The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) recently clarified when pretrial agreements in criminal cases qualify as "convictions" under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). In its decision in the Matter of Mohamed, the BIA determined that an intervention or a diversion program designed to avoid...
On September 1, 2017, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) revised its Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) policy guidance to consular officers regarding "misrepresentation" under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 212(a)(6)(C)(i). In particular, the DOS changed its policy on when a consular officer can...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved 10,000 U visa petitions for fiscal year (FY) 2017, the maximum allowed per year by law under this category. The U visa is reserved for victims of certain types of crime who cooperate with law enforcement...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has resumed premium-processing service for H1B petitions selected under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 cap. This announcement includes those cases filed as part of the 20,000 master’s cap. The reinstatement of the premium processing...
Answer Generally, the consulate wants to see a letter from the end-client confirming the details of the project, and containing contact information so that the consulate can independently verify the information. If the end-client is unable / unwilling to provide such a letter, then you will...
Answer The USCIS announcement about the resumption of interviews for Employment-Based Adjustment Applications, starting in October 2017, is not actually a new policy but resumption of an old policy. It used to be that it was standard for all I-485 applications to be scheduled for interview...
As expected, President Trump signed a bill into law on Friday, September 8, 2017, to fund the federal government through December 8, 2017. The bill includes numerous other provisions, including emergency disaster relief funding, as well as the extension of the employment-based, fifth preference (EB5)...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the more favorable 'dates for filing' chart in the October 2017 Visa Bulletin must be used for family-based cases. Unfortunately, as usual, only the 'final action' chart may be used in October for employment-based cases....
On Monday, September 11, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Trump Administration, temporarily allowing the travel ban to apply to refugees who have a relationship with a resettlement agency. This stems from a June 26, 2017 decision by the Supreme Court to temporarily...
The October 2017 Visa Bulletin, which is the first visa bulletin of fiscal year 2018, has been released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). In addition to laying out the cutoff dates for October 2017, this month's visa bulletin also includes predictions for the...
