A Ground-breaking Win for ITServe against USCIS
ITServe is making big news in the US immigration space today. And rightly so!
Since 2018, ITServe has been challenging the erratic H-1B adjudication pattern by USCIS for the last 10 years. We had a big win in court on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. The DC court invalidated the Neufeld Memo, and the Feb 22, 2018 Contracts and Itinerary Memo. The court gave the agency 60 days to take action on all pending petitions. ITServe expects them to be approved.
The Court made four significant decisions:
First, the current USCIS interpretation of the Employer-Employee relationship requirement is illegal and cannot be enforced. USCIS introduced the concept of 'employer-employee' based on an internal memo which the judge ruled is not legal.
Second, the USCIS Requirement that employers provide proof of client work assignments for the duration of the H-1B period is unlawful and cannot be enforced. The court also ruled that these rules were also announced and applied without rulemaking and cannot be enforced.
Third, the court ruled that USCIS's Itinerary requirement is no longer enforceable because it was superseded by a later statute that permits employers to place H-1B visa holders in paid, non-productive status. This means, H-1B petitioners no longer need to provide the itinerary for H-1B applications.
Fourth, USCIS must provide its reasoning behind any short-term approvals or denials, in whole or in part. It must now provide a written decision for any short term approval explaining its rationale. Because short term approvals are now invalid, ITServe expects to see far fewer short term approvals.
Our fight to force USCIS to implement the rule of the law is not over. We want to continue our effort and build on this. We have momentum on our side. Our litigation attorneys will provide strategy to our members and all immigration attorneys on how to implement these decisions at the four USCIS Service Centers. We still have several more items such as specialty occupation and amendments (Simeo) that we need to continue to seek justice for. ITServe cannot overstate the importance of keeping up our journey with litigation. As you all know we recently initiated the Class Action litigation seeking over $350 Million in fee refund. This judgment will not only help all ITServe members but all H-1B employers across the nation.
Let's take this opportunity to celebrate this proud moment and realize the importance of standing up as a collective voice and challenging the USCIS whenever needed. It now becomes all the more imperative to go forward with the upcoming planned lawsuits with increased vigor.
News Coverage on the historic judgment against USCIS:
Forbes: Court Invalidates Key Trump Administration H-1B Visa Policies
Times of India: US Court Victory: IT Service Companies No Longer Restrained by USCIS Memorandum
Indica News: ITServe Wins Suit Against USCIS Over H-1B Visas, Employee-Employer Relationship
Hindustan Times: US court strikes down key Trump admin decisions behind H-1B denials
