Some of our clients and readers are aware that in March 2012, the U.S. Embassy in India introduced the Interview Waiver Program (IWP) which allows eligible individuals to apply for certain types of visa without being interviewed in person by a U.S. consular officer. Under this program, holders of B, J-2, H-4, L-2, C, D [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the December 2012 Visa Bulletin which is the third Visa Bulletin for the FY2013 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the lack of movement in EB-2 India and the possibility of a cutoff date for EB-5 China being introduced in a few [...]
There is a more recent version of this article. Please see our most recent report from Mr. Charles Oppenheim. Our office just came back from a discussion session here in Washington, DC with Charles Oppenheim. Mr. Oppenheim is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State. For many, [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the November 2012 Visa Bulletin which is the second Visa Bulletin for the FY2013 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month's Visa Bulletin is the lack of movement in EB-2 India and that EB-2 ROW is now back to "Current." Many have been looking forward [...]
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secreatary Napolitano has just announced that DHS has designated Taiwan as a Visa Waiver Program (VWP). As a result, Taiwan passport holders will be able to travel visa-free to the United States starting on November 1, 2012. The VWP will enable citizens of Taiwan to travel to [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the October 2012 Visa Bulletin which is the first Visa Bulletin for the FY2013 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the availability of a number of categories, including EB-2 India and China, in addition to the significant retrogression in the EB-2 India category [...]
Our office has been handling an extraordinary amount of inquiries by clients and readers with respect to the upcoming October 2012 Visa Bulletin. We wanted to share some information with our clients and readers as we wait the release of this highly-anticipated Visa Bulletin. Why is the October 2012 Visa Bulletin So Highly Anticipated The [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the September 2012 Visa Bulletin which is the last Visa Bulletin for the FY2012 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the continued unavailability in the EB-2 India and China categories (which is expected to become available in next month's visa bulletin), the unchanged [...]
The U.S. House of Representatives passed yesterday (August 1, 2012) by a voice vote a proposed bill which seeks to restrict the ability of certain schools, colleges and universities to sponsor students' F-1 visas. H.R. 3012 (bill tracker, text of bill) was introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and seeks to amend the F-1 student [...]
The H-1B season is well underway and we have received the fourth “official” update on the FY2013 cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 2 for both the Vermont and California Service Centers. As of April 27, 2012, USCIS has received approximately 29,200 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap. This suggests a rate of filings of [...]