Two individuals, formerly associated with hardline anti-immigration groups, have received high-level positions within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Julie Kirchner, the former executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), has been appointed ombudsman at the United States Citizenship and Immigration...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum on April 12, 2017, adopting the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision in Matter of I-Corp. This decision clarifies that the USCIS cannot approve a petition for a foreign national worker that is based on...
In recent months, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reinterpreted a long-existing rule in a manner that impacts applications to change from B-1/B-2 business / visitor status to F-1 full-time student status. The net result is greater uncertainty and expense for B-1/B-2 visitors...
On April 7, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the H1B cap for fiscal year 2018 (FY18) was reached. The USCIS then completed the H1B lottery selection process on April 11, 2017. Some 199,000 petitions were filed this year, which is...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that only the cutoff dates in the 'final action' (FA) chart of the May 2017 Visa Bulletin may be used for purposes of applying for adjustment of status. This applies to both employment-based and family-based cases....
President Trump has announced his intentions to nominate Lee Francis Cissna to serve as the new Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Mr. Cissna currently serves as the Director of Immigration Policy for the Office of Policy at the U.S. Department...
This afternoon, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced completion of the H1B cap lottery selection process. The USCIS reported receipt of 199,000 H1B petitions, which is down from the 236,000 cap-subject petitions filed last year. The USCIS has not provided a breakdown of...
As of January 17, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires most new employment-based I-485 adjustment of status applications to be accompanied by an I-485 supplement J. Supplement J may also be submitted to request that the USCIS port a pending I-485 to...
The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a policy memorandum, on March 31, 2017, that addresses whether the position of computer programmer qualifies as a "specialty occupation" for H1B purposes. The memo rescinds a December 22, 2000 memo that instructed USCIS adjudicators to generally...
The May 2017 Visa Bulletin was released this afternoon. In the final action (FA) chart, India sees virtually no movement, with the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category holding steady at June 22, 2008, and the employment-based, third preference (EB3) category inching forward by a single...
