L-1 Blanket Visa Applications Consolidated to Chennai
The U.S. State Department has announced that effective 12/1/2011 the U.S. consulate in Chennai, India will become the only consulate in India authorized to process blanket L-1 visa applications. The...
View ArticleH-1B Cap Met
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it received sufficient petitions to exhaust the FY2012 H-1B cap as of Tuesday, November 22nd. Cases properly filed and...
View ArticleJanuary 2012 Visa Bulletin
In the recently published January 2012 Visa Bulletin there has been significant movement in the EB-2 category for nationals of both India and China. The priority dates jumped forward from March 15,...
View ArticleFebruary 2012 Visa Bulletin: EB-2 Jumps a Full Year
This afternoon the U.S. Department of State published the February 2012 Visa Bulletin, showing significant movement in the EB-2 category for nationals of both India and China. The priority dates jumped...
View ArticleUSCIS Updates Case Processing Times
Today, the four USCIS regional offices have issued updated processing times. The most noteworthy changes are with regard to the processing times for H-1B petitions at the California and Vermont service...
View ArticleEmployer Alert on Site Visits
Site visits to employers sponsoring H-1B petitions have been increasing recently as USCIS continues to implement changes in response to its H-1B Benefit Fraud Analysis report from September 2008. As...
View ArticleProjected EB-2 Retrogression
A recent announcement from the State Department makes it clear that EB-2 immigrant visa retrogression for nationals of India and mainland China is coming with the May visa bulletin. Charlie Oppenheim,...
View ArticleUSCIS Announces Initial H-1B Count
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has just announced that it received approximately 17,400 H-1B petitions under the regular H-1B cap of 65,000, and that around 8,200 have been...
View ArticleArticle by Chad Graham Published by the San Jose Business Journal
What happens when the H-1B visas are gone? In the Bay Area, foreign workers have become an integral part of the work force and high-tech innovation. Many possess rare skills and unique talents that...
View ArticleJuly Visa Bulletin: EB-2 Will Retrogress
For the first time in years, all countries will be subject to retrogression under the employment-based second preference category (EB-2). The U.S. Department of State just released the July 2012 Visa...
View ArticleNew Visa Processing System in India Starts Today
Beginning today, the United States Embassy in India will begin using a new visa processing system throughout India that is intended to standardize procedures, as well as simplify fee payment and...
View ArticleUpdates on Plan to Eliminate the I-94 Card
It was announced in 2012 that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol would move to eliminate the issuance of I-94 cards to arriving non-immigrants in the near future. In 2012, I-94 cards were no longer issued...
View ArticleUSCIS Issues New I-9
Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) publishd a revised version of Form I-9. The new version requires additional information from foreign national employees, including the email...
View ArticleHow This Immigration Bill Impacts Employers
The highly publicized bipartisan “Gang of Eight” in the Senate has pushed forward to draft an immigration reform bill that many believe will make it through Congress and result in comprehensive...
View ArticleNew Telephone Scam Targeting Individuals with Immigration Petitions
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued an alert regarding a telephone scam that is targeting companies and individuals who have filed petitions with the USCIS. Filers are...
View ArticleTelephone Scam Update
We reported last month that USCIS issued a notice regarding a scam wherein some companies and individuals who had filed recent petitions received phone calls saying that errors were made and payment...
View ArticleFY 2015 H-1B Cap Reached
Today USCIS announced that it has received sufficient H-1B petitions to reach the annual limit for both the regular and advanced US degree caps. The computerized random selection lottery for the US...
View Article172,500 H-1Bs Received
Today USCIS announced that it received approximately 172,500 H-1B petitions in the H-1B cap filing period between April 1 and April 7, 2014. USCIS has completed the computer-generated lottery to select...
View ArticleU.S. Consulates in Canada Temporarily Suspend Third-Country National Visa...
The seven U.S. consulates in Canada have announced that they will not accept any new third-country national (TCN) visa applications for the summer months of June, July, and August. Any currently...
View ArticleSeptember 2014 Visa Bulletin: EB-2 Shows Steady Progress
For September, there is not much movement in the employment-based categories except for EB-2 India. Still, the progress is not significant, and this can be attributed to various factors. Charles...
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