H-1B PROGRAM UNCHANGED
The Trump Administration had planned to change the selection system for temporary working visas under the H-1B program: instead of random selection by lottery among all qualified applicants, the available H-1B visas would be given to applicants who are offered the highest salaries. Trump’s idea is that those who are offered the highest salary are also the best skilled.
Instead, USCIS announced that this year, at least, the system will remain unchanged. All qualified applications received during the registration period of March 9, 2021 to March 25, 2021, would be considered equally and the available H-1B visas would be distributed randomly, by lottery.
MASKS AT AIRPORTS
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) announced that they would enforce mask wearing inside all airports and all land ports of entry and inside all means of pubic conveyances (airplanes, buses, taxis, trains, etc.).
Better wear a proper mask (without slits, exhalation valves, or punctures) at all airports, etc. – or prepare for a conversation with a friendly CBP officer.
PUBLIC CHARGE
REGULATIONS - ???
The problem with President Trumps’s Public Charge Regulations is that they are REGULATIONS, and not just an EXECUTIVE ORDER or POLICY DIRECTIVE. If they were an Executive Order, etc., President Biden could cancel them by his own Executive Order. But being a formally enacted Regulation, they can be cancelled or changed only by another formally-enacted Regulation – and this may take several months.
Therefore, any application for Adjustment of Status (Form I-485) that is filed at this time must be accompanied by a “Declaration of Self-Sufficiency” (Form I-944), which has 18(!) pages and dozens of bothersome questions.
