I have written down the basic rules for EB5 investment here.

Most people are worried about the money needed to file EB5 and how to collect those funds.

I try to list down all possible options for you.

How to Collect EB5 Funds

You will need at least $800k to file your EB5 Green card.

Realistically, you will also need an additional $50k to pay for the attorney fee, USCIS fee, and EB5 project admin fee.

Hence, plan for at least 880k to have in hand to take the jump for EB5 investment.

There are various creative ways of collecting funds for your EB5 Investment. We share some of them which are not commonly known to people.

#1 Use 401K Money

You can use your 401k directly as the EB5 investment. The most important thing to understand here is that the project you invest in should be available as the investment in your 401k provider portfolio.

What’s the solution then?

The solution is to move your 401K money from Fidelity to a provider that has the specific project that you chose for EB5 as an investment option. To find this 401K provider, you can ask the EB5 project’s team as they have all the information.

As an example, the Alto IRA has Behring’s EB5 project listed as an investment.

So, you would need to move your 401K money from Fidelity to Alto IRA to use it as an EB5 investment.

Can I move my 401K to another provider If I am currently working for the same company?

That’s a problem. You can only move the amount of money in your 401K to another provider that is not from your current employer.

This is an IRS rule and has nothing to do with USCIS, Fidelity, or any other 401k Provider.

#2 Roth IRA

You can use the same strategy as we mentioned for 401K above for using your Roth IRA for EB5 investment.

The other method is to withdraw your Roth IRA and use it as cash for the EB5 project.

You will be able to withdraw the Roth IRA amount that you contributed without any tax penalties.

If you withdraw the growth (the amount that increased due to the market), you will have to pay the penalty and the tax as per withdrawal rules.

#3 EB5 Project Unsecured Loan

Most EB5 project companies also give you an unsecured loan at the market rate.

This can then be used as the EB5 investment in your name to become eligible for the Green card.

You can get a loan of up to 500k for an investment of 800k. You will have to put in your 300k.

This loan follows the market APR rate and is usually 3-4% above the normal APR.

#4 Money from India/China or Home Country

You can get money from your home country like India or China by selling your assets there.

1. Sell Home Country Property – Many people sell their homes or other property to collect money for EB5.
2. Mortgage/ Loan on the property – The other way is to take a loan on the property in the Home country and then use it to fund the EB5 project in the USA.
3. Borrow from Family & Friends – You can also borrow from relatives, parents, or friends but will need all their proofs of income which may be a little cumbersome to collect.

This is allowed as long as you can prove that money to buy a home was earned legitimately and no taxes are due to the respective home country government.

#5 Other Sources

Whatever sources of money you use, make sure that it is the legitimate source as you will need to submit proof of it.

EB5 Green Card Processing Time

These times can vary but we have provided an estimate based on our understanding.

1. EAD & AP:
   • 5-6 Months to get EAD for work, 10-12 months to get Advance parole for travel.
2. Conditional Green Card:
   • Consider 2-6 years based on your EB5 sub-category and the status of your visa bulletin.
   • If your EB5 priority date (I526 receipt date) is current in the visa bulletin, then you are eligible for a 2-year conditional green card.
   • Your i526 will not be approved until the date gets and remains current.
3. Final Green Card
   • Your I526 should be approved.
   • You will have to apply using the I829 form and request to remove conditions from your conditional green card. This can take several months/years too based on USCIS processing time.
4. Citizenship/Naturalization
   • Your time on a conditional green card should be counted for your Naturalization/Citizenship but you can’t apply for citizenship until your I829 is approved.

Child Age Protection Using EB5

Your child’s age will be locked when you file I485 with your I526e application.

The child should stay unmarried until they get the greed card though.

FAQ

More Questions?

Ask them in the comments and I will try to answer them to the best of my knowledge.

The post How to collect money for USA EB5 Green Card? appeared first on AM22Tech.

Earlier, White House issued an executive order on 30 Oct 2023 which aims to create AI (artificial intelligence) related laws.

The EO is a big announcement and shows that the US government is taking the advancements in AI technology extremely seriously.

The most important aspect of this EO order is the immigration part where President Biden has asked DOS to consider creating processes to give Green cards faster to people working in AI-related jobs and research fields.

What does a faster Green Card mean?

As per my understanding, the faster green card means expedited processing of the i485 application.

It does not mean giving extra green card numbers to a specific country or increasing the number of green cards issued to employment-based categories.

What can Indians, stuck in a vast backlog gain from this executive order?

It is possible that USCIS will create a relaxed or separate category within EB1-B where they allow people to work in the AI field.

This is just our assumption based on the language in the EO, which has asked DOS to create processes and streams for easier Green cards in EB1 and EB2 categories.

There is no mention of country-based limits and it can’t be changed either with an executive order. Hence, whatever they intend to do, has to be done within the EB1 and EB2 categories.

DOS has been given 180 days:

• To analyze, create, and publish the policies that help foreign nationals working in the AI field to stay and convert to green card status.
• Create a program to identify and attract top talent in AI at US universities, research institutions, and the private sector overseas.
• Expedited visa renewals for AI workers within the USA (through the pilot program starting in 2024).
• Faster H1B, O-1, and J-1 visa processing, and expedited visa appointments for people working in AI fields.
• Support and attract foreign nationals with special skills in AI and other critical and emerging technologies seeking to work, study, or conduct research in the United States.

FAQ

What are Emerging Technologies apart from AI?

These are the technology areas that will be prioritized for US green card, work, and study visas.

The full list of emerging technologies is given here.

More Questions?

Ask them in the comments and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge.

I will also add Q&A above as I get more questions from people.

Source: White House Executive Order

The post Fast Green Card for AI Experts – Will Indians Get it? (USA Executive Order) appeared first on AM22Tech.

The bill has been scrapped and has no immediate sign of revival.

• The Senate is already divided and it seems there is no real intention to actually solve the problem.
• The House will also be divided starting Jan 2023 and there is no real hope for at least the next 2 years.

You can play with this app to know how Eagle act provisions could have changed the expected visa bulletin date for your ‘priority date’ vs the current scenario.

As we told earlier, the White House statement supporting the Eagle Act meant nothing and it has been proven so.

David Bier from CATO institute has proposed really good measures to give some relief to people stuck in this unending GC backlog, but keeping in mind the government’s past track record, all of them will need a big ‘change of heart’ to actually do anything.

Eagle Act (HR 3648) – House Version

Zoe Lofgren and John Curtis introduced the Eagle Act soon as the new version of S386 in Biden’s tenure. The Eagle Act has almost all the provisions that were part of the Durbin Lee compromise that passed the Senate in Dec 2020.

It can prove beneficial for employment-based workers if it becomes law.

The full text of the bill is available here in a PDF file on the house.gov website.

The bill aims to have the effective start date as the first day of the second fiscal year after it becomes law. This means that the earliest it can be activated is 1 Oct 2024 if it passes on or before 30 Sep 2023.

The full form of Eagle is Equal Access to Greencards for Legal Employment as mentioned on ImmigrationVoice’s own website EagleAct.info.

#1 File i485 Quickly – First 9 years

You will be allowed to file an i485 application if

• Your PERM is approved and
• Your i140 has been approved for at least 2 years

The first 9 years will help move the already backlogged people into mainstream by letting them file the AOS (adjustment-of-status) so that they can get GC earlier than people who got in the queue later.

There will be Green card numbers reserved for Non-Backlogged countries (i.e. other than India, and China) for the first 9 years.

We have updated the Green card estimation app to check your estimated PD date based on the Eagle act (if it becomes law).

Note that the first two years after the bill is passed will still observe the 7% country of birth limit. So, technically, year 3 (after the bill passes) is the first year for the 9-year rule to start:

• Year 1: 30% of GCs will be reserved.
• Year 2: 25% of GCs will be reserved.
• Year 3: 20% of GCs will be reserved.
• Year 4: 15% of GCs will be reserved.
• Year 5 and 6: 10% of GCs will be reserved.
• Year 7, 8, and 9: 5% of GCs will be reserved.
• Year 10 Onwards: No reservation for any country. A green card is now allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis.

#2 Remove country of birth green card limits

Removing the country of birth discrimination is the primary aim of this bill. This will be achieved in a phased manner and will take about 11 years to do so.

#3 H4 Age Out Protection

Children of Employment based Green card workers will not age out at 21.

#4 No increase in GC numbers

There is no provision to increase the total number of Green Cards.

#5 No ReCapture of lost Green Card numbers

There are about 220k lost green cards since 1992. This bill does not aim to recapture them.

#6 Count H-1B dependents in Yearly Green card numbers

We could not find any text that points to a change in the counting strategy.

All these ideas have been floated earlier but never reached any conclusion in congress since the bill aims to achieve comprehensive immigration reform.

The intent is good and can help reduce the current backlog of about 500k green cards for Indian and Chinese communities but it will face challenges in convincing everyone.

Chances of Passing?

#1 Chance of passing House

The chances of passing the house are extremely high as the same bill passed in the House with a majority earlier in the form of HR1044.

We anticipate that it will pass again quickly in House with a good majority. The chance of passing in the house is 95%.

#2 Chance of passing Senate

Looking at the past S386 record which saw tons of amendments and could not become law even after passing the House and Senate, the chances of this comprehensive immigration reform are less than 10% at this time.

Last time, Senator Durbin had the hold on this bill for the longest time. The story in Senate was not encouraging as one after another Senator kept blocking it until it died with the Senate dissolution.

Timeline

There is no timeline and it can take years.

As they say, there are many slips between the cup and the lips, we still have a long way to go to see the light of the day without country-based discrimination. The bill will need to be passed by both House and Senate and then signed by President Biden.

Most H4 kids will age out if their parents cannot get a green card before they turn 21.

Should I Move to Canada?

The chances of getting a US green card for legal H1B workers from India are still a distant dream and you should have a backup plan until the comprehensive reform bill passes both House and Senate. There is no timeline for this and can take years.

People who took the decision to move to Canada, Australia, or the UK have taken the right decision. Canada and Australia already have a merit-based system in place and the UK started its own in Jan 2021.

The USA does not seem to care about legal skilled workers’ future. Our suggestions:

• If your non-US citizen kid is 15 years today, it is better to start planning to move to one of the above-mentioned countries unless the kid plans to marry a US citizen/Green card holder.
• If you are below 39 years of age, file for Canada, Australia, or UK Permanent residency immediately as you will find it difficult to get an invite if you don’t.
• If you are above 40 years today and do not have any other backup, you have probably missed the bus and have no other option than to keep waiting in the USA green card queue.
• If your child is 17+ years today, send them to Canada for studies and not the US. They can get Canadian residency more easily than lingering in the USA F1 and then H1B line like you.

CIS analysis report

Earlier in March 2020, CIS published the analysis report by the Congressional Research Service which claims that ‘country of birth removal’ will not stop the growth of backlogs in the future.

This report describes:

• The 10-year impact of eliminating the 7% per country ceiling on the first three employment-based immigration categories: EB1, EB2, and EB3.
• It has the potential of eliminating the Indian & Chinese EB1, EB2, and EB3 backlog in 3, 17, and 7 years respectively.
• It may just help reduce the Green card wait times for Indian and Chinese nationals initially but it would create a backlog for other countries.

If there is no removal of the country of birth GC limits, the CATO institute projects that this employment-based backlog will double by FY 2030 to 2 million as compared to the current 1 million.

Immigration Reform Passing Process

1. Pass Senate and then House (If both are voting on the same exact version).
2. Pass House and then Senate (If both are voting on the same exact version).
3. President Signature: The final step after both Senate and House approval is President’s sign.

The post Eagle Act 2022 to Remove Country of Birth Limits (Chances of Passing?) appeared first on AM22Tech.

USCIS’s FDNS department conducts these surprise visits for people who are deployed at client work locations.

H1B Full-time employees can also expect these visits.

USCIS H1B Site Visit in CoronaVirus

Many people have reported that they have received calls from USCIS (or at least the person says they are from USCIS) and asked to furnish H1B approval details.

This is a very serious matter as it is difficult to differentiate between fraud and genuine calls.

USCIS call over phone Experience 1

One of our guests had reported privately that a USCIS FDNS officer contacted the employer and then called the H-1b employee directly over the phone instead of visiting the office physically during Coronavirus emergency week.

USCIS fraud detection officer asked about the Job description, supervisor, salary, and work location over the phone.

The officer then asked the H1B employee to submit these documents via email directly to the officer:

• Copy of work ID card
• List of job duties performed on a daily basis.
• A copy of my college degree
• Last four pay stubs

USCIS call over phone Experience 2

Another guest shared her experience on one of our WhatsApp groups.

In her case, the interesting thing is the USCIS never contacted the employer and informed her about the site visit or the phone call directly to the employee.

Read here experience here (we have hidden information that’s personal):

She was quite vigilant and hence pushed for meeting him at the nearest USCIS office. This is the safest option to protect your own identity.

You should also meet:

• At the nearest USCIS office.
• At the H1B employer’s office (office may be closed due to COVID-19) – avoid it.
• At public places like Walmart or public parking (do it only after you have verified the officer’s email address and identity).

On Mar 17, 2020, the Law firm Berry Appleman & Leiden (BAL) confirmed to Forbes in one of the articles that USCIS will not conduct H1B site visits if the employer has closed the office.

Since then, USCIS has made multiple changes and has closed all personal contact services even for cases where the employer’s office is open.

FAQ

USCIS Officer Questions – Physical Visit

The officer normally asks you to show your employer ID card, and physical work location, and speak about your daily work assignments.

You may be asked to log in to your computer and show what software you use to perform your daily job. Your client manager may be asked questions about your work too.

#1 Questions About H1B

1. What is your present full-time employment location?
2. Name and address of end client;
3. Which other location do you visit for meetings and training?
4. What is your hire date? What day did you start working at the end client’s location?
5. What is your position title?
6. What are your duties?
7. How many hours per week do you work?
8. What is your work schedule?

#2 Work History Questions

1. Name of the company you worked for in the past.
2. What were your position (s)/ title?
3. Work location.
4. How long?

#3 Education Questions

1. What institution of higher education did you attend?
2. What was your educational major?
3. What years did you attend and when were you awarded your degree?

What Can Happen After USCIS Site Visit?

You should be very careful in answering questions about your client manager’s role in giving daily assignments, hiring and firing decisions, and performance appraisal if you are working at a client site.

Remember that a person on your H1B employer’s direct payroll should have all these powers for you and not your client manager.

Whatever you show and speak is recorded and then compared with what is written in your H1B application.

If there is a serious mismatch found between what you are doing and your approval, the officer can recommend revoking your H1B which essentially means issuing NOIR.

The post USCIS H1B Site Visit – Is Call on Phone a Scam? Real-Life Case Examples appeared first on AM22Tech.

H4 Dependents kids are helpless as:

• The child status protection Act (CSPA) does not help H4 kids as it only has provision to lock their age if H1B’s Green card priority date is current before the child turns 21.
• DACA does not cover H4 dependent kids.

The H4 aging problem can be resolved automatically if the new S386 law can be passed quickly to remove the country of birth based GC limits.

A very well known immigration attorney, Cyrus Mehta has critically commented on the USCIS rule that only counts ‘final action’ chart to protect the child’s green card rights under CSPA law.

The lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court (federal court) in Oregon.

Parties to H4 Kid Age Out Lawsuit

Several H1B families from India have already joined the lawsuit as affected parties called plaintiffs.

Many of them have already aged out and are on the verge of getting separated from their parents just because they have not been able to find any H1B sponsor for themselves after completing studies on an F1 visa.

Others are on the verge of reaching age 21.

• The problem is widespread and is imminent for H1B workers who’s priority date is around 2010 and later.
• DACA act does not consider H4 dreamers even though they entered the US legally.

Most of these H4 kids came to the US in their adolescence ranging from 2-6 years and have studied here all their life. They do not know any other country and its culture.

Will Joining H4 Kid Lawsuit Affect My Green Card?

There is absolutely no harm in joining the lawsuit and it will NOT affect your chances of green card in the future.

• It is your legal right to challenge the US government if you think you are being denied your rights based on equal treatment.
• It does not matter if you lose or win this case, your regular H1B extension, transfers or i485 green card applications won’t be treated adversely.

An H4 kid cannot apply for internships, research programs, and scholarships due to their visa status.

Options for H4 Aging-Out Kids?

There is no guarantee that this case will be decided in favor of H4 kids. Even if it does, the final decision may take up to 6 years to reach.

In the absence of any such current law which can save H4 kid from aging out, other H1B families are taking these steps as per our analysis:

#1 Send H4 Kid to Canada for Higher Studies

This will help your child to get extra Canada PR points. Canada prefers graduates from their own country for giving out permanent residency.

This is definitely better than studying in the US where your kid won’t get any preference unless Trump brings the merit-based immigration law to reality.

You can certainly get extra points if you have any blood relative who is a Canadian citizen.

#2 Apply Canada or Australia PR for family

You have a good chance of getting Australia skilled 189 or 190 PR if the primary H1B parent’s age is less than 40.

Australia also prefers skilled PR based on the points you can get but is more inclined towards younger people.

#3 Apply USA F1 Visa for H4 Kid

Apply F1 Change of status for H4 kid around 2 years before the kid turns 21.

24 months of lead time is suggested by attorneys due to the long USCIS processing time for H4 to F1 change of status applications.

This will help your child stay and study in the US but will have to file his own H1B and go through the same green card process as you did.

Letting your child take his own spot in the same Indian queue will be useless unless the country of birth based limits are removed.

FAQ

H4 Age Out Lawsuit Full Text

Source: Entry Law

The post H4 Kid Age-out at 21 (Options, Lawsuit Chances?) appeared first on AM22Tech.

We are still waiting for confirmation from USCIS as that agency issues the EAD cards. Earlier, during COVID, USCIS had increased the EAD card validity from 1 year to 2 years to tackle the extremely long processing times.

Are EB Backlog pending I485 Eligible?

Hopefully yes. Fingers crossed.

The extended EAD card announcement is indeed a welcome step but legal immigrants waiting in the backlog are skeptical of whether they will be considered eligible for these 5-year terms or not.

The news announcement does not explicitly exclude the employment-based applicants with pending AOS at this time.

But, only time will tell how the USCIS will interpret it. They have a track record of making narrow interpretations when it comes to providing benefits to legal applicants.

Most of the time, legal are excluded from the benefits that are announced for the un-documented, asylum, and refugee categories. This specific EAD card rule has also been primarily targeted at the same community.

Consider this, The Biden administration is giving these 5-year EADs to undocumented applicants but simply asked the tax-paying legal immigrants stuck in decades-long backlog to contact Congress for help!

What Attorneys Say

Attorney Rahul Reddy has written about it and is hopeful that this benefit will be extended to EB-based i485 legal candidates as well. He says that this has the potential of removing unnecessary bottlenecks in the general USCIS processing times.

Rahul also raised a valid point that AP (advance parole) validity will become a problem going forward as it has not been extended.

Similarly, attorney Emily Neumann has also shared that AOS applicants might start getting 5-year EADs:

My Opinion

My personal opinion is that since the rules are targeted toward undocumented people, they did not even give a thought to AP.

Most of the documented applicants worry about AP and these rules probably have the hidden intention of excluding them altogether.

At this time, the language of the announcement does indicate that new and extensions of EAD (with pending i485 – category C09) should be eligible for 5-year validity along with the EAD for Asylum and refugees.

What do you think? Do share in the comments.

Source: DHS News

The post Will USCIS Give 5-Year EAD to Employment-Based Pending AOS (i485)? appeared first on AM22Tech.

Many people have also reported that they were asked to submit a passport last week and still, their case status has changed to ‘Refused’.

Refused Status after Form 221g

The CEAC status language and their status title were changed in 2020 to reflect the status as ‘refused’ instead of the administrative processing.

The H1B cases which are pending form 221g processing for client letter also show status as ‘refused’.

Example:

This is a recent case from the US embassy in Mumbai where the H1B was issued form 221g after the interview on June 15 with the reason as ‘President Proclamation’.

The F1, H4 visa, L visa, and pretty much every visa type including non-immigrant and immigrant visas will see this change.

CEAC Case Status Refused Text

If the “last updated” date has not changed then it appears not to be an actual refusal, just a change in the way the CEAC is showing AP cases.”

Note that the ‘Last updated’ date has not changed in this case and hence, it is safe.

The new CEAC admin processing text creates panic as the status title shows as ‘Refused’ and the details message also signals a visa denial.

“A U.S. consular officer has adjudicated and refused your visa application. Please follow any instructions provided by the consular officer.

If you were informed by the consular officer that your case was refused for administrative processing, your case will remain refused while undergoing such processing. You will receive another adjudication once such processing is complete.

Please be advised that the processing time varies and that you will be contacted if additional information is needed. For more information, please visit TRAVEL.STATE.GOV or the website for the Embassy or Consulate at which you made your visa application.”

Immigration Attorney Clarification

Law Offices of Joshua L Goldstein has clarified that this is an update to the normal language and the status title that CEAC uses and there is nothing to worry about it.

The post What does ‘Refused’ US visa CEAC status mean? (Form 221g Admin Processing?) appeared first on AM22Tech.

The denials are being issued if:

• Multiple registrations were done through related companies. Examples:
  • Same owner.
  • Owner from the same family.
  • Same registered address.
• The same registrations were submitted through different unrelated companies. Examples:
  • Unrelated owner.
  • Multiple financial transactions with each other even when companies are unrelated.
  • The same Attorney represents these unrelated companies.
  • Same or similar-sounding job letters.

USCIS has carried out thorough research in the cases before issuing the denial notices and has provided a detailed analysis of how and what they have found about the company before issuing a such denial.

These kinds of applications are mostly filed by small consulting companies who promise to get the H1B selected and sometimes also charge money for it. They are also known as body-shopping consultants who have created a group of companies to just clog the lottery system.

It is good that USCIS has conducted this investigation to weed out the fraudulent applications and provide a fair ground to people who played by the rules.

Connected/Related Companies

In one such denial notice claiming “willful misrepresentation” by the employer as shared by the immigration lawyer Thomas V. Allen, USCIS has claimed that:

1. H1B employers submitted multiple registrations for the same person through other employers who have the same registered agents or
2. All employers are connected to each other through some other mechanism.

Disconnected Companies

The cases where the h1B employers were not directly related to each other but created some kind of unofficial network just to file multiple registrations have also been denied.

USCIS has claimed that they checked:

1. G-28 representations – basically the Attorney who is filing the case.
2. Companies were related through financial transactions where they were transacting with each other even though the owners were different.
3. Same or similar-sounding job support letters.
4. Employees were shared between the companies.
   

FAQ

We will keep updating this page with more questions and answers as we receive them. You can ask your questions on the forum and we will reply as soon as possible.

Source: Law Office of Thomas V Allen

The post USCIS issuing NOID (Notice to Deny) for H1B 2023 multiple registrations Fraud appeared first on AM22Tech.

As per the final rule published (29 Mar 2022), USCIS will NOT be able to start premium processing for H4 and H4 EAD until 30 Sep 2024.

This shows how difficult it is to move the dinosaur named USCIS. They take 2 years to reach the final rule stage and will take another 3 years to finally start implementing it.

To add salt to injury, the premium processing will be started immediately for EB1C i140 and EB2-NIW.

What this effectively means:

1. The EB1 Green card category is current anyway and hence the applicants do not really need it immediately.
2. USCIS has once again shown that the priority is EB1 and not EB2 or EB3 categories. The Indian H4 EAD spouses are the ones losing their job due to extreme processing delays. They have to now wait for another 3 years to see any daylight.

Until the fiscal year 2025 which starts on Oct 1, 2024, the only viable option would be filing the mandamus lawsuits to make USCIS work for timely approving EADs. Basically, the outdated immigration system is forcing you to spend the money either by paying a premium fee or paying lawyers for filing court cases.

We know that almost all H4 EAD applicants are eagerly waiting for it as they just want to save their hard-earned jobs even if they have to pay an extra fee for the approvals within 6 months. At this time, many people just file an EAD lawsuit court case which itself costs about $3-4k.

USCIS Cycle Time vs Processing Time

USCIS has shared a new term called ‘cycle time’ publicly today which is a metric that they track internally in their service centers.

They aim to reach these goals by end of 2023 which itself is about 1.5 years away.

These are their internal goals which are quite ambitious given the current pathetic situation.

USCIS tweets how much they care for applicants regularly but never responds to the complaints that people make on those tweet threads.

It is good to know that they plan to return to 3 month time period for EAD approvals but it is easier said than done as the official processing times on their publicly available page are usually more than 12 months for each service center.

H4 EAD premium processing Bill

The Senate had passed the HR 8337 bill which adds Premium Processing service for H4 and L2 extensions including H4 EAD and L2 EAD applications.

This is a welcome step and will provide relief to many who are otherwise at the mercy of the USCIS officers to approve their EAD expedite request.

You can now just pay the money instead of begging for timely approval of your EAD.

Premium processing will now be available for:

• i539, i-765 (EAD) – Employment-based primary and their dependents like H1B and L1 dependents.
• All EB1, EB2, and EB3 i-140 including EB-1C multinational executives and managers, and EB-2 national interest waivers can now get the result faster by paying a premium fee.
• Change of status applications like F1 to H4 or vice versa, H1B to H4 COS, and other such combinations will have premium processing service.

The new H1B and L1 premium fee will be $2500.

The fee will vary from $1500 to $2500 for other types of applications.

Biometric Appointment in Premium Processing Cases?

The clever part is that the premium processing timeline will not start until all the prerequisite steps for approving an application are completed.

Example:

• H4 and L2 extension’s premium processing timer will not start until the primary’s H1B or L1 extension has been approved.
• Similarly, the biometric appointment will also be a major hurdle in the H4/L2 extension’s premium timeline.

USCIS should share more details on how the premium processing will work for H4, L2, and F extension cases when the biometric is an important step in the middle.

Pay one Premium fee for H1B, H4, EAD by filing together?

It is not clear if USCIS will allow one single premium processing fee together for primary and dependent applications.

It would be great if they can give a bundle price for premium processing of all three applications together like H1B + H4 + H4 EAD.

Back in the pre-biometric days, USCIS used to show big heart and approve H4 and H4 EAD along with H1B premium as a goodwill gesture.

We will update here if new information is made available for this.

FAQ

The post H4 EAD Premium Processing – Not Available Until 2025 (Sad News) appeared first on AM22Tech.

This change was first made for the period between March 25 to June 30, 2020, and then later extended to Sep 30, due to the Coronavirus emergency.

DOL has now announced that it will adopt this practice permanently.

Another good news is that USCIS will start accepting premium processing for all types of i-140 applications including EB1-C managers and EB2 NIW.

The post PERM Approvals by Email Instead of Paper (DOL Changes Policy) appeared first on AM22Tech.