Members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) have reported that suspicious letters are being sent to L-1A executives. The scam letters claim to be from USCIS and signed by Lori Scialabba, Deputy Director of USCIS. The letters use incorrect…
Blog Archives
DHS Proposes To Raise Filing Fees By 21%
In a proposed rule published in the May 4 Federal Register, DHS is proposing to raise its fees by an average of 21% to recover the full cost of USCIS operations. DHS is also proposing to establish a three-level fee…
Tagged with: DHS, Federal Register, Filing Fees, Form N-400, Naturalization, Proposed Rule, USCIS
Posted in In The News
Posted in In The News
USCIS Has Completed Data Entry of FY 2017 H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions
On May 2, 2016, USCIS announced that it has completed data entry for all FY 2017 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in this year’s lottery. H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected in the lottery are being returned. USCIS is unable to provide…
Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Important Immigration Case, United States v. Texas
On April 18, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Texas, the lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The case concerns a program that President Obama announced in November of 2014 called Deferred…
Tagged with: DACA, DAPA, executive actions, President Obama, Supreme Court, undocumented immigrants
Posted in In The News
Posted in In The News
USCIS Has Completed FY 2017 H-1B Cap Lottery
On April 7, 2016, USCIS announced that it had received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for FY 2017. They also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree…
Tagged with: FY 2017, H-1B Cap Lottery, H-1B Master's Cap, H-1B Regular Cap, USCIS
Posted in H-1B Visa Petitions, In The News
Posted in H-1B Visa Petitions, In The News
USCIS Transfers Workload from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center
USCIS has issued an alert on workload transfer from the Vermont Service Center (VSC) to the California Service Center (CSC) to balance workloads and decrease processing times. The CSC will now be processing some: Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant…
Tagged with: case processing, CSC, L-1 Visa, L-2, USCIS, VSC
Posted in In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS New Policies/Procedures
Posted in In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS New Policies/Procedures
DOS Announces New Policy for Phasing-out of U.S. Employment Authorization for Diplomats’ Dependents
The Department of State has announced a new policy for phasing out the ability of diplomats’ dependents holding A-2 visas to receive employment authorization in the U.S. For new applications, the Department’s Office of Foreign Missions (OFM) will consider applications…
Tagged with: A-2 visa, Department of State, dependents, Office of Foreign Missions, PA2 employees
Posted in In The News
Posted in In The News
USCIS Will Begin Accepting H-1B Petitions for FY2017 on April 1, 2016
USCIS has announced that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2017 cap on April 1, 2016. The congressionally mandated cap on H-1B visas is 65,000. The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed for individuals with…
Tagged with: H-1B cap, H-1B Visa Petitions, premium processing, USCIS
Posted in H-1B Visa Petitions, In The News
Posted in H-1B Visa Petitions, In The News
DHS Extends OPT Period to Improve Opportunities for F-1 Visa STEM Students
The Department of Homeland Security published a final rule in the Federal Register on March 11, 2016 that will allow certain international students to stay and work in the United States on their student visas as long as three years…
Tagged with: Department of Homeland Security, F-1 Visa, Optional Practical Training, STEM
Posted in In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas
Posted in In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas
Carnival company voluntarily dismissed from H-2B prevailing wage class action
Last week, plaintiffs from a proposed class action involving H-2B visa guest workers voluntarily dismissed a Florida amusement park company from the pending litigation. The case involves the prevailing wage rate offered to guest workers. This proposed class action involves…
