This year's busy H-1B cap season included many H-1B employee candidates who hold F-1 status and who are employed in the U.S. pursuant to F-1 optional practical training (OPT) status. Out of these F-1 visa holders, many rely on the OPT cap-gap rule to continue working in the U.S. after the post-April 1st expiration date [...]
The Department of Labor has provided some updates for the third quarter of the Fiscal Year 2014 (April 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014) on their processing of PERM, H-1B LCA and prevailing wage determination cases and we are happy to share them with our clients and readers. DOL Processing Statistics (Third Quarter, 2014 Fiscal [...]
We are getting updates from the U.S. Department of State and from other sources that the global visa processing system used by the Department of State to process U.S. visa applications and passports is experiencing technical problems -- as a result, U.S. Consulates around the world are unable, at least temporarily, to complete visa application [...]
In a policy memorandum dated July 11, 2014, USCIS has provided some guidance and clarifications as to the applicable standards for adjudication of H-1B petitions for nurses. While USCIS continues to maintain the position that most nurses may not qualify for an H-1B due to the fact that a bachelor's degree is not normally requires, [...]
H-1B visa holders are allowed to work temporarily in the U.S. for sponsoring employers and they often comprise of highly skilled professionals working in the difficult to fill positions in the tech, medical and education industries. In most business circumstances, hiring an H-1B visa holder is a successful and thriving event for both the employer [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the August 2014 Visa Bulletin which is the eleventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2014 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant (four month) forward movement in EB-2 India, the significant (two years) forward movement in EB-3 China and the lack of [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the July 2014 Visa Bulletin which is the tenth Visa Bulletin for the FY2014 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant (four years) forward movement in EB-2 India and the lack of any movement in FB-2A. Summary of the July 2014 [...]
This policy has been updated and superseded by November 1, 2018 policy extending the I-693 validity to two years. USCIS has announced a change in their policy regarding the validity period of a Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, when filed in support of a Form I-485 Adjustment of Status Application. [...]
The Department of State (DOS) has just confirmed that due to increasingly heavy demand by Canada-based visa applicants, the seven U.S. visa processing posts (U.S. Consulates) in Canada are extremely limited in their ability to accept TCN cases during the peak demand period of June, July, and August. TCN refers to "third-country nationals" or non-Canadians [...]
Visit our booth #1354 at the Annual SHRM Conference in Orlando, June 22-24 for a conversation with one of our attorneys regarding your company's corporate immigration needs. If you are coming to the Conference, please stop by to say "hello" - we look forward to seeing clients, colleagues and friends.