Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), certain Canadian and Mexican professionals are allowed to enter the U.S. under the TN nonimmigrant classification to engage in certain TN-eligible occupations. TN Admission Requirements It is important to note that requirements for admission of Canadian and Mexican TN workers vary. A Canadian citizen TN worker may [...]
Many of our clients and readers are familiar with the requirement to submit to biometrics (digital fingerprinting and/or photograph, please see below) in connection with certain USCIS applications. The biometrics are often taken at USCIS Application Support Centers (ASC) after a notice, showing a specific ASC address and appointment date/time, is issued and mailed to [...]
The U.S. State Department just released the February 2012 Visa Bulletin which is the fifth Visa Bulletin for the FY2012 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the significant forward movement in EB-2 India and China (by twelve months) and the continued forward movement in FB-1. Summary of the February 2012 [...]
The Department of State has confirmed that as of January 1, 2012, the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, India will no longer accept and process immigrant visa (IV, or green card) applications. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and U.S. Consulate in Mumbai will become the only acceptance centers in India for immigrant visas. The change [...]
USCIS has released an interesting report from its field offices on the processing times and statistics of N-400, Application for Naturalization, filings for the fiscal years 2010 through 2012 (or, October 2011). Number of N-400 Applications The report breaks down, for each field office processing N-400 applications, the number of receipts, approvals, denials and pending [...]
A few days ago, on December 29, 2011, the USCIS Ombudsman has issued a report and set of recommendations urging USCIS to take proactive steps to ensure clear, consistent and predictable standards are applied to immigrant visa applications under the first employment-based preference category (EB-1) for aliens with extraordinary ability (EA). Background on the Current [...]
When clients and readers speak, we listen! Due to a number of comments and requests, we are changing the time of our immigration chat from 9 pm to 3 pm (eastern time). Please join us this week and in the future for our immigration chat. The main reason for the new time is simply that [...]
The U.S. State Department just released the January 2012 Visa Bulletin which is the fourth Visa Bulletin for the FY2012 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the significant forward movement in EB-2 India and China (by nine and a half months) and the continued forward movement in FB1. Summary of [...]
There has been a considerable amount of discussion, excitement and, unfortunately, some incorrect rumors over the past few weeks regarding possible changes to the way employment-based immigrant visas are allocated. Our office has been receiving many requests to comment on and speculate on what may happen with the proposed legislation. To avoid fueling rumors, we [...]
USCIS has issued an alert that a number of key online systems will be unavailable due to system maintenance from Friday, December 2nd at 7pm (EST) until Monday, December 5th at 9am (EST). As a result, there will be no access or service to the following USCIS online systems and tools: Check My Case Status [...]