The U.S. State Department just released the February 2011 Visa Bulletin which is the fifth Visa Bulletin for the FY2011 fiscal year and first for the calendar year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the major retrogression in family-based visa numbers, accompanied by the continued slow forward movement across the employment-based categories. [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of January 7, 2011, USCIS has received approximately 58,700 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,500 over the last week). Also, as of December 24, the U.S. Masters cap (with its 20,000 limit) has [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of December 31, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 57,300 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,500 over the last week). Also, as of December 24, the U.S. Masters cap (with its 20,000 limit) has [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of December 24, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 55,800 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,900 over the last week). Also, as of December 24, the U.S. Masters cap (with its 20,000 limit) has [...]
The winter holidays, together with the summer vacation season, create a steady flow of inquiries and consultations from our clients regarding travel and passport expiration dates. Most often the question is, What should be the duration of the passport for purposes of entering the U.S.? At Least Six Months Passport Validity Required As an initial [...]
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") has proposed a change to the relevant regulations requiring all employers who wish to file for an initial H-1B cap petition to preregister with USCIS. The proposal is for an electronic registration program for petitions subject to numerical limitations for the H-1B nonimmigrant classification. In the future, other classifications [...]
Our office is often approached and asked to assist in obtaining the return of original documents submitted to USCIS as part of a petition or an application. Normally and for most types of documents, USCIS accepts a copy of the original document in lieu of the original. Unless specifically instructed and required, only clear copies [...]
It is normal that during recession, western economies are not so attractive to any kind of immigration as they are during boom times. The U.S. is no exception. A recent report by the Brookings Institution has confirmed that the number of immigrants in the U.S. was estimated to have risen by about a half a [...]
USCIS has just announced that petitioners will not be required to complete Part 6 of Form I-129 containing the export controls/ITAR questions until February 20, 2011. In a response to stakeholder inquiries and concerns of proper implementation, USCIS has agreed to the delay in implementation in order to give petitioners time to establish the [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of December 17, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 53,900 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,500 over the last week). Similarly, as of December 17, there were 19,700 H-1B visas filed subject to the [...]