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 [...]
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 person by a U.S. consular officer. Under this program, holders of B, J-2, H-4, L-2, C, D [...]
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 [...]
The Department of State (DOS) has announced that effective December 1, 2011, the U.S. Consulate in Chennai will become the only acceptance center in India for all applications for intra-company transfers under the blanket L category. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and U.S. Consulates in Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad will no longer accept or [...]
The Department of State has announced that as of August 26, 2011, the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai would resume processing of H and L visa stamp applications. The earliest appointments available were for September 6, 2011 and as of today, the Consulate is in normal processing mode. Earlier this year, in March, the Mumbai Consulate [...]
The Department of State ("DOS"), in an "urgent" alert dated as of September 15, 2011, has advised that due to heavy demand in the employment-based immigrant visa categories, DOS has reached the Fiscal Year 2011 annual limit of employment-based green cards. DOS/USCIS to Stop Approving EB Immigrant Visas Until October 1 As a result of [...]