The Department of State ("DOS") has reported that they are transitioning to an online immigrant visa application as of September 3, 2013. Immigrant visa applicants who are processing their immigrant visas (green cards) through the National Visa Center (NVC)/U.S. Consulate will now need to complete the DS-260 form online (Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien [...]
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is reporting a possible disruption of visa services at U.S. Embassy in Turkey. The Embassy stated that because of protests and riots throughout the country, visa services for non-U.S. citizens may be disrupted with little to no notice in the coming days.
The Department of State ("DOS") has announced and launched an online system which allows applicants who have cases pending with DOS to check the status on their applications. The system works for both Immigrant Visa (IV) and Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) applications filed/pending at either the National Visa Center (NVC) or at a U.S. Consular Section [...]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") has announced that effective February 1, 2013, USCIS will begin collecting an additional USCIS Immigrant Fee of $165.00 from foreign nationals seeking admission as permanent residents to the U.S. The fee will apply to immigrant visa applicants who have received their visa approval from a U.S. Consulate abroad [...]
A significant policy change has narrowed dramatically the interview waiver eligibility. See the updated alert. Some of our clients and readers are aware that in March 2012, the U.S. Embassy in India introduced the Interview Waiver Program (IWP) which allows eligible individuals to apply for certain types of visa without being interviewed in [...]
The United States Embassy in India announced modifications to the U.S. visa application procedures effective September 26, 2012. The U.S. Embassy is introducing a new process to be followed by all U.S. visa applicants; these include H-1B and L-1 visa applicants as well as individuals applying for other type of visa for entry to the [...]
Effective April 13, 2012, the Department of State is changing the visa processing fees. Some of the fees will increase, while some will decrease. For example, the fees for most nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase. On the other hand, all immigrant visa processing fees will decrease (some by a substantial amount). [...]
Among increased scrutiny and often long waiting period to obtain an H-1B (and sometimes even H-4 for their dependents) visa stamp, a number of US-based IT consulting employees are understandably nervous about traveling abroad and attending the H-1B visa stamp interview. Our office handles a substantial number of such H-1B petitions and H-1B visa stamp [...]
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 [...]
The U.S. Department of State has announced that all U.S. embassies and consulates will expedite the processing of F-1 student visa stamp applications to ensure that qualified foreign students are able to begin their studies on time. According to the Department of State, the maximum wait for a student visa appointment (for all posts) is [...]