DENIAL OF “ADVANCED PAROLE” TRAVEL PERMITS FOR ABANDONMENT

During the annual Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman Conference, USCIS Director, Francis Cissna, stated it is the USCIS’s intention to end the practice of denying pending Advanced Parole applications (travel permits) in situations where the applicant travels overseas while the travel permit application is pending. 

The USCIS has recently updated the “special instructions” section of their website regarding travel permits indicating individuals may travel when they have a pending travel permit application pending, provided they also have an approved travel permit that is valid for the entire time the individual is abroad. The pending travel permit will not be considered abandoned and so will not be denied in this situation.

The USCIS website does not state that this change in policy applies to foreign nationals who travel abroad with a valid H or L visa.  Non-immigrant intent is required for most visas, with a noted exception for those holding H-1B or L-1 status.  Because of this exception, those traveling on H-1B or L-1 while their green cards are pending do not need a travel permit.

Travel permit applications are made most commonly when an individual applies for a green card.  At the time the green card application is filed, an application for a work and travel permit is also filed.  Unless the green card applicant holds H or L status, the green card applicant should not travel abroad until the travel permit is issued.  Traveling abroad without a valid travel permit while a green card application is pending will cause the denial of the green card application for abandonment.

JANUARY 2019 VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State has just issued the January 2019 Visa Bulletin. This is the fourth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2019. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

January 2019 Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

EB  Class	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
EB-1	01OCT17	15DEC16	01DEC16	01OCT17
EB-2	C	01AUG15	01APR09	C
EB-3	C	08JUN15	01MAR09	22JUN17

Table B: Dates for Filing -- The DOS may work on applications with these dates. But the Visa cannot be approved until the date is current per Table A.

EB  Class	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
EB-1	01JUN18	01OCT17	01OCT17	01JUN18
EB-2	C	08SEP15	22MAY09	C
EB-3	C	01JAN16	01JAN10	01AUG17

MU Law Analysis (all references are to Table A unless noted)

All Other, Mexico: As we expected, the EB-1 category again moved several months.  We expect continued steady movement in this category for All Other.  We do not see any retrogression in the future for EB2 or EB3, other than the usual retrogression at the end of the Fiscal Year.

China: Likewise, the China EB-1 category progressed several months. This category may not move as fast as All Other in the next few Visa Bulletins. China EB-2 moved two months,

EB-3 did not advance, reflecting high demand.  Still, we expect EB-3 to slightly outpace EB-2 in the next few Visa Bulletins.

India: India EB-2 and EB-3 did not move. We expect the slow/no progress to be standard for EB-2 in the first part of FY 2019.  We are slightly more optimistic about India EB-3.

Philippines: The EB-3 date again also only moved up by week, which is slower than we would have liked to have seen.  While over the course of FY2019, we should eventually see the EB-3 priority date extend into FY2018, we do not expect too much movement in the next few Visa Bulletins.

TWO PROPOSED H-1B CAP MODIFICATIONS

The USCIS has published two proposed rules that will change H-1B cap processes.  While the USCIS hopes that these two rules are finalized in time for the April 2019 H-1B cap, the USCIS has not yet committed to a timeline.  The public may comment on the two proposed rules until January 2, 2019.

The two rules are:

1. Electronic pre-registration for the H-1B cap.  This is a proposed rule that has been considered by USCIS since 2011.  Under the proposal, all H-1B lottery petitions will need to be electronically pre-registered during the H-1B pre-registration period from April 1-7.  After the pre-registration period has concluded, USCIS will run the H-1B lottery.  All H-1B lottery winners will then have 60 days to submit the actual H-1B petition.  If implemented properly, this should save petitioners and the industry significant expense.

2. H-1B Masters Cap Allocation Preference.  USCIS will technically re-engineer the way that it conducts the H-1B lottery.  The result of the re-engineering should mean that a slightly greater number of H-1B petitions will be approved for US Masters Degree H-1B Beneficiaries than under the current H-1B lottery.  We previously explained this process on an earlier blog.