Global Immigration Update – April 29, 2015

Read the latest updates on global immigration.

Source: Fragomen Worldwide

In United States immigration news, USCIS received a record 233,000 FY 2016 H-1B cap petitions – almost three times the number of available visa numbers. The overall chance of selection in the cap is approximately 36 percent. Initial adjudication of premium processed H-1B cap cases should be completed by May 12 – two weeks earlier than USCIS’s initial projections.

Following the decision overturning longstanding USCIS regulations on when a material change requiring an amended H-1B petition occurs, employers in the United States planning imminent location changes for H-1B employees must now weigh the business risks of suspending a location change until after an amended petition can be filed versus permitting moves that are already in progress and filing an amended petition immediately thereafter.

According to the U.S. State Department’s May Visa Bulletin, the EB-5 subcategory for China will be subject to a cut-off date of May 1, 2013 and is likely to remain backlogged indefinitely. EB-2 China and EB-2 India will advance by fourteen months and by more than seven months, respectively. EB-3 will advance for most countries, but will retrogress by more than seven years for the Philippines due to a surge in demand in prior months.

In India, following the merger of the Person of India Origin (PIO) card and the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, all PIO card holders will be required to apply for an OCI card, with certain nationals facing impending deadlines to do so.

A new immigration processing center in South Africa is expected to open by March 2016. It will offer expedited visa and permit processing to applicants from India, Kenya and Nigeria as a pilot program.