The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a draft policy memorandum on November 20, 2015, addressing the same-or-similar occupational classification requirement for job portability under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21). AC21 allows an individual who has an employment-based (EB) application for adjustment...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is making it easier for Nepali F-1 students, experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the April 25, 2015 earthquake in Nepal, to obtain employment authorization documents (EADs). In a notice published on November 9, 2015, the DHS announced...
Newcomers to the United States face many practical challenges adapting to a new country. In an effort to ease this transition, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released updated online resources, intended to "help you settle into everyday life in the U.S." The guide,...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) provides a monthly visa bulletin explanation, through Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division. This month, Mr. Oppenheim provides more details regarding the predictions in the December 2015 Visa Bulletin, as well as insights into the reasons...
For the December 2015 Visa Bulletin, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is limiting the filing of adjustment of status applications (form I-485s) to the cutoff dates listed in final action (FA) chart for all employment-based (EB) cases. For family-based (FB) cases, the more-favorable...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) December 2015 Visa Bulletin contains modest advancements in the employment-based (EB) final action (FA) cutoff dates. The cutoff dates in the date of filing (DF) chart remain unchanged. As of the time of this writing, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration...
On November 9, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled against President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Barring a reversal...
This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December 2015 Visa Bulletin. There is no movement in the dates for filing (DF) chart for any of the employment-based or family-based categories. As for the final action (FA) chart, the only major movement is in...
Earlier today, the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), León Rodríguez, made a presentation during the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Fifth Annual Conference. During his speech, Mr. Rodríguez only spent a few minutes discussing issues related to the...
In response to the unjust changes made to the October 2015 Visa Bulletin, sixteen members of Congress have signed on to a letter sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Secretary of State John Kerry, urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "…implement...
