News Alert

DV-2019 Diversity Visa (Green Card) Lottery Opens October 18, 2017 – REVISED DATES

The Department of State has revised the DV-2019 Diversity Visa (a.k.a. “green card”) lottery dates. The new dates for submission for this year’s lottery must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 18, 2017, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), on Wednesday, November 22,  2017.  Previously, the DV-2019 lottery [...]

By |2017-10-26T11:58:05-04:00October 4th, 2017|Articles, DOS, News, News Alert|

Premium Processing Reinstated for All H-1B Cases as of October 3

USCIS has just officially confirmed as of today, October 3, 2017, they have reinstated the premium processing service for all types of H-1B petitions.    Petitions filed under the premium processing service are given a response by USCIS within 15 calendar days.  Similarly, pending "regular processing" H-1B petitions can be "upgraded" to premium processing service. [...]

By |2017-10-03T12:34:49-04:00September 28th, 2017|Articles, Employers, H-1B, News, News Alert|

Nonimmigrant Status 30/60 Day Rule Amended to Impose Stricter Requirements for “Inconsistent Conduct”

The U.S. Department of State ("DOS") has amended a section of the Field Adjudicators Manual ("FAM") which pertains to government officials' determinations of misrepresentation by applicants and specifically with respect to activities permitted in the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas. 9 FAM 302.9-4(B)(3) has been amended to include a section called "Inconsistent Conduct Within 90 Days [...]

By |2017-09-21T10:54:40-04:00September 21st, 2017|Articles, ESTA, F-1, News, News Alert, Travel|

October 2017 Visa Bulletin – EB-1 and EB-2 ROW Current Again; First Bulletin for New Fiscal Year

The U.S. State Department has just released the October 2017 Visa Bulletin which is the first Visa Bulletin for the FY2018 fiscal year. The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is fact [...]

By |2017-09-12T09:31:57-04:00September 12th, 2017|AC21, Articles, EB-2, EB-3, I-485, News, News Alert, Visa Bulletin|

Trump Administration to End DACA – What Does That Mean for Employers?

On September 5, 2017, the Trump administration announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") program will end. DACA will remain in place until March 5, 2018 and the program will be phased out over the next two years. DACA Revocation Details The Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") has released details and clarifications regarding [...]

By |2017-09-07T12:16:22-04:00September 7th, 2017|Articles, DACA, Employers, News, News Alert|

USCIS to Start Requiring In-Person Interviews for Employment I-485 Applications

USCIS has just announced that they are expanding the requirements for interviews to employment-based I-485 adjustment of status applicants. Effective October 1, 2017, USCIS will phase-in interviews for (1) employment-based I-485 adjustment of status applications and (2) refugee/asylee I-730 applications who are in the United States and petitioning to join a principal applicant.   Under [...]

By |2017-08-28T20:59:16-04:00August 28th, 2017|Articles, I-485, News, News Alert, USCIS|

Pending I-131 Advance Parole Applications Being Denied Due to International Travel

Our office has recently learned that USCIS is changing their long-standing practice and have started denying Form I-131 Advance Parole applications due to abandonment in cases where the applicant has left the United States while the I-131 Advance Parole application was pending.      USCIS has confirmed that this is their actual current policy going [...]

By |2017-08-24T10:03:36-04:00August 24th, 2017|AOS, Articles, I-131, I-485, News, News Alert, Travel|

Nonimmigrant Visa Services Suspended at US Consulates in Russia

The U.S. Embassy in Russia has announced that starting August 23, 2017, all nonimmigrant visa (NIV) operations across Russia will be suspended. Beginning September 1, 2017, nonimmigrant visa interviews will be conducted only at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and interviews at the St. Petersburg, Yekaterininburg and Vladivostok will be cancelled. What is the Reason [...]

By |2017-08-23T13:14:35-04:00August 23rd, 2017|Articles, News, News Alert, Students, Travel, Visa Processing|

September 2017 Visa Bulletin – Cutoff Date for EB-2 ROW Remains; Last Visa Bulletin for The Fiscal Year

The U.S. State Department has just released the September 2017 Visa Bulletin which is the last Visa Bulletin for the FY2017 fiscal year.  The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is [...]

By |2017-08-09T10:47:01-04:00August 9th, 2017|Articles, EB-2, EB-3, News, News Alert, Visa Bulletin|

Premium Processing for H-1B Cases Starting to Come Back, Gradually

USCIS appears to be in the process of reinstating premium processing service for H-1B petitions.  On July 24, 2017, USCIS announced that they are reinstating premium processing for H-1B petitions filed by cap-exempt employers. Background of the H-1B Premium Processing Service Suspension Effective April 3, 2017, USCIS suspended the premium processing service for all H-1B [...]

By |2017-07-27T12:49:19-04:00July 27th, 2017|Articles, Employers, H-1B, News, News Alert|

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