The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun using Twitter as a mechanism to answer general questions from the public. While not a substitute for legal or case-specific guidance, this new option may be a convenient way for some to get more general information. Twitter...
Earlier today, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released details of a proposed rule that "…would allow certain international entrepreneurs to be considered for parole (temporary permission to be in the United States) so that they may start or scale their businesses here in...
On August 24, 2016, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concluded its review of a proposed rule designed to allow the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to parole (i.e. grant temporary permission to enter the United States to) "…inventors, researchers, and founders of start-up...
Answer To be fair, the USCIS permits the use of the DF chart for family-based cases from time to time. But, when it comes to the employment-based categories, your frustration is justified! The problem seems to be an intergovernmental conflict, with the DF chart intended for...
Beginning in approximately January 2017, most nonimmigrant waiver applications that are approved will be granted with validity periods of five-years. Under the current policy, initial nonimmigrant waivers are typically only granted for one or two years. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Admissibility Review...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an interim final rule setting forth a process for the public to petition the DHS for regulatory changes. This interim rule is scheduled to take effect on August 22, 2016. Background on the Regulatory Process Regulations are, in essence, the...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued the September 2016 Visa Bulletin, which is the final visa bulletin of fiscal year 2016 (FY16). This visa bulletin is largely unchanged from the previous month in many key categories, and continues to have cutoff dates in the...
There is little-to-no movement of cutoff dates for the vast majority of categories in the September 2016 Visa Bulletin, which was released this afternoon by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). However, in the final action (FA) chart, the employment-based, second preference (EB2) and employment-based,...
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) issued final policy guidance on July 13, 2016, regarding foreign national students admitted on a tentative or conditional basis. In short, the guidance indicates that universities and schools are not permitted to issue I-20s for conditional students. Background In order...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has issued a reminder to employers enrolled in the E-Verify program that, as of August 1, 2016, such employers must log into their respective accounts at least once every 270 days to remain in the program. If an...
