• by Santhosh Rao

We thank you for your continuous Trust.  May this Christmas set the stage for a successful and joyful year ahead. Wishing you a festive Christmas and a prosperous New Year with full of promise!

INTRODUCTION

December 2024 was a very active month for U.S. Immigration. GLF provided updates via Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram on numerous U.S. Immigration matters, including:

1. USCIS Mandated Submission of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record with Form I-485 For Certain Applicants
2. USCIS Reached H-1B Cap for FY 2025 
3. Guidelines For Employers on Documenting Employee Referral Programs 
4. U.S. Embassy Announced Centralization of Non-Immigrant Visa Appointments in India 
5. USCIS Rolled Out New Form I-485: Effective February 10, 2025
6. DHS Permanently Extended EAD Auto-Renewal To 540 Days for Certain Categories; Starting January 13, 2025
7. State Department’s January 2025 Visa Bulletin Summary   
8. USCIS Announced Shorter Lockbox Receipt Notice Processing Times
9. Restrictions in Rescheduling of Visa Appointments

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 December 2024.

USCIS MANDATED SUBMISSION OF IMMIGRATION MEDICAL EXAMINATION AND VACCINATION RECORD WITH FORM I-485 FOR CERTAIN APPLICANTS

USCIS requires specific applicants filing Form I-485(Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjustment of Status) to include Form I-693 (Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record), at the time of submission. 

Applications that do not include Form I-693, completed and signed by a designated civil surgeon, may be rejected. This requirement ensures applicants meet the health-related criteria for admissibility, confirming they are free of conditions that could render them inadmissible. 

By mandating simultaneous submission, USCIS aimed to reduce processing delays and the issuance of Requests for Evidence (RFE).

USCIS REACHED H-1B CAP FOR FY 2025 

USCIS reached the congressionally mandated limits for the FY 2025 H-1B program, including the 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 advanced degree exemption, commonly known as the master’s cap.

Non-selection notices will be issued to registrants via their online accounts in the coming days. Once all notices are sent, the status for unselected registrations will update to “Not Selected,” confirming ineligibility to file an H-1B cap petition for FY 2025. 

In May 2025, USCIS had released data on the FY 2025 H-1B Registration period where in USCIS had selected 120,603 registrations for 114,017 Beneficiaries. So, there were duplicate registrations, but the number of duplicates were far less; indicating that the duplicates are likely valid and not coordinated. USCIS received 1.06 registrations per Beneficiary this year, whereas last year it was 1.7 (or nearly 2 registrations for every Beneficiary). The total number of eligible registrations was 470,342 this year far less than the 758,994 last year. So, this data tells us that Beneficiary-Centric Registration is working, and duplicate registrations are down significantly.

USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions exempt from the cap, including Extensions, Amendments, Transfers, Concurrent and H-1B New (Cap Exempt) petitions.

GUIDELINES FOR EMPLOYERS ON DOCUMENTING EMPLOYEE REFERRAL PROGRAMS  

An Employee Referral Program (ERP) in the PERM labor certification process helps employers meet recruitment requirements by using an incentive-based referral system. BALCA’s guidelines, based on Matter of Sanmina-SciCorp and Matter of ZS Associates, Inc., outline the criteria employers must follow. 

Employers must meet the following three-prong test: 

• The ERP must offer formal incentives for employee referrals. 
• The employer must demonstrate that the ERP was active during the recruitment period. 
• The employer must show that employees were informed about the specific job opportunity. 

ERP Documentation Guidelines for Employers: 

• Incentive Structure: Document formal referral incentives, ensure the program was active during the recruitment period, and provide dated copies of notices or memoranda advertising the program and specifying the incentives offered. 
• Employee Awareness: Use internal communications (e.g., intranet, emails) to inform employees about job openings and keep dated records. 
• Avoid Sole Reliance on NOF: Don’t rely only on the Notice of Filing (NOF); include additional proof, such as intranet postings. 
• Transparency: Avoid actions that could suggest pre-selecting a foreign worker. 

BALCA confirmed that a NOF or intranet posting with NOF language could serve as valid notice of a job opening under the ERP, as long as it met regulatory requirements by notifying employees of the job opportunity.

U.S. EMBASSY ANNOUNCED CENTRALIZATION OF NON-IMMIGRANT VISA APPOINTMENTS IN INDIA

The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India centralized the processing of Non-Immigrant Visa cases to enhance efficiency and to address the increasing demand for U.S. travel from India. The key updates include: 

1. For H-1B and L-1 visas, first-time interview appointments will now be exclusively conducted at the new consulate facility in Nanakramguda, Hyderabad, which is equipped with 54 state-of-the-art counters and has the capacity to process up to 3,500 visas daily. 
2. For B-1/B-2 visas, Dropbox (interview waiver) appointments will be processed exclusively in New Delhi. 
3. The H-1B and L-1 Dropbox appointments will be processed solely in Chennai. 

Applicants can submit their documents at any of the five Visa Application Centres (Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, or New Delhi) for free or at one of six Document Dropoff Centres (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Cochin, Jalandhar, or Pune.) for a fee of ₹850. 

 If a consulate requires an in-person interview after a Dropbox submission, applicants must visit the designated centralized consulate. The processing of Blanket L visas will remain unchanged in Chennai and no updates have been issued regarding the processing of first-time B-1/B-2 or F-1 visas. 

USCIS ROLLED OUT NEW FORM I-485: EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 10, 2025

On December 10, 2024, USCIS unveiled a revised edition of Form I-485, bringing important changes aimed at streamlining the immigration process. Effective February 10, 2025, the new form edition of 10/24/2024 will be required, and older versions will no longer be accepted. 

1. Applicants who need to submit Form I-693 (Medical Examination and Vaccination Record) must now submit it with their Form I-485. Missing this could lead to rejection of your application. 
2. The previously required Form I-864W (Affidavit of Support Exemption) has been eliminated. Applicants can now request exemptions directly on the I-485 form. 
3. The updated form now includes more specific questions about the public charge ground of inadmissibility, helping to clarify eligibility and streamline the review process. 

With clearer instructions, USCIS made it easier for applicants to navigate the complexities of the adjustment of status application, ultimately reducing the potential for delays. 

DHS PERMANENTLY EXTENDED EAD AUTO-RENEWAL TO 540 DAYS FOR CERTAIN CATEGORIES; STARTING JANUARY 13, 2025

On December 10, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule to permanently increase the automatic extension period for certain work permit (I-765 – EAD) renewals from 180 days to 540 days. The rule becomes effective on January 13, 2025, covering timely filed EAD renewal applications pending or filed on or after May 4, 2022. 

This policy change not only provides greater stability for eligible noncitizens but also ensures that U.S. employers can retain valuable workers without unnecessary interruptions. 

Eligible categories are listed in the following table:  

1. (a)(3) Refugees
2. (a)(5) Asylees
3. (a)(7) N-8/N-9
4. (a)(8) Citizens of Micronesia/Marshall Islands/Palau
5. (a)(10) Those with Withholding of Deportation or Removal
6. (a)(12) Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Granted
7. (a)(17) Spouse of E Non-immigrant with an unexpired I-94
8. (a)(18) Spouse of L-1 Non-immigrant with an unexpired I-94 showing L-2S
9. (c)(8) Pending Asylum cases
10. (c)(9) Pending Adjustment of Status
11. (c)(10) Cancellation of Removal/Suspension of Deportation cases
12. (c)(16) Creation of Record (Adjustment Based on Continuous Residence)
13. (c)(19) Prima Facie TPS
14. (c)(20)/(c)(22) Legalization cases – Section 210
15. (c)(24) LIFE Legalization – Section 245A
16. (c)(26) Spouses of certain H-1B principal nonimmigrants with an unexpired I-94 showing H-4 status
17. (c)(31) VAWA Self – Petitioners

STATE DEPARTMENT’S JANUARY 2025 VISA BULLETIN SUMMARY   

State Department issued the January 2025 Visa Bulletin and here are the highlights:  

1. Adjustment of Status for Family Sponsored filing as well as Employment Based filing must use the Dates of Filing Chart.  
2. Final action dates for Family sponsored F1 Category for India had advanced from October 22, 2015, to November 22, 2015, and Dates for Filing (September 01, 2017) had not changed. 
3. Final action dates (January 1, 2022) and Dates for Filing (July 15, 2024) for Family sponsored F2A category for India had remained unchanged.  
4. Final Action dates EB-1 category (February 01, 2022), and Dates for Filing (April 15, 2022) had not changed.  
5. Final action dates EB-2 category has advanced from August 1, 2012, to October 1, 2012, and Dates for Filing for India (January 1, 2013) had not changed. 
6. Final action dates EB-3 category has advanced from November 8, 2012, to December 1, 2012, and Dates for Filing (June 8, 2013) had not changed. 
7. Final action dates for Certain Religious Workers are marked as Unauthorized and Dates for Filing for India (February 01, 2021) had not changed. 
8. The DV-2025 annual limit will be reduced to approximately 52,000. 

USCIS ANNOUNCED SHORTER LOCKBOX RECEIPT NOTICE PROCESSING TIMES

USCIS had updated its timelines for Lockbox receipt and fee processing to reduce delays. Application processing times got reduced to three business days for cases not needing further review. Cases requiring additional review will now be processed within 15 business days, down from over a month. 

Additional review is needed if the Lockbox contractor finds issues like incorrect fees or incomplete applications. USCIS will only process the fee if the submission is accepted; otherwise, the fee and application will be returned. 

Applicants should email the USCIS Lockbox support team at lockboxsupport@uscis.dhs.gov if receipt delays go beyond 15 business days. 

RESTRICTIONS IN RESCHEDULING OF VISA APPOINTMENTS

Starting January 1, 2025, applicants will be allowed to reschedule their visa appointments only once using the existing visa fee receipt. Any additional rescheduling requires a new appointment and full repayment of the application fees.

Non-immigrant visa applicants will have the flexibility to select their initial appointment and reschedule it once if needed. However, if an applicant misses their appointment or needs to reschedule a second time, they must pay the full application fee again. Applicants are strongly encouraged to select a date they are confident they can attend. These changes aim to ensure fair access to visa appointments and reduce wait times.

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At GLF, we will continue to follow further developments in the above discussed and other matters, while we provide updates through our Newsletter as and when they become available. GLF receives numerous emails, and phone calls every day seeking comments on various proposed bills and media reports that are often inaccurate. It is our job to separate facts from fiction and advise clients on important and relevant updates. The best way to receive accurate information is through GLF Newsletters.  We encourage you (and your employees) to sign up for GLF Newsletter. If you have not already signed up to receive our Newsletters, please do so by visiting www.gokarelaw.com and signing up under the Newsletter Tab. All we need is your name and email address, which takes very little time to sign up. You can also review all of our earlier GLF Newsletters on our website