Latest I-601 waivers processing times And an important H1B update

schedule a consultation

Hi it’s Kaushik Ranchod here from The Ranchod Law Group with Brian and we are here with our weekly immigration show giving you the latest updates.Today we’re going to be talking about an important H1-B Visa update, I-601 “>I-601 Waivers processing times, and other timing issues.We recently got this question:

How long is it currently taking for the I-601 waiver?

that is currently taking eleven to fourteen and a half months.

The I-601A Waiver

  • where you have a spouse that is a United States citizen or permanent resident
  • you may have entered without inspection
  • you have a parent that’s a United States citizen or permanent resident

In this situation the processing times are currently six and a half to eight and a half months, so the times have been slowing down – we’ve been noticing a slowdown with the Trump administration and I don’t expect it to speed up. I expect only to slow down.

Moving on to a very important update the H1-B system has been flipped on its head. We have H1-B as a work visa where if your employer sponsors you and it’s in a specialty occupation (very common types of those are software engineers or a physician or an architect or a teacher) then you could be eligible for an H1-B Visa. There’s also other types of visa as well. I’m going to tell you about this very important H1-B update that has happened in a second and if you have any questions give us a call (916) 613-3553 or put your comment below. So, the H1-B update is that now master’s degrees will be a given priority over bachelor’s degrees in the quota. So typically before, with the H1-B Visa, there were 60,000 H1-B Visas available for bachelors and 20,000 for masters. Now that’s been flipped and masters are going to be given the majority and bachelors will be taken given a second smaller spot of that 20,000 quota. Master’s must be from United States University.So what do we have next brain? For other questions we’ve been getting this is a different topic but clients ask:

When should I apply for work authorization

So you can apply for a work authorization depending on what type of application you are considering – so for instance if you’re applying for a marriage-based green card you can apply for the work authorization at the same time as well as the travel document. Typically we’re seeing that take around five to six months for clients to get that approval and that’s why your application is pending: see a lot of times people are wondering they have to wait until the end of the process – no! This gives you an opportunity to work while your application is pending.

Then the other question that we’re getting as well is:

Should I apply for the marriage-based green card immediately? Should I wait?

As soon as you get married you can go ahead and apply for the marriage-based green card there’s no need to wait at all. USCIS will look at how long you’ve been married and evidence of your relationship so it’s important to note that those are things that are going to be reviewed and what they’re looking for us to see if you have a real relationship that can be evaluated in a variety of different ways.

Alright well we want to thank you for joining us today live, we will see you next week, so post your questions below give us a call at 916-613-3553 if you have questions. Thank you and have an awesome day

Related Information on H-1b Visas, Green Cards, and I-601Waivers