There are a few people who are interested in immigration who are not aware of the upcoming announcement by President Obama on his plan for executive action on immigration. At this time, we have been receiving rumors, bits and pieces, provided off the record, by various sources in the government here in Washington, DC and [...]
The short answer is yes. Benching H-1B workers can lead to a criminal visa fraud indictment. Employers who hire H-1B employees and fail to pay the wages indicated in the Labor Condition Application during a work stoppage may be violating the terms set forth in the Department of Labor regulations. The practice of “benching” H-1B [...]
In an important (and surely welcome by many) announcement, the National Visa Center (NVC) has announced that as of November 12, 2014, they would no longer start requiring and collecting original civil documents in support of immigrant visa (green card) cases. Most applicants will simply need to submit photocopies of the applicable required civil documents [...]
The U.S. Consulate in Kingston, Jamaica has announced that effective October 31, 2014, it will restrict the ability of certain (but not all) third-country nationals (TCNs) to apply for and obtain a U.S. visa stamp at the Kingston Consular Section. TCN Visa Stamp Application Restrictions Effective October 31, 2014 Effective October 31, 2014, the U.S. [...]
The Department of State announced earlier today that starting November 12, 2014, the U.S. and PR China have agreed to start issuing longer-term visas for visitors and students. Chinese nationals who qualify for a B-category nonimmigrant visa (NIV) may now be issued multiple-entry visas for up to 10 years for business and travel. Qualified Chinese [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the December 2014 Visa Bulletin which is the third Visa Bulletin for the FY2015 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the continued forward movement in the EB-3 preference category. Summary of the December 2014 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB) Below is a [...]
The Department of Labor has provided some updates for the fourth quarter of the Fiscal Year 2014 (July 1, 2014 to September 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 (Fourth Quarter, 2014 Fiscal [...]
Business or pleasure travelers to the United States from a number of visa waiver program (VWP) are already familiar with the requirements of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) and specifically that the ESTA questionnaire must be completed, paid for and approved before visa waiver program travel to the U.S. On November 3, 2014, [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the November 2014 Visa Bulletin which is the second Visa Bulletin for the FY2015 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the major retrogression in EB-2 India (February 2005) and the significant forward movement in EB-3 (except India). Summary of the November 2014 [...]
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 and the current trends with respect to H-1B work visa petitions where there is a change in [...]