On March 17, 2015 the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to discuss the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. employers to import foreign workers in specialty occupations. At the hearing Iowa Senator Chuck Grassly (R) challenged the H-1B visa program as being widely misused by employers to “undercut wages and offshore high-paying American jobs.” [...]
This week the House Homeland Security Committee will consider legislation to change background checks requirements of the Visa Waiver Program for individuals who come to the United States, amidst growing concerns about extremist groups like ISIS. What is the Visa Waiver Program? The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) has been in place since 1986, and allows [...]
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 [...]
Our office closely monitors not only each monthly Visa Bulletin but also any developments and updates from here in Washington, DC which may give us some idea on upcoming movements and surprises. Our goal is to share any and all credible information with our clients and readers in order to allow proper planning and to [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the April 2015 Visa Bulletin which is the seventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2015 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant eight-month forward movement in EB-2 India and the seven-month forward movement in EB-2 China. EB-3 also moves forward nicely with [...]
As our office is gearing up for May 26, 2015 when the first H-4 Spouse EAD applications under the new rule can be filed, we are receiving many questions and concerns as to what kind of employment would be permitted by the H-4 Spouse EAD, once the actual work permit is approved. The quick answer [...]
As we are going into the peak of the H-1B cap season, our office receives many inquiries about the duration of the H-1B filing season this year or, in other words, when will the H-1B cap be reached? So far we have been able to compare demand with prior H-1B filing seasons and we knew [...]
Our office just completed participation in the very-busy USCIS conference call to discuss and answer questions about the upcoming H-4 Spouse EAD rule. We are happy to share our immediate notes and reactions from the call to our readers. We also have upcoming engagement options for our attorneys to provide more information and answer further [...]
Since the H-4 Spouse EAD rule announcement yesterday, our office has been receiving a number of questions and inquiries about the rule. the rule. For example, many people are interested to know whether the approved I-140 petition, which is one of the eligibility factors, must be from a current employer or it can be from [...]
After months of waiting and anticipation, USCIS has finally announced that effective May 26, 2015, USCIS will begin accepting applications for I-765 Employment Authorization Document (EAD) applications by certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. Who is Eligible to Apply for EAD? H-4 spouses who are [...]
