Most months, Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS), provides visa bulletin explanations and predictions. The information for the November 2017 Visa Bulletin includes updated short-term predictions, as well as a vexing revelation regarding why...
Effective immediately, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) filing address for a petition for a nonimmigrant worker (form I-129) will be determined based on the state where the petitioning employer's primary office is located. This is a change from the previous policy, which required...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Texas Service Center (TSC) is still denying advance parole (AP) applications (form I-131) for applicants who travel abroad before their AP applications are approved. As previously reported, this is contrary to the longstanding practice by the USCIS to...
In August 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it would expand the use of in-person interviews for adjustment-of-status (form I-485) applicants in employment-based cases. Following the announcement, however, there remained a few lingering questions as to precisely whom this rule change would...
Form I-765, which is used to apply for an employment authorization document (EAD), now provides the option for the applicant to simultaneously apply for a Social Security number (SSN). In an announcement released on October 2, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) explains...
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new policy memorandum regarding the definitions of affiliate and subsidiary for the purposes of H1B filing fee determinations. The policy is being instituted to clarify a previously ambiguous portion of the American Competitiveness and Workforce...
This morning, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the Trump Administration from enforcing the travel ban issued by executive order on September 24, 2017. This version of the travel ban was to apply to citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Chad, Yemen, and North Korea,...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the November 2017 Visa Bulletin, which provides little-to-no forward movement in the heavily oversubscribed employment-based categories. There was no change at all in the dates for filing (DF) chart from last month, so only the final action...
U.S. Army recruiters have canceled enlistment contracts for many foreign-born military recruits recruited through the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program. Reports state that these contracts have been cancelled because of the burdensome enlistment process for these types of recruits. Recruiters are instead focusing on...
On Sunday, October 8, 2017, the U.S. Mission to Turkey announced that, effective immediately, the U.S. embassy and consulates in Turkey have suspended processing nonimmigrant visas. This action was taken in response to escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries. The government of Turkey responded...
