Beginning in May 2019, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin issuing form I-94 arrival/departure records with alphanumeric "numbers" (i.e., composed of letters and numbers). This change will have no impact on the validity of I-94 cards and numbers issued prior to the...
Effective May 1, 2019, citizens of Israel will be able to access the E-2 (treaty investor) visa category. The United States and Israel had signed a qualifying treaty in June 2012. However, the E-2 visa program for Israeli citizens could not become effective until Israel...
This evening, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that premium processing of H1B cap petitions requesting a change of status will begin on May 20, 2019. This means that, within 15 calendar days of May 20, the USCIS will take some adjudicative action...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that premium processing for H1B petitions being filed for the fiscal year 2020 cap (i.e., H1B lottery) "…will be offered in a two-phased approach." The first phase will be for cap-subject petitions being filed requesting a change...
This evening, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, effective November 19, 2018, implementation of the policy memorandum on the issuance of notices to appear (NTAs) is being expanded to include various additional categories of foreign nationals. More specifically, the NTA memo may...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, effective November 1, 2018, the medical examination and vaccination record (form I-693) required for most I-485 applicants will be valid for two years from the date it is signed by a civil surgeon. In addition,...
The dates for filing (DF) chart is to be used for all family- and employment-based categories in the November 2018 Visa Bulletin, per the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) update to its adjustment-of-status filing charts webpage. This is the second month in a row that...
The November 2018 Visa Bulletin has been released, but the cutoff dates in the final action (FA) chart for the vast majority of employment-based categories remain unchanged from the October 2018 Visa Bulletin. There is absolutely no change in the dates for filing (DF) chart...
In recent months, attorneys at the Murthy Law Firm have been hearing from a number of people who have had their applications for dependent visas (e.g., F-2, H-4) denied. The cases involve visa applications filed prior to the couple's completion of all of the marriage...
Immigrants coming to the United States are better educated than ever before, according to a new study. The study, which was conducted by the non-partisan think tank Pew Research Center, examined how many of our nation's 44 million immigrants possess upper level degrees. As of...
