The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has started a pilot program intended to streamline the employment-based immigration process for participating employers. The Known Employer pilot is intended to reduce or eliminate the need for repeated review and assessment on the background and bona fides of...
Last night, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced completion of the H1B cap lottery selection process. Receipt of more than 236,000 H1B petitions was reported, compared to fewer than 233,000 cap-subject petitions filed last year. The USCIS has not provided a breakdown of...
As of the time of this writing, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not yet announced the completion of the H1B random lottery process for fiscal year 2017 (FY17). The Murthy Law Firm, however, has already started to receive electronic receipt notices for...
The May 2016 Visa Bulletin was released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) earlier today. Unsurprisingly, there is very little movement in the employment-based categories.In the final action (FA) chart, the cutoff date in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India moves ahead by...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the H1B cap limit for fiscal year 2017 (FY17) has been reached. This applies to both the 65,000 regular H1B cap limit as well as the 20,000 advanced degree (masters) cap exemptions.As the H1B case...
On March 18, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued the finalized policy memorandum on determining whether a new job is the same or similar in the context of a job change pursuant to the American Competitiveness in the Twenty First Century Act (AC21)....
Starting April 1, 2016, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) will begin issuing 14-day termination notices to students who fail to submit requested additional documentation within the 30 days allowed following their admission to the United States. This information comes via an official notice issued...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) provides visa bulletin clarifications on a monthly basis through Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division. The information from Mr. Oppenheim regarding the April 2016 Visa Bulletin explains some of the reasons for the very limited...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the final STEM optional practical training (OPT) rule on March 11, 2016. In order to facilitate the transition to the new regulation, the DHS has added a STEM OPT hub to its Study in the States web portal. Transition Guidance...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) April 2016 Visa Bulletin is now available. The backlogged employment-based, second preference (EB2) and employment-based, third-preference (EB3) categories for India and China have minimal advancement in the final action (FA) charts. There is no movement in the dates for filing...
