Last Friday, the US Presidential Administration announced two new proposals in official Proclamations:
- A $100,000 fee for each new H-1B visa petition, which would make H-1B sponsorship very expensive and impossible for most American companies.
- A “Gold Card” green card program – talks about allocating the same 85,000/year immigrant visa numbers currently used by EB-1A and EB-2 NIW green card applicants to applicants who can “gift” $1 Million to the US government (or $2 Million Gold Cards if sponsored by a corporation).
While enforcement and other details of these two radical immigration proposals remain unclear, and the US President should not be allowed to completely replace existing green card categories without Congressional approval, the announcements have created uncertainty and risk of visa retrogression for EB-1A and EB-2 NIW applicants.
What does it mean for O-1A and EB-1A applicants?
At the same time, American companies are expected to shift heavily toward filing O-1A visa petitions for their professional employees as H-1Bs become unaffordable. The USCIS could soon be overwhelmed with the volume of O-1A and EB-1A visa petitions, including those from wealthy Gold Card visa applicants who meet the minimum qualifications, potentially resulting in increased processing delays and sloppy adjudications, as well as unfair denials for truly extraordinary applicants.
Our Recommendation
File your O-1A or I-140 EB-1A petition as soon as possible. We understand the current adjudicative environment and carefully monitor it. Waiting could mean longer EB1a backlogs/retrogression, more unfounded denials than now, and lost opportunities. If you are considering filing, now is the time to act.