SEVP’S DISTANCE LEARNING GUIDANCE EXTENDED FOR 2022-23 ACADEMIC YEAR

In a Broadcast Message, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) has announced it will extend its guidance originally issued in March 2020 for the 2022-23 academic year.

SEVP has also extended the guidance in its FAQs for SEVP Stakeholders about COVID-19 to the 2022-23 academic year.

Thus, the following allowances for continuing and new nonimmigrant students will be extended for the 2022-23 academic year:

·       Continuing Students

o   Nonimmigrant students who were in valid F-1 or M-1 nonimmigrant status on March 9, 2020 are permitted to engage in either a hybrid or fully online program of study beyond the regulatory limit for the 2022-23 academic year, provided they have not otherwise violated the terms of their nonimmigrant status.

·         Initial Students

o   New or initial nonimmigrant students who were not enrolled in a program of study on March 9, 2020 will not be able to enter the United States as a nonimmigrant student for the 2022-23 academic year if their course of study is fully online. 

o   A new student is, however, permitted to engage in a hybrid program with some requirement for in-person learning, even with online components beyond the regulatory limit, for the 2022-23 academic year.

SEVP’s current policy guidance and frequently asked questions can be found online at https://www.ice.gov/coronavirus

USCIS RECEIVES 483,927 H-1B CAP REGISTRATIONS

USCIS announced that it has received 483,927 H-1B cap registration during the March 2022 filing period, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. 

This is substantially more than the 308,613 received last year (March 2021, FY 2022).  It is also far more than the 275,000 during the March 2020 (FY 2021) filing period and 201,000 H-1B petitions received during the March 2019 (Fiscal Year 2020) filing period.

USCIS has notified H-1B cap lottery winners.  H-1B winners have until June 30, 2022 to submit their full H-1B cap petition to the USCIS for adjudication. 

As has been the case since the launch of the on-line registration system in March 2020, the USCIS will continue to update the H-1B cap winners list.  Additional winners may be selected in subsequent rounds until March 2023. USCIS is not expected to notify any H-1B lottery entrants of non-selection until all 85,000 H-1B cap approval notices have been issued.

 

SEONTOSA CARE SETTLES $3M CLASS ACTION

Sentosa Care agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lengthy class action case that has endured for five years, reports Skilled Nursing News.  This $3 million settlement extinguishes all claims for the 150 class members, including their TVPA violations.

In 2021, a federal judge found that Sentosa was liable for $1.56 million, plus interest and the risk of additional damages.  The TVPA violations were novel in nurse staffing cases.  Ordinarily courts allow damage clauses to be inserted into employment contracts.  However here, the federal judge found that the clause represented a threat to continue employment because a prior court had found Sentosa’s damage clause was unenforceable, allowing the TVPA claim to continue.  Sentosa has now settled all claims associated with the case.

Sentosa’s involvement in litigation is often unusual.  In March 2022, Reuters reported that remnants of a 2006 case continue to circulate throughout the federal court system.  As MU Law discussed in 2010,

In 2006, eleven Philippine nurses employed at a Suffolk County, Long Island nursing home walked off their positions because of alleged bad working conditions. This mass resignation set off a chain of lawsuits [including one where the nurses] filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against . . . the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

The March 2022 Reuters report says that a 2-1 federal appeals court has now held that the Suffolk County DA’s office is immune from this lawsuit.  One wonders if this ends this 16 year litigation.

MAY 2022 VISA BULLETIN: ANALYIS AND PREDICTIONS

The Department of State has just issued the May 2022 Visa Bulletin.  This is the eighth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2022. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

 

EB	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01MAR19	08JUL13	C
3rd	C	22MAR18	15JAN12	C

Table B: Dates of Filing

The USCIS is expected to use the Table B Dates of Filing chart for I-485 employment-based filings. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates

MU Law Analysis

The EB dates stayed more or less static from the prior month, although India EB-2 advanced by 2 months, which should continue to allow additional long-delayed Indian nationals to apply for their green cards.  India EB-2s Dates of Filing also progressed to December 1, 2014.  All other Indian and Chinese EB-1, 2 and 3 dates remained as they were in April.

The news remained positive for Philippines and Worldwide EB-3, where dates held at Current.