Employment Visas Correspondent
David Chen reports on the employment-based immigration system, including the H-1B selection cycle, L-1 intracompany transfers, the O-1 extraordinary ability category, and the EB-1/EB-2/EB-3 priority date queue.
His beat spans the practical realities of employer sponsorship, PERM labor certification, and the downstream effects of visa bulletin movements on workers waiting in years-long backlogs.
An L-1A executive from one of the restricted countries filed an EB-1C I-140 with premium processing in November 2025. Seven months later, USCIS has not adjudicated it. The fix the petitioner reached for — joining a coordinated multi-plaintiff lawsuit — is the same one being assembled across the L-1 community.
USCIS's December 2025 country-based pauses and the wind-down of CHNV parole have produced a category of applicant who is married to a U.S. citizen, lawfully present, and unable to work. Sixteen-month EAD delays are routine. Attorneys are turning to mandamus and individual APA suits.
