The U.S. State Department has just released the February 2016 Visa Bulletin which is the fifth Visa Bulletin for the FY2016 fiscal year. The major headline [...]
In response to the changed H-1B petition amendment requirements following the Simeio decision, the U.S. State Department has circulated a cable to U.S. Consulates worldwide with specific guidance to consular officers on how to address H-1B visa stamping petitions where there is change of employment. While the cable does not create new policies, it specifically [...]
In a sudden and surprising move, a number of immigration-related provisions were inserted into the must-pass government funding bill, titled “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016” The bill passed both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by President Obama on [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the January 2016 2015 Visa Bulletin which is the fourth Visa Bulletin for the FY2016 fiscal year. The major [...]
Foreign nationals who are in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant status are aware (we hope) that normally they need to have a valid U.S. visa stamp in order to reenter the U.S. after a trip [...]
As we are about to get into the peak of the U.S. election season, some of the U.S. presidential candidates have expressed opinions on immigration, in connection with the campaign, or previously, and it is natural for some foreign citizens, both living in the U.S. and abroad, to be interested in contributing money and/or services [...]
Many employers and F-1 STEM students have been anxiously expecting a draft of the proposed STEM OPT extension rule which had to be rushed as a result of the August 2015 District Court decision invalidating the existing 2008 STEM [...]
The last few weeks have brought a lot of attention to the way the Visa Bulletin cutoff dates are allocated and how USCIS uses the dates to accept I-485 filings. Starting with the initial version of the October 2015 Visa Bulletin in early September, and throughout the subsequent October 2015 Visa Bulletin revision and litigation, [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the November 2015 Visa Bulletin which is the second Visa Bulletin for the new FY2016 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the lack of any movement whatsoever in the Filing cutoff dates section of the Visa Bulletin, possibly caused by the October [...]
