USCIS Issues Updated Policy Memorandum Giving Officers Full Discretion to Deny Cases Without RFE or NOID

USCIS Issues Updated Policy Memorandum Giving Officers Full Discretion to Deny Cases Without RFE or NOID By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On Friday, July 13, 2018, the USCIS announced its rescission of the long-standing policy memorandum (PM), “Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny” (2013 PM) which detailed the parameters surrounding an officer’s discretion to…

USCIS Issues Policy Memorandum Confirming Stricter Evidence Requirements for H-1B Petitions Involving 3rd-Party Worksites

USCIS Issues Policy Memorandum Confirming Stricter Evidence Requirements for H-1B Petitions Involving 3rd-Party Worksites On Thursday February 22nd, The USCIS issued its latest Policy Memorandum, “Contracts and Itineraries Requirements for H-1B Petitions Involving Third-Party Worksites.” The Memorandum largely confirms our firm’s warnings over the last year regarding the stricter adjudication of H-1B petitions involving 3rd party…

Trump Administration Backs Down After H-1B New Years’ Eve Scare

Trump Administration Backs Down After H-1B New Years’ Eve Scare On December 30, 2017, the McClatchy DC Bureau reported that the Trump Administration was seeking to restrict H-1B visa extensions beyond the six-year limitation through a re-interpretation of the AC21 rules. After an apparent realization that such a move was ill-conceived, subject to strong reactions from the…

USCIS Reverses Long-Standing Policy on H-1B Extensions

USCIS Reverses Long-Standing Policy on H-1B Extensions On October 23, 2017, USCIS rescinded its long-standing policy of deference in the adjudication of H-1B extensions with the same employer. USCIS officers will now “apply the same level of scrutiny to both initial petitions and extension requests for certain nonimmigrant visa categories” pursuant to the policy memorandum,…

The January 2017 Rule

The January 2017 Rule On January 17, 2017, the final rule published by the Department of Homeland Security took effect, codifying many sections of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000 (AC21), as well as many other laws relating to the employment of foreign workers. We are providing the details of the new rule…

USCIS Site Visit Initiative for H-1B Dependent Employers and Consulting Companies

USCIS Site Visit Initiative for H-1B Dependent Employers and Consulting Companies On July 19, 2017, MPLG attorneys attended a USCIS hosted Employment Visa Engagement event at the USPTO in San Jose, CA. Representatives from the USCIS, Western Regional, Fraud Detection & National Security (FDNS) Unit spoke at this event. They discussed their new targeted site…