Our office just came back from a discussion session here in Washington, DC with Charles Oppenheim. Mr. Oppenheim is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State. For many, he is simply known as the person responsible for the monthly and annual visa number allocations for family- and [...]
As an E-Verify designated agent, the Capitol Immigration Law Group handles the E-Verify processing for many employers and we would like to pass on some important post-government shutdown E-Verify information to our clients and to all companies who are working with E-Verify. Most importantly, USCIS has confirmed that the E-Verify system is now back online [...]
A very common question by the holders of visas which have employment restrictions is, “Can I engage in unpaid volunteer work under my visa?” We deal with this question on a daily basis when we are asked by clients whether someone who is in the U.S. (on a status which does not allow employment) [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the November 2013 Visa Bulletin which is the second Visa Bulletin for the FY2014 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is that there is no movement for any EB India categories and the fact that FB-2A remains unchanged with a (relatively) recent cutoff [...]
Our office has established a reputation as one of the leading practices for handling appeals with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and we often receive inquiries not only about the procedural aspects of an AAO appeal but also about the current processing times for AAO cases. The AAO processing times are published monthly, at the [...]
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is launching another round of worksite investigations. Recently, ICE has indicated it would conduct another wave of I-9 audits. ICE prioritizes investigations involving critical infrastructure and key resources. However, no industry or company, regardless of size, type or location is exempt from complying with the law and may become [...]
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 12.30-1.30 PM EST The Form I-9 appears deceptively simple, but is fraught with potential compliance issues including financial penalties. Given the intensification of worksite enforcement efforts, it is crucial for employers to assess their I-9 records and practices with an internal audit. This FREE webinar will provide training on how to [...]
The Department of State will open the DV-2015 Diversity Visa (a.k.a. “green card”) lottery on Tuesday, October 1, 2013. The entries for this year’s lottery must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 1, 2013, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Saturday, November 2, 2013. Applicants may access [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the October 2013 Visa Bulletin which is the first Visa Bulletin for the FY2014 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is that despite the fact that this is the first Visa Bulletin for the new fiscal year, there is not much movement for [...]
The Department of State ("DOS") routinely publishes the denial rate for B-1/B-2 visitor visas for each fiscal year (October 1 to September 30). The fiscal year (FY) 2012 data has been published and we share it with our clients and readers. It is interesting to note the countries with the highest and lowest denial rates. [...]
