FSVS Operational During COVID 19
Faculty/Staff Visa Services remains committed to servicing the University during the COVID-19 crisis. We remain open for business through remote operations in support of the social distancing measures in place. FSVS operations will continue as usual with a slight decrease in processing times due to the technical limitations of remote operations. We anticipate being able to continue to meet all of our visa needs including petition filings and extensions of status. This newsletter contains additional information on our processing and the impact of COVID-19 on our foreign nationals.
Travel Bans and Consular Processing
Refrain from International Travel
International travel is strongly discouraged under the current circumstances. The list of countries from which travel to the United States is prohibited is growing on a daily basis. The duration of these travel bans is unknown with no fixed endpoint and will be lifted only upon a determination by the President. Additionally, many countries are restricting exit travel raising the possibility that even if a country is not one of those enumerated in the US travel bans, travel back to the US may not be possible. Visa categories impacted by the travel ban include H, F, J, TN/TD, B, ESTA, L, E, O and P. Some exceptions exist for the spouses, parent, or children of US citizens or permanent residents.
All US Consulates worldwide have suspended visa processing
If you do need to travel internationally, please call our offices immediately to discuss the impact of your travel. Even if you fall under one of the exceptions, and do not have a valid visa stamp, you will not be able to obtain a new visa stamp to return to the US. As of this writing, the United States Department of State suspended all routine visa services at all US embassies and consulates worldwide. Visa processing is limited for exceptional cases such as an applicant traveling to the US at the invitation of the US government in connection with containment or mitigation of the COVID 19 virus. Again, it is strongly discouraged to travel internationally because the ability to return to the US is highly unlikely.
Immigration Service Processing – No in-person services and suspension of Premium Processing
USCIS Interviews and Premium Processing Suspended
As of the time of this writing, the USCIS suspended all interviews and in-person processing. This includes scheduled interviews for green card processing and biometrics processing. Additionally, the USCIS will no longer process visa petitions under the premium processing in 15 calendar days. All petitions and applications for change of status, extension of status, or change of employer will now be processed in the regular processing queue. The suspension of premium processing means that employment start dates at USC will be pushed back for some of our foreign nationals who require a change of status petition or change of employer petition. Admins should contact FSVS for projecting employment start dates.
Ability to remain in the US while an extension of status or change of status petition is pending with the USCIS
Immigration regulations permit most foreign nationals to remain in the US for the duration of the USCIS adjudication of a timely filed application to extend or change status. An application is timely filed if received before the current status expiration or before the grace period expiration for those in F and J status. FSVS is working diligently to identify our foreign national population whose statuses need to be changed or extended within the next few weeks. We anticipate being able to file timely extensions and changes of status allowing our affected foreign nationals to remain in the US in a period of authorized stay. Fortunately, USC identifies and begins preparations for status extensions six months in advance.
Temporary 240-day extension of employment authorization
For our foreign national population currently employed at USC in H-1B, O-1, TN, or E-3, an additional 240 days of work authorization is permitted beyond the expiration of status with the timely filing of an extension of status application. Again, FSVS is prioritizing these matters to ensure a timely filing and the ability to remain in the US with no disruption to employment.
The 240-day extension does not apply to those who require a change of status such as from F-1 OPT or J-1 to H-1B. Those requiring a change of status must stop working upon expiration of status/employment authorization, but may remain in the US while their petitions are pending.
F-1 STEM OPT – Maximize STEM OPT time and timely file extensions for additional 180 days of work authorization
Foreign nationals who are currently in F-1 OPT status and are eligible to extend their OPT under the STEM OPT provisions should do so. A timely filed STEM OPT Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Form I-765 extension will provide an additional 180 days of work authorization. This will help eliminate or reduce disruption to employment while the new STEM EAD is in process.
Departments seeking a change of status to H-1B, TN, E-3 or O-1 for a foreign national currently in F-1 OPT status should exhaust STEM OPT first given that premium processing has been suspended. Change of status applications are currently taking 5 to 6 months and are expected to increase significantly with increased demand and the reduced capacity of USCIS under the current circumstances.
H-1B Change of Employer – Employment authorized upon receipt of petition by the USCIS
Immigration regulations permit new H-1B employees who are currently in H-1B status with another employer to begin employment at USC upon the USCIS’ receipt of USC’s change of employer petition. Departments and admins will be informed by FSVS of the USCIS receipt date which will allow for the start of employment. Foreign nationals who fall under this category are permitted to remain in the US and work at USC while the petition is in process at USCIS even if it takes more than 240 days.
What if my application or extension cannot be filed in time?
Immigration regulations permit the USCIS to accept late filed applications and petitions at its discretion based on extraordinary circumstances beyond one’s control. The USCIS has listed this exception on its COVID-19 page under special situations. Late filed applications must include documentation and an explanation of why an application is late filed. For example, office closures delayed obtaining a filing fee check.
Working with FSVS – what can you do?
Please continue to process and honor our requests for documents and complete questionnaires. For our foreign nationals with dependents who will need a change or extension of status application, FSVS will continue the courtesy interfiling of these applications. Please contact your visa specialist for the address to where the application forms and filing fees need to be sent. The USCIS temporarily suspended the requirement for original signatures on application forms. The original will need be kept on file in case requested at a later date. You may forward PDFs of completed and signed forms if needed to FSVS.
Please keep in mind that under normal circumstances, FSVS processing times are 6 to 8 weeks once all documents are in. In the initial days of the crisis, our processing times will increase. But, we anticipate returning to our normal processing times as we acclimate to the changes. FSVS is triaging matters that need to be processed faster due to fast approaching expirations. FSVS typically provides real time updates as a case processes. Please therefore limit contacting us for case status updates until we begin to approach or exceed our normal processing times. We ask for your patience in these first weeks as we adapt to the current situation.
We appreciate the difficulty, concerns, and worries people have. If you have an urgent question not addressed in this newsletter or upcoming newsletters, please do contact your visa specialist by email or telephone. Our phone lines are open during normal business hours.
Important Information for Admins
FSVS is waiving the requirement for original signatures on service requests and case initiations. We will accept PDF signatures and prefer DocuSign wherever possible.
Mailing address for filing fee checks
Please contact your visa specialist for the address to send filing fee checks. Depending on your Department’s controls and your remote operation limits, please consider having Payment Services send the filing fee checks to the address provided by your visa specialist.
Please stay safe as we continue to support you.
FSVS