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Immigration News Briefs

Provided by Humera Subhani Email Provided by Humera Subhani
December 2020
Immigration News Briefs

H1B rules significantly affect visa program

The government recently published three rules that will have a significant impact on the H-1B visa program. The first rule is published by the Department of Labor and impacts the way prevailing wages are determined under the H-1B program; the second rule is published by the Department of Homeland Security and will impact how specialty occupation is defined under the federal statute; and the third rule would replace the current random lottery system that is used to determine whose petitions get processed each year under the fiscal cap.

Therefore, instead of a random selection process, which is the current method used, under the new rule the selections will be made according to how much an H-1B worker would be offered in salary. Those offered the highest salaries with their positions—starting with the level four under the DOL's prevailing wage database and then in descending order levels three, two, and one—will be considered for selection under the the registration process.

Lawsuits are currently in place to oppose these new visa restrictions and more information will be provided in an upcoming article.

Highlights on civics test for naturalization

Increases the general bank of civics test questions from 100 to 128, the number of test questions for the exam to 20 (from 10), and accordingly, the number of correct answers needed to pass the civics test to 12 (from 6). The test score required to pass (60 percent correct) will not change.

Confirms that USCIS will continue to administer 10 test questions (with required 6 correct answers) to applicants who qualify for special consideration because they are age 65 or older and have been lawful permanent residents for at least 20 years.

Provides that officers will ask all 20 test items (or 10 to special consideration applicants), even if the applicant achieves a passing score

Federal judge blocks DACA restrictions

On November 16, a U.S. district judge ruled that a DHS July 2020 memorandum that curtails immigration benefits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is unenforceable. The federal judge found that Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who issued the memo, was not properly appointed to his position, and therefore lacked the authority to restrict DACA.

On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Trump Administration violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) in attempting to end DACA. The Administration responded on July 28, 2020, when Wolf released the memo, which directed the DHS to reject all pending and future requests for DACA, to reject all pending and future applications for advance parole, barring exceptional circumstances, and to shorten the DACA renewal period to one year.

APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES—​​DECEMBER 2020

 

FAMILY

India

Pakistan/Bangladesh

1st

​15Sep14

​15Sep14

2A

Current

Current

2B

08Jul15

08Jul15

3rd

​15Jun08

15Jun08

4th

​​08Mar05

​22Sep06

 

 

EMPLOYMENT

India

Pakistan/Bangladesh

1st

01​Apr19

Current

2nd

​0​1​Oct​​09

Current

3rd

​​​15Mar10

Current

Other

​​​15Mar10

Current

4th

Current

Current

5th

Current

Current

 

 

 DATES FOR FILING VISA APPLICATIONS—​DECEMBER  2020

 

FAMILY

India

Pakistan/Bangladesh

1st

​​22Jul15

​​22Jul15

2A

01Aug20

01Aug20

2B

​​01May16

01May16

3rd

​​01Jun09

​​01Jun09

4th

22Nov05

​15Sep07

 

 

EMPLOYMENT

India

Pakistan/Bangladesh

1st

01​Nov20

Current

2nd

15​May11

Current

3rd

01​Jan1​4

Current

Other

01​Jan1​4

Current

4th

Current

Current

5th

Current

CurrentB

 


Visa Bulletin for October 2020 is available on our website.
Please go to
http://www.khabar.com/magazine/ immigration

 


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