February 2019 Visa Bulletin – EB-1 Dates Advance Slowly; (Almost) No Forward Movement in Filing Dates
The U.S. State Department has just released the February 2019 Visa Bulletin which is the fifth Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the gentle forward movement in EB-1 contrasted with the lack of almost any movement in the Filing Dates. EB-3 India Filing dates do not advance at all but [...]
January 2019 Visa Bulletin – EB-3 India Filing Dates Advance for Downgrading
The U.S. State Department has just released the January 2019 Visa Bulletin which is the fourth Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the gentle forward movement in EB-1 and the continuing significant forward movement in EB-3 India Filing Dates making it more advanced than EB-2 India under the Filing Dates [...]
USCIS Proposes Rule to Change H-1B Cap Lottery System and US Master’s Degree Lottery
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) has published a proposed rule which seeks to amend in substantial ways the way the annual H-1B “cap” work visa applications and lottery are being filed and how the U.S. master’s degree applications are being allocated under the H-1B cap lottery. Please note that this is a proposed rule with comment period until [...]
December 2018 Visa Bulletin – EB-1 Gentle Forward Movement; EB-3 India Advances Faster than EB-2 India
The U.S. State Department has just released the December 2018 Visa Bulletin which is the third Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the gentle “catch-up” forward movement in EB-1 and the faster movement in EB-3 India, especially compared to EB-2 India and the fact that EB-3 India is more advanced [...]
Mid-October Visa Bulletin Expectations: EB-1 Slow Movement; EB-3 India to Advance Significantly
As has become a regular practice, our office has obtained an updated set of expected cutoff date movements over the next several months. Mr. Charles Oppenheim, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS) (he is the person responsible for the Visa Bulletin), has provided updated explanations and expectations for the [...]
USCIS Ombudsman Listening Session on H-1B Premium Processing Suspension
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Ombudsman Office is organizing a listening session regarding the suspension of premium processing for most H-1B petitions. The goal of this session is to hear from the public how the H-1B premium processing suspension has affected them. This is intended to be only a “listening” session, no policy decisions or announcements are expected. [...]