We have received a number of inquiries about H-1B applications which are still pending. For those with such pending applications at the Vermont Service Center, our information, which is as of October 20th, is that there were 4,345 petitions that were part of this fiscal year’s cap and which were not completely adjudicated. Of these, [...]
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification has released its October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008 (FY’08) statistics on PERM processing. Although these are statistical estimates and not official results, the numbers are expected to be very close to the final official numbers. We wrote about PERM’s FY’08 mid-year statistics in [...]
With the Visa Waiver Program’s (VWP) recent expansion and the upcoming mandatory use of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) after January 12, 2009, we wanted to review the passport requirements for visa-free travel to the U.S. under VWP. Passports Issued on or After October 26, 2006. Any passport issued by a VWP country on [...]
President Bush just announced that the Department of Homeland Security has notified Congress that the administration intends to admit seven new countries into the Visa Waiver Program. The new countries are Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and South Korea. The exact date of the visa waiver program eligibility for these countries is expected [...]
USCIS has announced that the maximum period of time a TN visa holder can remain in the U.S. from one (1) year to three (3) years. The TN initial period is now equal to the three (3) year initial period of admission granted to H-1B holders. About the TN Visa The TN nonimmigrant classification is visa category [...]
The November 2008 Visa Bulletin is out. There are no surprises, although for many foreign nationals, who have an employment-based petition filed and pending, the update would not bring much joy. If we could sum the results of the November 2008 Visa Bulletin, it would be “slow forward movement.” According to the State Department (which is [...]
The USCIS has produced a fraud audit and compliance assessment report which aims to analyze the level of potential fraud, misrepresentation or lack of compliance in H-1B visa filings. The Sample To conduct the analysis, USCIS took a random sample of 246 H-1B petitions (out of a total of 96,827) which were filed, approved, or pending between [...]
About the EB-5 Visa and Regional Centers Under section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5), 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise (generally of at least $1 million). Of the 10,000 investor [...]
The annual green card lottery, DV-2010, opens today at noon eastern time. The deadline for submission is noon, eastern time, on Monday, December 1, 2008. Although early application does not increase the chances of being selected, we have seen in the past years the lottery site overloaded with web traffic in the last days or [...]
October 1 is exactly one week away, and there are many H-1B applicants who have already had their petitions approved and are waiting eagerly the start of their H-1B period. However, there are a number of applicants who have been picked in the lottery but have not yet received anything from USCIS regarding their H-1B [...]