ISSO Scholar Communique – Volume 14, Number 1
January 2018
Happy new year and greetings from the ISSO! We look forward to working with you this year to facilitate the employment of international scholars in your area. We have quite a few updates and reminders this month so please review the information below carefully and contact us with any questions.
In this issue:
- New ISSO Scholar Advisor Caseload for 2018
- Increased Scrutiny of H-1B Petitions
- Processing Delays
- Travel Ban Update
New ISSO Scholar Advisor Caseload for 2018
The ISSO is pleased to announce our new Scholar Advisor caseload for 2018. These changes insure an even distribution of our current client population and various sponsorship request types across the Charles River and Medical campuses. Then new caseload, which is effective immediately, can be found on our website at: https://www.bu.edu/isso/contact/scholar-advising/. The Scholar Advising team has over 45 years of combined experience in employment/scholar based immigration, so even though you may need to adjust to a new ISSO contact, you will continue to get the same outstanding service that you expect from our team.
ISSO hosting an Immigration Updates for 2018 session: We have scheduled a ‘meet and greet’ breakfast for our administrative contacts, that will also be combined with a session to inform you of changes to immigration processing and regulations that have occurred in the last year and that are expected in 2018. The session is scheduled for Friday, February 23 at the ISSO. Space is limited so please remember to reserve your place soon.
Increased Scrutiny of H-1B Petitions
Under the Trump administration and likely due to the Executive Order 13788 “Buy American Hire American“, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has dramatically increased its scrutiny of H-1B visa applications. They are challenging both the credentials of the prospective employee and the job position duties and minimum requirements at a much higher percentage rate than in previous years. USCIS has been sending more requests to employers requiring that they provide additional documentation and clarifications to assist them in determining whether or not they will approve the petition. USCIS issued more that 85,000 Requests for Evidence (RFE) for H-1B petitions last year, which indicates a 45% increase over the comparable period in 2016. This increased security is happening for all types of employers, including higher education and, as you can imagine, it can add significant delays to the overall process.
In addition, USCIS recinded its practice regarding deference to previously approved petitions. In other words, when we file for an H-1B extension for the same position, USCIS would typically approve it because based on the prior approval for the same position and employee. Adjudicators at USCIS have now been instructed to apply the same level of scrutiny to both initial petitions and extension requests, even where the underlying facts (other than dates) are unchanged.
The ISSO continues to thoroughly review each H-1B petition that we submit, but much like the national trend, we have received requests for evidence related to issues that had not previously been questioned and we expect this to continue. All of the RFEs received at the ISSO have specifically referenced statements in the H-1B support letter that did not seem to coincide with the position offered. Thus, many of you have likely already noticed, that we are contacting deparment hosts to re-write (sometimes more than once) the H-1B support letter. The H-1B support letter has always been a critical part of the H-1B petition as it is the only document that allows employers to tie the entire H-1B petition together. Based on the changes we have seen in processing, we have updated the information on our website to provide more details about what you should be including (and not including) in the support letter. We have provided position specific sample letters to help as you draft your letters.
It is likely that you will hear from your Scholar Advisor more frequently to request edits to the letter and/or to other documentation for the petition, until we feel that it adequately explains the position minimums and how the person qualifies, in simple layman terms. We hope that this expanded resource on H-1B support letters will allow for stronger petitions and continued approvals. Please reach out to your scholar advisor if you have questions or concerns.
Processing Delays
January is the time that we remind the BU community to start thinking about their spring and summer hires and submit the paperwork to the ISSO early. This is more important than ever to insure that your new faculty member or postdoc will be able to commence their BU employment as desired. In addition to the increased scrutiny on H-1B petitions, we are seeing slowdowns at all government agencies including both USCIS and the Department of State (visa issuance). Advanced planning is really the best way to deal with these issues.
In addition,for the last few years, USCIS has suspended the premium processing service during peak faculty processing times in the spring. The suspension caused disruption, inconvenience and delays for some of our H-1B employees. Although USCIS has indicated informally that there are no current plans to suspend premium processing, we believe that this can change at any time and that a suspension could be announced with very little warning.
We do not expect the processing delays to improve any time soon and we expect the scrutiny on H-1B petitions to increase in 2018. Therefore, it is imperative that departments submit H-1B processing request forms a minimum of six months advance of the desired start date. In addition, for spring/summer 2018 hires, including July 1, 2018 faculty hires, the ISSO will need the paperwork as soon as possible to insure enough timing for standard processing. Please call your ISSO Scholar Advisor if you have questions about the delays.
Travel Ban Update
In December, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that they will allow the latest version of the travel restrictions targeting nationals from certain countries to go into effect while legal challenges continue in the lower courts. The travel restrictions permit nationals from Chad, Libya, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen and certain government officials from Venezuela to travel to the U.S. ONLY if they already have a valid visa supporting their purpose of travel to the U.S. While the proclamation allows nationals from Iran to apply for the F-1 or J-1 nonimmigrant categories, it prohibits Iranian citizens from applying for all other categories of nonimmigrant visas, including the H-1B. In addition, it prevents nationals from Chad, Libya, Yemen and certain government officials from Venezuela from applying for B-1/B-2 visitor visas and nationals from Syria and North Korea from applying for all nonimmigrant visa categories. Nationals from Somalia and those from the other referenced countries may be able to apply for nonimmigrant visas by exception on a case by case basis. Please find specific details and related links on the ISSO Travel Ban web page. Please contact the ISSO with any questions related to travel or visa restrictions.