On the morning of February 14, 2024, several clients reached out after encountering issues with the photo matching tool in E-Verify. They reported discrepancies where the photos transmitted by E-Verify did not align with the photos on the employees’ documents. It became increasingly clear that E-Verify was not rendering the correct photos from the
USCIS
USCIS Announces FY 2025 H-1B Cap Registration Details and Updates
By: Jason E. Burritt, Victoria Ma, Gabriel Mozes, Mia Batista, and Brooke K. Gary
Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a final rule on the upcoming H-1B cap registration, creating a beneficiary-centric selection process, starting this FY 2025 H-1B cap registration period, which will run from March…
May 2023 U.S. Immigration Alert
By: Mary Honeychurch, Steven Brouillard, Weijia (Victoria) Ma, and Jake Campbell
Seyfarth Synopsis: The below summarizes recent legal updates that impact U.S. immigration:
1. USCIS Releases FY2024 H-1B Initial Registration Period Updates
On April 28, USCIS announced that it received 780,884 registrations for the FY2024 H-1B initial registration, resulting in an approximate…
April 2023 U.S. Immigration Alert
By: Jake Campbell and Weijia (Victoria) Ma
Seyfarth Synopsis: The below summarizes recent legal updates that impact U.S. immigration:
1. FY2024 H-1B Cap Registration
On March 27, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that initial registration was complete and that all prospective petitioners with selected registrations selected in the lottery were notified. Petitioners…
USCIS Expands Premium Processing Eligibility to Certain F-1 Students Seeking OPT or STEM OPT Extensions and Makes Online Filing Available
By: Victoria Ma
Seyfarth Synopsis: In its continued efforts to increase efficiency and reduce burdens to the overall immigration system, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the expansion of premium processing for certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and F-1 students seeking science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) OPT extensions.
As…
March 2023 U.S. Immigration Alert
By: Jake Campbell and Victoria Ma
Seyfarth Synopsis: The below summarizes recent legal updates that impact U.S. immigration:
1. H-1B Cap Registration is Live
H-1B cap registration opened on March 1, 2023 at noon EST and closes on March 17, 2023 at noon EST. Employers should be prepared to submit critical data points associated with…
February 2023 U.S. Immigration Alert
By: Jake Campbell
Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. immigration agencies have started 2023 at full steam and have issued numerous legal updates. The below will provide a summary of these updates that occurred in January 2023:
- H-1B Cap Registration
USCIS announced that this year’s cap registration will open on March 1…
Getting Ready for the FY 2024 H-1B Cap Registration
By: Mia Batista, Steven R. Brouillard, and Victoria Ma
Seyfarth Synopsis: H-1B Registration is approaching! Employers should identify any current employees and employment candidates who may require H-1B visa sponsorship.
This Legal Update is intended to assist employers with understanding the general process of the H-1B electronic registration program and identifying any current…
USCIS Agrees to Bundle Adjudication for H-4/H-4 EADs and L-2 Dependent Applications When Filed Concurrently with Form I-129
By: Steven Brouillard and Jake Campbell
Seyfarth Synopsis: Starting January 25, 2023, USCIS will adjudicate I-539 and I-765 applications for H-4 and L-2 dependents when those applications are filed concurrently with the I-129 petition. The bundling of those applications applies to both regular and premium processed H-1B or L-1 petitions.
USCIS will return to its…
USCIS Implements Final Phase of Premium Processing For Multinational Executive/Manager and National Interest Waiver Immigrant Visa Petitions
By Steven R. Brouillard and Victoria Ma
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 12, 2023, USCIS announced the final phase of premium processing expansion for EB-1 Multinational Executive and Manager and EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) Form I-140 Petitions, as well as steps to expand premium processing for certain I-765 and I-539 applications.
Background:
On March 30…