INTRODUCTION
October 2023 was a very active month for US Immigration. GLF provided updates via Google, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram on numerous US Immigration matters including:
- Advance Parole now with 5-year validity
- State Department’s November 2023 Visa Bulletin Summary
- Waiting for the American Dream: A World of backlogs for India
- USCIS updates policy guidance regarding L-1 petitions
We at GLF post regular updates on our Google, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram handles. Additionally, we also periodically send out GLF Newsletters when the subject matter is extensive and relevant for a detailed analysis. Presented below is a consolidated summary of updates posted on GLF’s various social media handles for October 2023.
ADVANCE PAROLE NOW WITH 5-YEAR VALIDITY
USCIS has started issuing Advance Parole (AP) documents that have a validity of five years.
The extended validity dates for AP may be available to individuals who are now eligible for five-year EADs under guidance issued on September 27, 2023. The extended validity AP has been issued both on the combo EAD/AP card as well as a standalone AP document.
The main purpose behind this move is to reduce the number of times an applicant may need to submit I-131 and thereby reduce USCIS backlogs for AP, which is significant. It also perfectly complements with the recent EAD extension, making life significantly easier for those on their pathway to “green card.”
STATE DEPARTMENT’S NOVEMBER 2023 VISA BULLETIN SUMMARY
State Department had issued the November 2023 Visa Bulletin and here are the highlights:
- Adjustment of Status for Family Sponsored filing and Employment Based filing must use the Dates for Filing chart.
- Final action dates and Dates for Filing chart for Family sponsored cases for India remains unchanged.
- The EB Final Action dates and the Dates for Filing for November 2023 for India are the mirror image of the October 2023 visa bulletin.
- Final action dates (January 1, 2017) and Dates of Filing (July 01, 2019) for EB-1 Category have not changed.
- Final action dates (January 1, 2012) and Dates of Filing (May 15, 2012) for EB-2 Category have not changed.
- Final action dates (May 1, 2012) and Dates of Filing (August 01, 2012) for EB-3 Category have not changed.
- Final Action Dates for all countries in Certain Religious Workers category is January 1, 2019, and Dates for Filing are March 1, 2019.
Please note that the EB-4 Non-Minister Religious Worker Program will expire on November 17, 2023, if there is no legislative action extending the category beyond that date. If there is no extension, then the category will become “unavailable” as of November 17.
- The DV-2023 annual limit was reduced to 54,850.
WAITING FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM: A WORLD OF BACKLOGS FOR INDIA
USCIS in its recent FAQs has explained that it has a significant number of employment-based adjustment of status applications in its inventory, for EB-2 and EB-3 India, and cannot accept additional filings this entire fiscal year 2024 (October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024) and beyond.
INA 203 requires that State Department make reasonable estimates of demand every quarter and INA 245 requires that an immigrant visa be “immediately available” when an I-485 is filed. Given these statutory provisions, when the agencies have enough inventory, it is not reasonable to advance dates and accept new applications. Additionally, there are no unused family-based immigrant visa numbers that can fold over to employment-based categories, since COVID has ended and family immigration demand has increased once again.
Accordingly, EB-2/EB-3 India Filing Dates may not advance meaningfully for “several fiscal years” and will likely move extremely slowly for the foreseeable future.
USCIS UPDATES POLICY GUIDANCE REGARDING L-1 PETITIONS
On Friday, October 20, 2023, USCIS released updated policy guidance for L-1 visa petitions.
USCIS is merely clarifying existing guidance that a sole proprietorship is not eligible to file an L-1 petition on behalf of its owner. In the case of a sole proprietorship, the owner and the beneficiary are one and the same, and as such, this constitutes a self-petition, which is not allowed. It provides a distinction between a sole proprietorship and a self-incorporated petitioner (such as a corporation or a single-member limited liability company), where a single-member LLC is a separate and distinct legal entity from its owner and is therefore qualified to file petitions on the owner’s behalf.
Since this is not a change in policy, there will be no impact in practical terms. In fact, in all the years we have been practicing, GLF has never filed an L-1 petition on behalf of a non-incorporated entity.
Additionally, this update also addresses guidance regarding blanket petitions. The updated guidance clarifies that failure to timely file an extension of the blanket petition does not trigger a 3-year waiting period before another blanket petition may be submitted.
This guidance is effective immediately, controlling and superseding any related prior guidance on the topic.
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