4, 2024 focuses on enhancing integrity, reducing fraud, and ensuring fairness in beneficiary selection in this year’s H-1B lottery registration process. Beneficiary-Centric Selection Process: USCIS is introducing a beneficiary-centric selection process for H-1B registrations. Instead of selecting from all registrations, USCIS will select registrations by unique beneficiary. This ensures that each beneficiary has an equal chance of being selected, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf. Flexibility in Start Dates: Previously, USCIS mandated that the start date for H-1B petitions for selected individuals must be October 1. Under the final rule, the start date can now be after October 1. Integrity Measures: The final rule calls for additional measures to reinforce the overall registration system, emphasizing fairness for both petitioners and beneficiaries. USCIS will have the authority to deny or revoke H-1B petitions if the underlying registration contains false attestations or is otherwise invalid. Registration Fee: A separate final rule published on January 31, 2024 calls for an increase in the registration […]
A U.S. district judge extended DV-2020 immigrant visas for six months so they will not lapse while he renders a decision on plaintiffs’ challenge to Trump-era travel bans that are still in place. “Even if the court were to declare the proclamations unlawful as plaintiffs request, a DV-2020 plaintiff who lacked a current, valid visa still could not enter the country. Accordingly, an order declaring the proclamations unlawful would provide no relief to a DV-2020 plaintiff without a current, valid visa,” the judge said in his opinion in Gomez v. Trump. According to reports, shortly before the judge issued his order, the Department of State announced an exemption from the travel ban for diversity lottery green card winners whose visas will expire soon. Source: “Diversity Visas Extended While Legal Battle Continues,” Law360, Feb. 20, 2021, https://www.law360.com/classaction/articles/1357149/diversity-visas-extended-while-legal-battle-continues
