USCIS to Start Requiring In-Person Interviews for Employment I-485 Applications
USCIS has just announced that they are expanding the requirements for interviews to employment-based I-485 adjustment of status applicants. Effective October 1, 2017, USCIS will phase-in interviews for (1) employment-based I-485 adjustment of status applications and (2) refugee/asylee I-730 applications who are in the United States and petitioning to join a principal applicant. Under current practice, interviews for employment-based [...]
Pending I-131 Advance Parole Applications Being Denied Due to International Travel
Our office has recently learned that USCIS is changing their long-standing practice and have started denying Form I-131 Advance Parole applications due to abandonment in cases where the applicant has left the United States while the I-131 Advance Parole application was pending. USCIS has confirmed that this is their actual current policy going forward and that it would [...]
Nonimmigrant Visa Services Suspended at US Consulates in Russia
The U.S. Embassy in Russia has announced that starting August 23, 2017, all nonimmigrant visa (NIV) operations across Russia will be suspended. Beginning September 1, 2017, nonimmigrant visa interviews will be conducted only at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and interviews at the St. Petersburg, Yekaterininburg and Vladivostok will be cancelled. What is the Reason for the Suspension? The U.S. [...]
September 2017 Visa Bulletin – Cutoff Date for EB-2 ROW Remains; Last Visa Bulletin for The Fiscal Year
The U.S. State Department has just released the September 2017 Visa Bulletin which is the last Visa Bulletin for the FY2017 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the continued cutoff date for the EB-2 ROW, Mexico and Philippines categories, together with the notable forward movement in EB-3 India. Also, this is the last Visa Bulletin for [...]
Premium Processing for H-1B Cases Starting to Come Back, Gradually
USCIS appears to be in the process of reinstating premium processing service for H-1B petitions. On July 24, 2017, USCIS announced that they are reinstating premium processing for H-1B petitions filed by cap-exempt employers. Background of the H-1B Premium Processing Service Suspension Effective April 3, 2017, USCIS suspended the premium processing service for all H-1B petitions and for a period [...]
How to Skip the Per-Country Immigrant Visa Line – Cross-Chargeability Options
Many of our readers follow closely our reports of the monthly Visa Bulletin which provides cutoff dates for those immigrant visa (green card) applicants who are current and have immigrant visa numbers available (i.e. their actual permanent resident “green” card is assigned an available number and can be issued). The past several Visa Bulletins have been disappointing for most, [...]