The USCIS receipt or case number is one of the most commonly used numbers, by immigrants and lawyers alike, to track the progress or identify a particular immigration case or filing. These receipt numbers start with three letters followed by a series of numbers, for example EAC-22-123-45678. Here is how to understand what the [...]
After the recent earthquake in Nepal, our office is receiving a number of inquiries by Nepali nationals regarding relief options and alternatives in various U.S. immigration situations. USCIS has also indicated that they would provide relief in a number of situations understanding that a disaster may affect the ability of an individual to maintain status [...]
A recent Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision which highlighted the requirement for an H-1B amendment any time there is a change in the job site requiring a new Labor Condition Application (LCA) has created a lot of conversation in some H-1B circles and our office has been handling many inquiries, concerns and reactions to the [...]
Our office just learned that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has completed the intake and processing of all of the fiscal year (FY2016) H-1B cap petitions. According to USCIS, there were nearly 233,000 H-1B cap petitions filed during the April 1st-7th filing period. This marks a 35% percent increase in the number of [...]
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 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 [...]
This policy has been updated and superseded by November 1, 2018 policy extending the I-693 validity to two years. USCIS has announced a change in their policy regarding the validity period of a Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, when filed in support of a Form I-485 Adjustment of Status Application. [...]
We are frequently asked by our corporate clients what obligations an employer has when it terminates a foreign national employee who is an H-1B visa holder, and what options are available to the foreign national employee if he is terminated. Employers can terminate an H-1B visa worker at any time without penalty as long as [...]
Our office had received a number of inquiries and we have worked with a number of individuals, universities and their DSOs who had seen a spike in OPT extension (STEM OPT extensions, most often) which were denied by USCIS due to the fact that the F-1 holder had engaged in volunteering or unpaid work during [...]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") just announced that they have released the revised FormN-400, Application for Naturalization. The main changes in the new N-400 form are the new questions required by anti-terrorism and child soldier prevention statutes, the (according to USCIS) clearer eligibility instructions and the addition of a dynamic 2D data barcode [...]
