As Vice Chair of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Sheela Murthy regularly finds herself among the crème de la crème of Maryland's business community. Most recently, Murthy was at the Chamber's 2014 Annual Meeting and Business Hall of Fame Dinner, held on May 6th in...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed regulatory change related to the country-specific specialty occupation professionals categories, E-3 (for Australians) and H1B1 (for citizens of Chile and Singapore). These changes would provide some clarification regarding the work authorized nature of these categories. Immigration Benefits...
Of the nearly 60,000 people employed by Microsoft in the United States, over two-thirds live and work in the Puget Sound region of Washington state. [See Fast Facts About Microsoft.] So one can imagine the concerns in the Seattle area, now that Microsoft has announced...
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced the creation of a new website that gives travelers access to five years of their own I-94 arrival / departure and border crossing records. This website promises to serve as a valuable tool to foreign nationals who...
There's a shared commitment to public service at the Murthy Law Firm (MLF), and this holds true for every member of our staff. Every week, in ways large and small, our team is giving back to the community, sharing their talents for the benefit of...
H1B skeptics put us in mind of a quip attributed to Winston Churchill - that a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on - even though, in this case, the skepticism seems to be driven...
The results of the U.S. Department of State (DOS) diversity visa (DV) lottery for fiscal year 2015 (FY15) are now available. The DV lottery is a DOS program that runs on an annual basis. Eligibility for participation is limited to people from designated countries with...
Answer H1B workers can invest money in a business, but most of the people who ask this question want to run their own businesses, not just invest passively. Running a business is work - even if the individual doesn't get paid. A person in H1B status...
Answer Often the answer to this is no. But, there are exceptions. In the employment-based context, 245(k) forgives up to 180 days of status violation. In the family-based context, immediate relatives (spouses, minor children, parents of USCs) can adjust as long as they entered legally. There...
Answer There is not a set deadline for getting receipts. But, if a person has not been issued a receipt yet, the chances that they were selected are slim. The outcome should become clear soon, once the rejection packets start to arrive. The Murthy Law Firm...
