U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are extending the joint agency pilot program for Canadian citizens seeking L-1 nonimmigrant status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) through April 30, 2019. Earlier this year, the USCIS California Service Center (CSC) and the CBP Blaine, Washington, port of entry (POE) announced this pilot program, which was scheduled to run from April 30, 2018, through October 31, 2018.
The pilot program allows but does not require, Canadian citizens to request that USCIS remotely adjudicate their petitioning employer’s Form I-129 or I-129S before their arrival or when they arrive at the Blaine POE. USCIS continues to encourage these Canadian citizens and their petitioning employers to email public.engagement@uscis.dhs.gov with feedback on their experience with the pilot program. Over the next six months, USCIS said, it and CBP will continue to work together to determine the efficiency of the program, identify shortcomings, and look for ways to improve it.
The latest USCIS announcement is at https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-and-cbp-extend-form-i-129-pilot-program-canadian-l-1-nonimmigrants.
More information on the pilot program is at https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/information-employers-employees/form-i-129i-129s-pilot-program-canadian-l-1-nonimmigrants.
The earlier pilot program announcement is at https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-and-cbp-implement-form-i-129-pilot-program-canadian-l-1-nonimmigrants.