It is normal that during recession, western economies are not so attractive to any kind of immigration as they are during boom times. The U.S. is no exception. A recent report by the Brookings Institution has confirmed that the number of immigrants in the U.S. was estimated to have risen by about a half a [...]
USCIS has just announced that petitioners will not be required to complete Part 6 of Form I-129 containing the export controls/ITAR questions until February 20, 2011. In a response to stakeholder inquiries and concerns of proper implementation, USCIS has agreed to the delay in implementation in order to give petitioners time to establish the [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of December 17, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 53,900 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,500 over the last week). Similarly, as of December 17, there were 19,700 H-1B visas filed subject to the [...]
We were among the first to report and send bulletin alerts last Thursday of the upcoming January 2011 Visa Bulletin major retrogression in most of the family-based preference categories. Our office has been inundated with inquiries from existing and new clients not only on the steps that should be taken over the next couple of [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of December 10, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 52,400 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,200 over the last week). Similarly, as of December 10, there were 19,100 H-1B visas filed subject to the [...]
The U.S. State Department just released the January 2011 Visa Bulletin which is the fourth Visa Bulletin for the FY2011 fiscal year and first for the calendar year. The major headline in the upcoming month's bulletin is the major retrogression in family-based visa numbers, accompanied by the continued slow forward movement across the employment-based categories. [...]
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 [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of December 3, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 51,200 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 800 over the last Thanksgiving week). Similarly, as of December 3, there were 18,700 H-1B visas filed subject to [...]
Along with the USCIS filing fee increase which went into effect on November 23, 2010, USCIS has revamped the guidelines, criteria and application process for filing fee waivers. While granting a waiver is still in USCIS's sole discretion, the process and qualifications are now more transparent. Which Forms are Eligible for a Fee Waiver? A [...]
On November 23, 2010, the pre-announced increase in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") filing fees went into effect. All applications and petitions filed must now include the new and correct filing fee, or the filings will be rejected. We have written in the past about the need of this fee increase and our [...]