The Director of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS), Leon Rodriguez, held a public teleconference this afternoon (22.Jan.2015) to discuss various agency initiatives. The first topic addressed by Director Rodriguez was to provide a brief update on the proposed rules to grant certain H-4...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to work on improving the Case Status Online system, which, as the name implies, allows stakeholders to check the status of a case using the internet. The USCIS provided an update on the progress being made to this...
Each month, Charles Oppenheim, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State (DOS), provides visa bulletin insights and explanations. The most notable prediction this month is the expected movement for the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) February 2015 Visa Bulletin brings some good news for the employment-based, second preference (EB2) India category. The more long-term predictions for this category, however, are less encouraging. There is also movement in the employment-based, third preference (EB3) category. Employment-Based, First,...
There are some small, yet pleasant surprises in the February 2015 Visa Bulletin, just released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). Although the cutoff for employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India was expected to remain stagnant until the summer, it is now being moved...
Effective December 22, 2014, the exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the U.S. dollar, for purposes of paying visa applications fees in India, has changed. The new exchange rate is 64 rupees per U.S. dollar, up from the previous designated rate of 62 rupees...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice of request for information (RFI), on December 30, 2014, asking for input from the general public on streamlining and improving the nation's immigration system. This RFI is a result...
Effective January 27, 2015, changes will be made to the issuance of decisions and correspondence, as well as documents related to permanent residence. The changes impact which parties will receive written communication or notices and documents from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Parties Involved...
The U.S. Department of State, National Visa Center (NVC) plays a key role in applications for immigrant visas that are utilizing the consular processing (CP) option. In a November 2014 meeting with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the NVC provided some insights into how...
One of the components of President Obama's executive actions on immigration includes efforts to facilitate lawful permanent residents (LPRs, or "green card" holders) in becoming citizens of the United States. To that end, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memorandum to Leon...
