News in Brief

The following additional items may be of interest to our readers:

H-1B Cap Reached in First Week of Filing: USCIS has received enough H-1B cap-subject visa petitions to exceed the statutory limit of 65,000 visas (plus 20,000 Master’s cap visas). In fact, over 201,000 petitions were received this year, a modest increase from last year’s lottery submissions. USCIS announced it will begin adjudicating premium processed cases on 5/20/19 for those petitions requesting a change of status. For all other FY 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions, it will begin adjudicating them in June 2019 (or later). USCIS also announced that petitioners who now want to request premium processing for their cap-subject H-1B petition (requesting a change of status) must wait until May 20 to interfile such a request.

Supreme Court Takes Up Citizenship Question on 2020 Census: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 23 on whether the government can add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Court’s decision is expected in late June or July.

New Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker: USCIS has released a new I-129 form dated 1/31/19, the form used for most employment-based nonimmigrant visas. Starting 5/20/19, USCIS will only accept this edition.

Discontinuation of Nonimmigrant Visa Issuance to Certain Foreign Nationals: DOS issued a final rule to allow consular officers to discontinue granting visas to individuals when a country has been sanctioned for denying or delaying accepting its nationals subject to a final order of removal from the U.S. The rule is largely technical in nature.

Six Month Extension for EADs for Liberians on DED: President Trump had extended the wind-down period for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) through 3/30/20 for certain eligible Liberians. The six-month automatic extension is through 9/27/19, and employment authorization documents currently held by eligible Liberians can be renewed for six months as well.

Extension of TPS for South Sudan: USCIS extended the designation of South Sudan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months from 5/3/19 through 11/2/20. The re-registration period runs from 4/5/19 through 6/4/19.

Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Blocking Termination of TPS for Haiti: In early April, a district court enjoined the Trump administration from terminating TPS for Haiti, pending a final decision on the merits of the case. The preliminary injunction is effective immediately and will remain in effect pending resolution of the case on its merits or further order from the court

Organizations Request TPS for Venezuela: Over 200 organizations signed a letter to the Departments of Homeland Security and State requesting that Venezuela be designated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to the extraordinary and temporary conditions in the country.