Happy Holidays!
Dear Clients and Readers: We would like to take a moment to express our gratitude for your support throughout these challenging year. We are happy and privileged to have you as clients and readers and we wish you the happiest of holidays! We are looking forward to working with you during the new year. Have a healthy, happy and joyous [...]
January 2025 Visa Bulletin
The U.S. State Department has released the January 2025 Visa Bulletin which is the fourth Visa Bulletin for the new fiscal year. The headline in the month’s Visa Bulletin is the minor forward movement in employment final action dates. We expect a trickle of pending I-485 approvals in January but no new employment I-485 filing eligibility in January 2025 compared [...]
USCIS I-693 Medical Exam Policy: Must be Filed with I-485 But Valid Indefinitely
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) have recently changed their policy and starting December 2, 2024 they will require Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record to be submitted at the same time with a Form I-485 Adjustment of Status Application. Separately, in a different recent policy change regarding the validity of the I-693 medical exam – for [...]
2025 H-1B Cap Season – Quota, Timeline, Requirements; Lottery Registration Window Open March 7-24; Higher Fees
The new H-1B work visa “cap” season is set to begin by using the same lottery process introduced and used over the past five years. The lottery registration window will open on Friday, March 7, 2025 and will close at noon eastern time on Monday, March 24, 2025. This is the sixth year since U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [...]
FY2025 H-1B Cap Update: Cap Reached and Closed After Two Lottery Rounds
USCIS has announced that they have reached the H-1B cap limit for fiscal year 2025 (FY 2025). This means that they will not be conducting additional lottery rounds of selection after the initial two rounds. This also means that all H-1B cap registrants who were not selected under the first or second rounds are now considered as “Not Selected.” [...]
December 2024 Visa Bulletin – Minor Advancement in Final Action EB-2/EB-3 India; All Other EB Categories Remain “Stuck”
The U.S. State Department has released the December 2024 Visa Bulletin which is the third Visa Bulletin for the new fiscal year. The headline in the month’s Visa Bulletin is the fact that, other than minimal advancement in EB-2/EB-3 India Final Action Dates, there is no movement in any of the other employment-based categories; EB-2/EB-3 India Filing Dates may not [...]