Attorney Sheela Murthy travels to India periodically to meet with U.S. consular officials on behalf of the Murthy Law Firm and our clients. Her next visit is in October 2012. Ms. Murthy currently has availability during this trip for representation of a limited group of...
Minister Counselor James W. Herman, of the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, India, advised in late June 2012 of ongoing consideration of a potential drastic reduction in the duration of B-1 (business visitor) visas issued to Indian citizens seeking to visit the United States. A recent...
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) issued a decision on June 14, 2012 overturning the denial of a PERM labor certification (PERM labor) despite a 0.0003 percent variation between the employer's offered wage and the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage determination (PWD)....
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a notice, published in the Federal Register on July 9, 2012, regarding proposed changes to the labor condition application (LCA). The LCA form is a key requirement in the H1B process. The proposed changes are significant, and address...
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently expanded the list of approved degree programs that are eligible for the 17-month Optional Practical Training (OPT) extensions. The ICE announcement is available online. Background: Basics of STEM Extensions In April 2008, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has audited a significant percentage of PERM labor certification (LC or labor) cases since early 2012. The incidence of PERM audits became noticeably higher around February 2012. As explained here for the benefit of MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers, many...
For the past four weeks, starting on April 2, 2012, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been accepting H1B petitions to be counted against the fiscal year 2013 (FY13) H1B Cap. As of the latest count at the time of this writing (through...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently announced major changes to nonimmigrant and immigrant visa fees. These fees are charged to applicants who apply for visas (sometimes referred to as visa "stamping") at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. These new fees became effective April 13,...
The Murthy Law Firm has recently been contacted by a number of former University of Northern Virginia (UNVA) students facing immigration difficulties. Many of these problems are tied to the students having worked while on Curricular Practical Training (CPT). This issue arises when the former...
This article was written by the attorneys of the Murthy Law Firm for our corporate clients. If you are an employer or HR manager, interested in the services offered by our firm, contact our Corporate Services Manager.This set of A&As address many of the basic...
