The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced that they have expanded the list of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) degree programs. The expanded list includes fields such as Neuroscience, Medical Informatics, Pharmaceutics and Drug Design, Mathematics and Computer Science. See the updated list of all STEM degree programs. New STEM-Designated Programs The new [...]
The Department of State (DOS) announced yesterday, May 13th, 2011, that a computer glitch has caused all results of the DV 2012 lottery (also called the "green card lottery") to be voided. Accordingly, lottery results published earlier on the DV 2012 lottery website are void and those applicants who were "selected" would not be able [...]
The U.S. State Department just released the June 2011 Visa Bulletin which is the ninth Visa Bulletin for the FY2011 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the forward movement in EB-2 India and the continued (but slow) slow forward movement in FB2A (after few significant backward movements). Summary of the [...]
USCIS released the weekly information on the numbers of cap-subject FY2012 H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of May 6, 2011, USCIS has received approximately 10,200 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,000 over the last week). Similarly, as of May 6, there were 7,300 H-1B visas filed subject to the [...]
USCIS released the weekly information on the numbers of cap-subject FY2012 H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of April 29, 2011, USCIS has received approximately 9,200 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,200 over the last week). Similarly, as of April 29, there were 6,600 H-1B visas filed subject to the [...]
Our office has established a reputation as one of the premier practices for handling appeals with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and we often receive inquiries not only about 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 [...]
We have written in the past about the Tri-Valley University and how it affected a high number of F-1 international students by engaging in alleged unlawful practices and immigration fraud. The Tri-Valley University story is worth following because it highlights, from the perspective of the foreign students and nationals, the importance of maintaining good immigration [...]
USCIS released the weekly information on the numbers of cap-subject FY2012 H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of April 22, 2011, USCIS has received approximately 8,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 2,100 over the last two weeks). Similarly, as of April 22, there were 5,900 H-1B visas filed subject to [...]
Our office handles a substantial number of ETA Form 9089 – Permanent Labor Certification (“PERM”) applications and we are closely monitoring the current PERM processing times not only for the benefit of our clients but also to be able to predict longer-term trends in PERM processing. The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has provided an update [...]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) will be eliminated effective April 28, 2011. See the Federal Register notice and WSJ article. About NSEERS The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, NSEERS, required individuals from more than 20 predominantly Arab countries to register with the government on [...]