Effective Oct. 1, USCIS will begin to phase-in interviews for the following:
Due to the Russian government-imposed cap on U.S. diplomatic personnel in Russia, all nonimmigrant visa operations across Russia will be suspended on August 23. Operations will resume in Moscow on September 1; visa operations at the U.S. consulates will remain suspended indefinitely. Currently scheduled appointments will be cancelled and applicants will be provided instructions on how to reschedule. Please see our website and the attached Fact Sheet for further details. - US Embassy in Russia
The Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for Semptember 2017. The table below shows "Final Action (Approval)" cut-off dates and movement from the previous month, for all major employment-based categories. To see filing cut-off dates or family-sponsored categories please go to the Visa Bulletin page linked above. For historical data, predictions and more information please refer to our Visa Bulletin Toolbox.
| Chargeability | Preference | Cut-off Date (Y-M-D) | Movement (Days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | First (EB1) | 2012-01-01 | 0 |
| Inida | First (EB1) | 2012-01-01 | 0 |
| China | Second (EB2) | 2013-05-15 | 23 |
| India | Second (EB2) | 2008-08-22 | 31 |
| ROW | Third (EB3) | C | Current |
| China | Third (EB3) | 2012-01-01 | 0 |
| India | Third (EB3) | 2006-10-15 | 92 |
| Mexico | Third (EB3) | C | Current |
| Philippines | Third (EB3) | 2015-11-01 | 153 |
The RAISE Act replaces the current permanent employment-visa framework with a skills-based system that rewards applicants based on their individual merits. The system rewards education, English-language ability, high-paying job offers, past achievements, and entrepreneurial initiative. This system is similar to the merit-based immigration systems used by Canada and Australia. - WhiteHouse
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is now accepting applications for two funding opportunities under the Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program. These are competitive grant opportunities for organizations that prepare lawful permanent residents for naturalization and promote civic assimilation and assimilation through increased knowledge of English, U.S. history and civics. The two programs will provide up to $10 million in grants for citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country. Applications are due by Aug. 6. - USCIS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume premium processing for certain cap-exempt H-1B petitions effective immediately. The H-1B visa has an annual cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year. Additionally, there is an annual “master’s cap” of 20,000 petitions filed for beneficiaries with a U.S. master’s degree or higher.
USCIS plans to resume premium processing of other H-1B petitions as workloads permit. USCIS will make additional announcements with specific details related to when we will begin accepting premium processing for those petitions. Until then, premium processing remains temporarily suspended for all other H-1B petitions. USCIS will reject any Form I-907 filed for those petitions, and if the petitioner submitted one check combining the Form I-907 and Form I-129 fees, USCIS will have to reject both forms. - USCIS
The Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for August 2017. The table below shows "Final Action (Approval)" cut-off dates and movement from the previous month, for all major employment-based categories. To see filing cut-off dates or family-sponsored categories please go to the Visa Bulletin page linked above. For historical data, predictions and more information please refer to our Visa Bulletin Toolbox.
| Chargeability | Preference | Cut-off Date (Y-M-D) | Movement (Days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | First (EB1) | 2012-01-01 | 0 |
| Inida | First (EB1) | 2012-01-01 | 0 |
| China | Second (EB2) | 2013-04-22 | 31 |
| India | Second (EB2) | 2008-07-22 | 21 |
| ROW | Third (EB3) | C | Current |
| China | Third (EB3) | 2012-01-01 | 0 |
| India | Third (EB3) | 2006-07-15 | 150 |
| Mexico | Third (EB3) | C | Current |
| Philippines | Third (EB3) | 2015-06-01 | 382 |
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