The United States Embassy in India announced modifications to the U.S. visa application procedures effective September 26, 2012. The U.S. Embassy is introducing a new process to be followed by all U.S. visa applicants; these include H-1B and L-1 visa applicants as well as individuals applying for other type of visa for entry to the [...]
Our office handles a substantial number of H-1B work visa petitions for a variety of U.S. employers and we often share our direct experiences with the H-1B work visa program. This article is intended to share our experience with H-1B work visa petitions where there is a change of the job location once the H-1B [...]
Last week, in a press release, USCIS announced a number of significant enhancements to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program. Note that these are proposed changes which are expected to be published on June 17th for public comment and possible implementation at a later date. About the EB-5 Program In 1990, the U.S. Congress created the [...]
Two weeks ago we wrote about the USCIS Ombudsman recommendation to modify the LCA/H-1B filing process to avoid negative consequences associated with delayed LCAs. As a response, USCIS just announced a temporary change in policy pursuant to which it will temporarily accept H-1B petitions filed without Labor Conditions Applications (LCA) that have been certified by the [...]
In a report released this month, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) provides some estimates and analysis of the numbers and demographic composition of the legal permanent residents (“LPRS”) in the U.S. as of January 1, 2008 (yes, the data is 22 months old but the analysis is recent and should not have changed much [...]
Our firm handles a fair amount of appeals with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and we often receive inquiries not only about about the procedural aspects of an AAO appeal but also about the current processing times for AAO cases. About the AAO The AAO is an appeals office which handles appeals of certain decisions made by [...]
The increasing unemployment rate inevitably affects foreign nationals living and working in the U.S. on a work visa. We have been happy to help many clients over the past months who have either been laid off or have decided to seek a better opportunity to attend school by changing their status to F, J or [...]
Holders of F (student), J (exchange visitor) or M (student) status in the U.S. are subject to certain requirements in order to maintain a valid status and be entitled to the benefits of their status (e.g. OPT, visa revalidation, etc.). With the beginning of a new academic year, we have been advising a number of [...]
Our firm handles a fair amount of appeals with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and we often receive inquiries not only about about the procedural aspects of an AAO appeal but also about the current processing times for AAO cases. About the AAO As a short preliminary background matter, the AAO is an appeals office which handles [...]
The August 2009 Visa Bulletin was just released by the State Department. The only change, in comparison to the July 2009 Visa Bulletin, is the forward movement in the EB-2 China and India categories which changed from January 1, 2000 to October 1, 2003 . All other categories remain unchanged. Here is a summary of [...]