News Alert

The Visa Bulletin Explained: A Guide to Understanding Visa Availability and Retrogression

What is the Visa Bulletin? Published monthly by the U.S. Department of State (DOS), the Visa Bulletin provides information on visa availability and cutoff dates which determine which immigrant visa (green card) applicants are eligible to complete the final stages of the green card application process and which green card applications can be approved.  The [...]

By |2024-01-29T16:57:49-05:00November 13th, 2023|Articles, News, News Alert, Visa Bulletin|

Visa Administrative Processing: What Is It, How Long Does it Take and What Should I Expect?

A U.S. visa stamp refusal under “administrative processing” means that the U.S. Consulate is unable to approve and issue the visa stamp immediately and needs additional time for review of the application or other [...]

By |2023-11-10T18:01:44-05:00November 10th, 2023|Articles, News, News Alert, Visa Processing|

December 2023 Visa Bulletin – (Again) No Forward Movement

The U.S. State Department has released the December 2023 Visa Bulletin which is the third Visa Bulletin for the new fiscal year.  The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is lack of pretty much any movement in almost all employment [...]

By |2023-11-13T20:14:13-05:00November 9th, 2023|Articles, News, News Alert, Visa Bulletin|

What Are The Most Common H-1B RFE Issues?

Navigating the H-1B work visa program can be a daunting task for both employers and foreign professionals.   USCIS's adjudication standards change from time to time based on political and other factors making the H-1B program subject to varying degrees of scrutiny.   This scrutiny is most often exercised during the Request for Evidence (RFE) process [...]

By |2024-09-30T15:01:10-04:00October 31st, 2023|Articles, H-1B, News, News Alert|

How to Address H-1B RFEs Questioning the Beneficiary’s Educational Qualifications?

One of the common RFE issues raised by USCIS in connection with H-1B petitions is the suitability of the beneficiary’s educational (and experience) qualifications.  There are two aspects to this RFE issue — whether the degree itself is a US-equivalent [...]

By |2023-10-31T21:47:42-04:00October 31st, 2023|Articles, H-1B, News Alert, PERM|

Analysis of USCIS Proposal to Improve and Expand the H-1B Program

USCIS has released a proposed rule which seeks to change the H-1B visa program regulations.    The changes are generally positive and seek to allow greater flexibility for petitioners and to strengthen the H-1B cap lottery program.  Also, the proposed [...]

By |2023-10-31T12:00:03-04:00October 31st, 2023|Articles, H-1B, News, News Alert|

USCIS Increases Maximum EAD (and AP) Validity Period to Five Years

USCIS has announced (and already implemented) that certain work authorization documents (EAD) will be issued with validity of up to 5 years; a significant increase from the current 2-year maximum.   Similarly, advance parole documents (issued separately or together as [...]

By |2023-10-22T07:26:44-04:00October 21st, 2023|Articles, I-485, News, News Alert|

US Stateside Visa Renewal Process Pilot Expected in Early 2024

Many nonimmigrants in the U.S. have been eagerly awaiting news about the proposed introduction of a process to allow U.S. visa stamp issuance from within the U.S.   On October 17, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) announced that they are planning to lay out more details about the process with possible start date of a [...]

By |2023-10-19T11:20:51-04:00October 19th, 2023|Articles, News, News Alert, Travel|

November 2023 Visa Bulletin – No Forward Movement (Almost) Everywhere

The U.S. State Department has released the November 2023 Visa Bulletin which is the second Visa Bulletin for the new fiscal year.  The headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is lack of pretty much any movement in almost all [...]

By |2023-11-26T16:54:24-05:00October 8th, 2023|Articles, News, News Alert, Visa Bulletin|

DV-2025 Diversity Visa (Green Card) Lottery Opens October 4, 2023

The Department of State has announced the DV-2025 Diversity Visa (a.k.a. “green card”) lottery dates. The dates for electronic entry submission for this year’s lottery are between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 4, 2023, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity [...]

By |2023-10-05T09:55:00-04:00October 4th, 2023|Articles, News, News Alert|

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