The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) recently addressed questions related to efforts to verify the employment authorization of contractors. The issue is whether it is appropriate for a general contractor to request employment authorization documentation from...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a warning advising of a telephone scam intended to victimize foreign nationals. The new twist in this particular scam is the use of technology to falsify caller ID information and, thus, make the foreign national believe...
Individuals attending immigration interviews at local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) district field offices are now required to submit to biographic verification of their identity. The USCIS began using a Customer Identity Verification (CIV) tool as of September 9, 2013. This is an anti-fraud...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for October 2013 is the first visa bulletin for fiscal year 2014 (FY14). Under this bulletin, the family-based, second preference "A" (FB2A) category retrogresses in October, while the employment- based (EB) categories are largely stagnant. Visa Bulletin Summary Family-Based,...
As predicted, the family-based, second preference "A" (FB2A) category for spouses and children of lawful permanent residents (LPRs, or "green card" holders), will retrogress in October. This category became current in August 2013 and remains current through September 30, 2013. The U.S. Department of State...
It can be difficult to obtain advance parole (AP) on an emergency basis. For this reason, those eligible to apply for AP are reminded to do so far in advance of travel, whenever possible. However, for those who must apply for this immigration benefit on...
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival's program (DACA) marked its one-year anniversary on August 15, 2013. Although the program has obviously not resolved many of the problems this nation faces regarding its population of undocumented foreign nationals, DACA has at least provided substantial benefits to...
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has changed an important F-1 student-related procedure. As of July 31, 2013, the ICE Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) no longer mails I-797C, notice of action receipts for payments of Form I-901 Student and Exchange Visitor Information...
The anxiously-awaited September 2013 U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin, which is the final visa bulletin for fiscal year 2013 (FY13), contains good news for the family-based, second preference "A" (FB2A) category and the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India. There are also...
It is fairly common for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to transfer a designated type of case internally in order to achieve a better workload balance. However, while the USCIS may view such case transfers as routine, this sometimes causes concern among foreign...
