Visa Bulletin Update: EB-1 India and China Update – Not Good News
Our office has obtained an updated set of expected cutoff date movements over the next several months as we begin the new fiscal year. Mr. Charles Oppenheim who is 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 [...]
USCIS Notice to Appear (NTA) Policy Implementation Begins – What to Expect?
On October 1, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) began implementing the new policy regarding issuance of Notice to Appear (NTA) regarding certain inadmissible and deportable foreign nationals who are in the U.S. USCIS is starting to issue NTAs on denied status-impacting applications including I-485 (Application to Adjust Status) and I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Status). The good [...]
DV-2020 Diversity Visa (Green Card) Lottery Opens October 3, 2018
The Department of State has announced the DV-2020 Diversity Visa (a.k.a. “green card”) lottery dates. The dates for electronic entry submission for this year’s lottery are between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 3, 2018, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at [...]
USCIS to Accept October 2018 Visa Bulletin “Filing Dates” – I-485 Filing Opportunity for India and China
In a somewhat surprising move, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) have announced that for October 2018 they will accept the “Filing Dates” for employment-based I-485 applications. This means that a number of EB-3 and EB-2 India and China applicants will be able to submit an I-485 adjustment of status even if their date is not current under the [...]
October 2018 Visa Bulletin – First Visa Bulletin for Fiscal Year, Many Categories Advance Significantly; EB-1 Cutoff Date Remains
The U.S. State Department has just released the October 2018 Visa Bulletin which is the first Visa Bulletin for the FY2019 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin headline is the fact that many categories are current again, with the notable exception of EB-1. EB-2/EB-3 India and EB-2 China recover to their pre-retrogression levels while EB-3 China advances notably. [...]
USCIS Increases I-907 Premium Processing Filing Fee Starting October 1, 2018
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that they are increasing the I-907 premium processing service filing fee to $1,410. The new premium processing filing fee increase will become effective for all requests mailed, postmarked or otherwise filed on or after October 1, 2018. Under the optional premium processing service USCIS is required to provide a response within 15 calendar [...]