In an executive order dated Monday, June 22, 2020, President Trump has temporarily barred certain work visa holders from entering the U.S. The restriction becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. EDT on June 24, 2020, will expire on December 31, 2020 (unless renewed), and will ban certain H, J and L work visa holders from entering [...]
Our office does not normally react to or otherwise speculate on or encourage rumors - as there have been many as far as immigration is concerned over the past years and especially over the recent months. But we feel compelled to share what we hearing from Washington with respect to some possible upcoming restrictions on [...]
The Administrative Appeals Office (“AAO”) recently issued a decision in a case focusing on the correct interpretation of the L-1A visa requirements for functional managers. In Matter of Z-A-, Inc., the AAO clarified that when determining whether the foreign national will primarily manage an essential function, USCIS must consider all relevant factors, including the foreign [...]
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 [...]
A recent report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) focused on the denial rates for the L-1B visas. In its March 2015 report NFAP analyzes denial rates over a number of years and for a number of different beneficiaries, from a variety of countries. The conclusion is that the denial rate for L-1B [...]
The Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") Office of Inspector General ("OIG") has released a report on the L-1 visa program after a thorough analysis of the program, its weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. The report makes a number of recommendations to DHS on how to strengthen the L-1 visa program by making more robust review [...]
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 [...]
In a recent report the National Foundation for American Policy (which claims to be a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to public policy research on trade, immigration, education, and other issues of national importance) has analyzed the USCIS rates of issuing requests for evidence (RFE) and denials of L-1 and H-1B petition over the past several [...]
The Department of State (DOS) has announced that effective December 1, 2011, the U.S. Consulate in Chennai will become the only acceptance center in India for all applications for intra-company transfers under the blanket L category. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and U.S. Consulates in Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad will no longer accept or [...]
The Department of State has announced that as of August 26, 2011, the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai would resume processing of H and L visa stamp applications. The earliest appointments available were for September 6, 2011 and as of today, the Consulate is in normal processing mode. Earlier this year, in March, the Mumbai Consulate [...]
